Ehrenreich's Analysis

Ehrenreich’s makes her experiment unrealistic by her getting an opportunity that none of her co-workers receive. While Ehrenreich is being unrealistic, her co-workers fight day in and day out to try and afford a place to stay with a roof over their heads each

She notes that the open housing market is at fault for the poor not having affordable places to live; this due to the inability for them to compete with the wealthy. She goes further to discuss the government’s position with poverty and the minimum waged worker. Ehrenreich then explores the possible reasons for which people are stationary in their placement as low-waged employees. Moreover, she speaks about the underprivileged being practically invisible to the upper-middle-class and how politicians do very little to improve the conditions of the working poor. In the end, Ehrenreich hopes that those who are working tirelessly to earn a meager salary will eventually emerge from their inefficient lifestyles and demand to be paid what they are

Barbara Ehrenreich uses very specific techniques (“moves”) to convey her message to her readers: for instance, the approach she uses in the first part of her essay is an ‘objective approach’ which relied upon citations from published works. She drew upon statistical data and information and used extensive quotations extracted from experts who have written on the subject. The other important device used in her essay (the other side of the same coin, so to speak) is the ‘subjective approach’ that she undertook to convey her message of “white-collar downward mobility.” Examples of the objective approach is found in this passage taken from the published work of the Bureau of Labor Statistics: “In Late 2003, when I started this project, unemployment

The criteria that was chosen for this paper showed that Ehrenreich demonstrated effort and experienced real life scenes as a low-wage worker for the sake of the project. Ehrenreich's project has taught me to appreciate the low-wage workers around me such as the maintenance workers. They work so hard and at times I do appreciate what they do because I am to concerned about myself at times and without them our school wouldn't be as clean as it is. I have now started to to greet them and say a simple thank you. Thank you Barbara Ehrenreich, because of you, I am more thoughtful of workers and

For example, when she is finding a hard time finding a house in Minnesota that meets her standards and that is cheap. Ehrenreich emphasizes that it is hard for people to find in expensive living (138-140). When she is calling around the city to find cheap apartments only one of the three places she called responded (138). Her next step was to look at motels; she soon realized that motels aren’t affordable either (140). Ehrenreich’s statistics prove that they are accurate due to the time frame, and are helpful in proving the struggle of finding a affordable home.

She could have done differently and give up these extra utilities so that her project could have been enriched. As Ehrenreich began her first new life in Florida, she clearly states how she will avoid certain occupations for many reasons. Being a hotel clerk is eliminated because the job is to remain standing for eight hours; waitressing is also out of the list because it involves a lot of work; lastly, she leaves out telemarketing because she has no personality (Ehrenreich 13). Instead of avoiding these occupations, Ehrenreich should have done differently and taken them. Any person who is in the low-wage workforce does not take into consideration his or hers personal opinions about the job, especially if it is to make a living. The applicant will take anything that comes to hand, and taking these jobs could have improved her experience. After all, Ehrenreich ends up working as a waitress in a restaurant she called ‘Jerry’s’ where the work was demanding. She did not last long, though, and when she was exhausted from it, she described how she did not “walk out, I just leave. I don’t finish my side work or pick up my credit card tips, if any, at the register or… ask

To begin with, Ehrenreich’s method of research does take a lot of commitment and it is a difficult simulation to have to experience, however, there is an entire section of research she can not obtain from this method of research. Ehrenreich can not get an accurate representation of her co-worker’s past struggles and their current situations away from work. In her novel, Ehrenreich quotes, “...but it would take a long time, probably months before I could hope to be accepted into this sorority,” (Ehrenreich 395). The poor working class, at Jerry’s at least, is a closed off society. The workers only trust people that are in similar situations as them and do not openly share their

3. Ehrenreich’s use of footnotes has an effect of helping the audiences understand the implicit meaning or facts she wants to emphasize in her passage. Footnotes allows Ehrenreich to convey the points she wants the audiences to know while she does not disturb the casual and sarcastic tone of the overall passage. Also, the use of footnotes can keep Ehrenreich stay in a first-hand perspective because the messages in the footnotes are not part of her working experiences in Florida. Ehrenreich’s tone is more formal and neutral in her footnotes because those are about facts and regulations in the society, whereas her tone in the body of the piece is more sarcastic and exaggretted.

