Introduction
The United States is considered to be one of the
developed nations in the world with high per capita
income and living standards. For an outsider,
the US is the land of opportunities where any
one can become rich over night with minimal efforts.
However, the reality is far from such notions.
Instead the US is also striving towards a worry-free
life for its population and most importantly,
its people are struggling to survive despite the
high GDP and standards of living. At the heart
of this Wall Street nation is a working population
that is struggling to "get by" on low
wages that are given to them as pay. The population
is still strived with poverty, individuals depending
on food stamps, soup kitchens and welfare money.
For this reason, one observe that the American
population is characterized by class distinction,
one group enjoying high salaries and privileged
lives while the other group is still struggling
under minimum wages. Hence, the differences between
these two classes of society not only make the
US vulnerable to social malaise but also the cause
for the rise in poverty population. Barbara Ehrenreich's
Nickel and Dimed (2001) is a book that records
just this differences and misconception about
the American living standard.
Thesis Statement
From Nickel and Dimed by Ehrenreich one learns
of the poverty stricken population living in the
US on minimum wage, which indicates that the future
generations of working individuals is strived
with hard work and struggle. Individuals depending
on minimum wage as a means for entry into the
professional world would sadly be disappointed
with the living standards that such wages support.
The Author
Barbara Ehrenreich is a political and social columnist
who has many essays, stories, articles and books
on her credit. She addresses grave issues ranging
from motherhood, feminity, poverty and war that
prevail in the US society. She is a notable columnist
for many renowned newspapers and magazines including
Ms., Harper's, The Nation, The Progressive, The
New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly and the New
York Times Magazine. In the literary circle she
is known for her non-fiction work on poverty.
Although she is known for her social works in
works of fiction and journalism Ehrenreich had
been a biology graduate student who never had
any intention of being a writer even after she
got her PhD from The Rockefeller University. Nevertheless,
she became one through her involvement in social
work and activities. With a scientific background
Ehrenreich has the advantage of logical and critical
thinking. Whatever project she undertakes, she
pursues with zeal and aim to investigate the issue
to the core. This is perhaps the reason why one
observes her work is meticulously researched with
correct and accurate information. Being a columnist
for the above mentioned leading magazines and
newspapers merely add to her skills as an observer,
a researcher and a writer.
She has gained recognition for her Unitarian work
through various grants and awards including "Ford
Foundation Award for Humanistic Perspectives on
Contemporary Society (1982), a Guggenheim Fellowship
(1987-88) and a grant for Research and Writing
from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
(1995)." Other awards include National Magazine
Award for Excellence in Reporting (1980). She
is currently teaching at the Graduate School of
Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley
("Barbara Ehrenreich" 2004).
Synopsis
American socio-economic conditions from a macroeconomic
point of view are comparable to any developed
nation. Today the United States proudly considers
itself to be one of the leading nations in the
world with veto powers and nuclear technologies.
Nevertheless the reality still remains the same
for its people: the US people are still struggling
to get out of poverty. People are living below
the poverty level with minimum wages that does
not cover for the costs of living. Ehrenreich's
book "Nickel and Dimed" has been an
attempt to cover issues that pertain to the same
facts. In her book Ehrenreich's book she enumerates
on her experience working as a minimum age earner.
Her basic premise is that she wants to discover
how single moms and single individuals especially
female earn their living through minimum wage.
Keeping in mind the new laws on food stamps for
poor people enacted by the Bush administrations,
Ehrenreich investigates life based on the $7 per
hour wage. Her investigations take her across
three cities from Florida, Maine to Minnesota.
She works at four different low paying jobs as
a waitress, housekeeper at a hotel, house cleaner
and a Wal-Mart associate. In the course of three
months she finds insight in life with minimum
wage. Her revealing book Nickel and Dimed does
not paint a positive picture for the kind of life
one leads in the poverty stricken environment.
