Summary Of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel And Dimed

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Barbara Ehrenreich decides to take journalism back to its roots in her memoir Nickel and Dimed. In order to showcase the difficulties of living off of low wages in America, she decides to leave her job as a journalist and become a low wage worker herself. She spends a month each in three different locations with a single goal in mind: being able to pay to live for the current month, and to be able to live in the same location for another month if she were to stay. Her experiences give a glimpse of what it is like to be a low wage worker in America, including the jobs that they perform, where they can afford to live, and the food that they can afford to eat. Her evidence concludes that it is not possible to live solely off of low wage work and raise a family, despite working full time. …show more content…
In her research she finds a poll by Jobs for the Future that said, “94% of Americans agree that ‘people who work full time should be able to earn enough to keep their families out of poverty’.” (Ehrenreich, 220). In order to have a greater income in Maine, Ehrenreich took two jobs (a maid for a cleaning service and a dietary aide for an Alzheimer’s ward) and worked seven days a week, and her hours totaled well over 40 per week, which is considered full time. This is the only location where she is able (barely) pay for all of her living expenses, but she does so without having anyone dependent on her for help. A lot of low wage workers are single mothers who have many more expenses that Ehrenreich did not. They need to pay for things her children would need such as food, supplies for school, clothes, health care, and a babysitter for while they are working, making it next to impossible to stay above the poverty line. To do so they must stay with a family member, friend, boyfriend, or get a roommate but all of these
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