As the author moved from locale to locale she identified a variety of recurring hardships faced by the working poor. The chief concern for many was housing. Finding and maintaining economical housing was the principal source of disruption in their lives. For many of the working poor it’s not uncommon to spend more than 50% of income on housing. These leaves a scarce amount of money left over for anything else and creates a situation where the person is always worried about losing their shelter. In a nutshell, it’s Ehrenreich’s conviction that wages are too low and rents are too high. She does speak with many individuals who simply cannot afford the high rental rates and are forced to live with family, friends, or in some

She uses a suitable method of research that gives her a full understanding of the people she works with. By being on the same level as the working poor it gives Ehrenreich an accurate picture of their lives because she is more sensitive towards their situation, a stronger understanding builds that there are privileges people get that the working poor don’t get, and she becomes involved in situations that happen while these people are working for an unlivable wage. This method of research gives Ehrenreich the opportunity to physically put herself in the working poor’s shoes and get to know who they are and the way they live. By the end of her research she realizes and deeply understands the spare moments many workers have to actually enjoy themselves and not be running to their next job. Instead of only getting to know them for the day, she is able to get to fully know the many people that struggle to make a living today and grasp their situation on an even deeper

In the beginning she was reluctant and did not want to do it herself. She was going to have "some hungry neophyte journalist with time on her hands" do it instead. For the first sections of the book, the author is passive and does not care. Despite trying to educate the public of the strife of the minimum wage workers, she is not passionate about what she is trying to teach. However, as the novel continues she becomes more actively involved. With this involvement she quickly becomes exhausted. Referring back to this invalid out of date experiment, when Ehrenreich was too tired to continue she had the option of quitting, of going back to her normal life. The people she was trying to imitate do not have that luxury. They do not have the option of quitting and starting over when they feel tired. Or they do not like their job, or they are being mistreated in the workplace. Actual low wage people rely on the one or two jobs they have to live. Getting fired or quitting for them is like a death

4. Ehrenreich’s $500 efficiency plan is to spend $500 or less on her rent bill. When she lived in a cabin in Kew West, the cabin consisted of nice floors and a decent mattress, and the cabin being surrounded by swamp, she was paying $675 a month (Page 12). Many of her coworkers live with friends to make paying for rent easier. Annette lives with her mother, Claude lives with three others, Tina shares a room in Days Inn with her husband for $60 a night, Marianne lives with her boyfriend, Andy lives on his boat, and Joan lives in her van.

Throughout the book Ehrenreich’s co-workers all seem to struggle, such as the trouble with housing in Key West and healthcare in Maine. Having a place to live, eating properly, and healthcare seem to be the biggest cause of concern within the working class. Most of the jobs that she worked, the workers did not have healthcare packages or benefits. So it wasn’t uncommon for them to have trouble trying to manage their health and struggle to pay for medication, let alone a visit to the doctor. Without healthcare and a lack of proper diet (in Maine she had a ‘thirty minute’ lunch break but most of her co-workers barely ate anything close to a meal) it is not hard to see how the working class can easily be shot into poverty; seeing as most of the working class that she had encountered were just living above the poverty line. Reading about what she noticed and noted about her co-workers it isn’t hard to imagine how easy it would be to fall below the poverty

Ehrenreich’s housing situation also makes her stand out from the real poor working class. Ehrenreich (2002) states "As it turns out, the mere fact of having a unit to myself makes me an aristocrat..." (p. 70). Almost every other person she has met has to live with another person. A hefty security deposit is required to get an apartment which many people are unable to pay so they are forced to live with family, friends, or pay for a hotel room. Cohabiting is another system the working poor faces. Ehrenreich does not have to endure the hardship of living with another person.

The situation Ehrenreich is describing is the reality of millions of Americans; they work multiple minimum wage jobs, and are paid “so meagerly that workers can’t save enough to move on.” In addition, Ehrenreich recalls the actions of the U.S. government in regards to assisting these Americans. The article opens with the contribution of President Lyndon B. Johnson on the “War on Poverty”, then the “attack on welfare” in the 90s, concluding with The Great Recession. While writing Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, Ehrenreich abandoned her comfortable life to live the life of a low-income American; she worked multiple entry level jobs including Wal-Mart, a maid service, and as a nursing home aide. Through these actions, Ehrenreich establishes her ethos. Because she’s lived the lifestyle she’s describing, she has the authority to speak on the topic. Ehrenreich concludes with her proposal to help the