ND from Set Thill

            In the book Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich, the author decides to run an experiment where she tries to make a living working dead end jobs making minimum wage. This is a dramatic change in Ehrenreich's life an she is faced with many challenges such as finding a cheap enough place to live, buying essentials like food and gas, and working much harder than usual for very little visible compensation. She works as things like a waitress, maid, and Wal Mart employee, and under all of these consequences she finds it arduous to make a living. Along with the low wages of these jobs she makes the point that she underwent very unfair and harsh treatment from management. Ehrenreich points out that while working these jobs, it was increasingly difficult to even find a place to stay that could be paid with the money from these jobs. Throughout the course of the experiment she is forced to live in very minimal apartments, hotel rooms, small cottages, and even in her car. She believes the lower classes are greatly undercompensated and overlooked by the upper classes who she believes ignore that the working class are left with very little fair living conditions. Ehrenreich thinks that low wage deserve much more reparation for the strenuous work they do, such as higher wages and more health benefits.

            1. I have never been homeless, unemployed, without, health insurance, or held down two jobs. The lowest paying job I have ever had is $7.25, and I did need help from m parents for basic things like food and shelter.