Nickel and Dimed

In Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed,” Ehrenreich goes undercover from her daily life and transforms into a low wage worker who is struggling to survive in America. She details her journey through three states trying to see if the welfare reform is beneficial or leaves low income workers stuck in poverty.

Ehrenreich travels to three different places to further understand the life of low wage workers. In Key West, right away she is in a struggle to earn money. She spends much of her time driving to and from work which rapidly decreases her earnings. Ehrenreich is forced to take on two jobs just to be able to pay for gas and other basic necessities. After working at the two jobs, Ehrenreich because physically and mentally drained from the demanding jobs and is forced to quit and focus on just one job. However this also presents problems as she needs to find a more efficient way to get to work and a home that resides near her work.

From Key West, Ehrenreich travels to Maine and takes on a maid job and caregiver at a nursing home. Here she discovers the struggle to find cheap housing and is forced to stay in an expensive Motel 6. Upon searching for a more affordable home she finds a somewhat decent home that her budget can handle. She cannot quit her jobs even though they are stressful and strict. In Maine, Ehrenreich discovers that even in what may be a simple job can cause problems socially and physically.

In the Evaluation section of the book, Ehrenreich argues that low paid workers have difficult times finding housing because of higher paid workers simply out buy or invest better money. Also it doesn’t help the cause if managers continue to pay their workers minimum wage rather than giving raises. They substitute this by giving free meals or needs in transportation to and from places.

10. Many campus and advocacy groups are currently involved in struggles for a “living wage.” How do you think a living wage should be calculated?

I think living wage should be calculated based on amount of work you do, amount of time put into the work, and amount of experience the worker has had with the job. As the worker matures, raises and bonuses are necessary in order to keep both parties happy and for the worker to have a somewhat livable life.