Nickel and Dimed
In order to discover the conditions of lower working class society, author of the book Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich dramatically changes her life to experience the conditions head on herself. Facing multiple low wage jobs, including a waitress, a maid, and even a Wal-Mart employee, Ehrenreich observes the harsh and unfair working as well as housing conditions for her fellow co-workers.
Ehrenreich argues that low-class wages are too low, considering the high costs of housing. This leads to living in cars, or unfavorable situations dealing with how to pay for rent. Ehrenreich chooses to blame middle along with upper class societies for the poor conditions lower class have to put up with. She believes this is due to the upper class taking apartments and housing lower class live in and turning them into recreational buildings and areas to benefit themselves. This forces lower class into unwanted areas or places that are unaffordable.
17. After reading Nickel and Dimed, I believe that having a job is better than having no job at all so you at least can support yourself living on as little as possible compared to not being able to support yourself at all. This book made me feel angry that supervisors could get away with treating employees in a poor manner. It also makes me feel guilty for having a fairly wealthy lifestyle compared to the people in this book, along with feeling guilty for taking things for granted too often. I now feel better informed about how hard it is to find a well-paying job without first receiving a good education. I do not feel relieved however I feel motivated to make the lives of low-income employees easier while on the job as well as motivated to work hard in school to receive a decent paying job.
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