Discussion
At first read, Ehrenreich's book seems to address
the trials and turbulence of single mothers and
poor families. It not only enumerate on how working
individuals who work at minimum wage are subjected
to humiliation and embarrassment at the interview
process as they are required to complete drug
tests and personality tests, but they are also
searched randomly by their potential employers
for drugs, thefts and such threats. What is most
surprising about the content of her book is that
the whole process of employment for the poor is
legal is according to the law. This means that
it is the government and the law which have given
the store owners, employers of multinational corporations
and small restaurants the right to exploit poor
working individuals in search of jobs. From these
instances, one learns that Ehrenreich's book is
not merely an outcry for working moms and poor
individuals but also for those young professionals
who are not aware of the gruesome process of entering
the industry.
As young professionals and students of college
and universities one often has the hazy notion
that the world is filled with opportunities; high
wages; executive level positions and growth. However,
the reality according to Ehrenreich is much more
gruesome and disappointing. The ladder to success
is strived with hard work and involves living
below poverty level. Young individuals, single
mothers etc. who rely on the state to balance
employment levels in the industry in fact does
not provide for the benefits required by these
individuals. To begin with individuals without
degrees or years of experience at white collar
jobs are considered blue collar workers. They
are considered to be unskilled and their positions
are determined on the number of hours spent at
the work place as they are paid by the hours.
Not only these jobs do not have scope for progress
but they also limit the scope of progress. Employers
who pay minimum wages tend to exploit these so
called "unskilled" individuals and benefit
from their stricken positions. College students
and working mothers alike who depend on these
jobs are subjected to hard work and exploitations.
For young individuals when immediately faced with
this picture of the industry is greatly crippled
in their perceptions and aspiration. As she writes:
"When I request permission to leave at about
3:30, another housekeeper warns me that no one
has so far succeeded in combining housekeeping
at the hotel with serving at Jerry's: "Some
kid did it once for five days, and you're no kid."
With that helpful information in mind, I rush
back to number 46, down four Advils (the name
brand this time), shower, stooping to fit into
the stall, and attempt to compose myself for the
oncoming shift" (Ehrenreich 2001).
Another aspect that is of importance for working
moms as well as young professionals is that the
cost of living is high while salaries are low
for these apprentices. Individuals who rely on
the minimum wage are gravely mistaken as it does
not even begin to cover for living expenses. Minimum
wage is the key to this degradation in living
standards. The Bush administration has been promoting
through food stamps and welfare funds based on
minimum wages which in fact do not cover the bare
necessities. Ehrenreich for example points out
the price of rent of trailers ranging from $625
to 800 whereas as welfare workers people get seven
dollars per hour which comes to around $1000 after
taxes.
The above rent does not allow one to cover
for living expenses such as food, clothing, child
care or utilities. Even Wal-Mart which is considered
to be one of the US most valued employers does
not pay enough for its bright faced workers to
cover these living expenses or rent. The result
is that individuals who come into this industry
would have to rely on additional income or engage
two to three jobs to be able to survive. This
aspect of the work environment is disheartening
for individuals who are newly introduced to the
working world (Ehrenreich 2001; Tuttle 2003).
Not only this but Ehrenreich has learned valuable
lessons in the course of her experiment: any one
who has lost their jobs or depend on the state
agencies for help in food or money would greatly
be disappointed as these individuals are given
the leftovers or donated items from the famous
food chains or community stores. These "tokens"
do not in fact fill the hunger or even the nutrition
requisition that the state claim to provide to
the poor population. In fact most of the poverty
stricken individuals who fall in this category
of minimum wage earners are dependent on fast
food and nutritionless meals available on the
streets available cheaply which not only degrade
their health but also increase diseases. This
is not only typical among the poor but it has
also seen prevalent among the working class. Working
individuals who have been availing fancy cafeterias
filled with nutritious food in the future would
too join the forces of junk food eaters. Hence,
the workplace combined with the low salaries given
by employers is forcing the workforce in America
to resort to street foods that promote illness
rather than nutrition. Such food stuffs are just
for fulfilling the stomach and have no nutrition
values. For this reason, young professionals who
have read of Ehrenreich should be cautioned against
the habit of having junk food.
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