Nickel and Dimed

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

In the stimulus material, Charles Embry, an Ex-PG&E employee gave Erin private information about the pollution in the water. Embry used to work in the factory, he claims that most papers were useless until some involved water contamination and chromium, Embry stated he was told to destroy these papers, yet he gave Erin this information to revenge his cousin. It is known to be ethically correct in terms of society, because of the fact that he was seeking for a social good; yet unethical because all employees should seek the welfare of each organization they are working at.

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

Is America truly the land of endless opportunities? People from all over the world come to the US in high hopes of becoming rich with minimal efforts. Sadly, this is not the case. After reading Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich, I have a new outlook on individuals struggling to get by on low wage paying jobs in America. Barbara travels to Florida, Maine, and Minnesota to "investigate" life as low wage worker. She plays a different role in each of these three states to experience the true life of these workers. 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. Reading this novel has truly

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

Based on the case, Who You Gonna Call by Kevin D. Zeiler, Nicki is working in the billing department for a large, for profit health care organization. She has been working for the company for two and a half years and was just recently promoted to senior Medicare Billing Specialist. Due to her recent promotion she has been granted the ability to information she was not able to before, she then found discrepancies surrounding the way many of the Medicare invoices were coded. She informed her supervisor. The response of the supervisor was this is how we will continue to code these documents and Nicki should focus on training and monitoring her team/staff. She found the response very strange and after six months has passed, she does not feel comfortable and does not know what to do. While Nicki was reading the paper, she read about another facility who is being investigated for Medicare fraud.

Ehrenreich claims that when she comes home after work it is not peaceful because of Budgie. He gets Ehrenreich attention to get him out of his cage by “squawking” or running around like crazy (130). Ehrenreich is given an opportunity that her other co-workers are not given. In chapter one Ehrenreich emphasizes on how her co-workers are living. A woman she works with named Marianne who severs during breakfast lives with her boyfriend who rents a one-person trailer for $170 a week (Ehrenreich 26).

Ehrenreich challenged the popular opinion of poverty being a condition of unemployment, through her experience as a low wage worker. Barbra witnessed her fellow employees work incredibly hard, face disdain by managers, and persist for long hours, in exchange for wages incapable of sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Circumstances her fellow employees endured included, living in what Barbra refers to as “substandard housing” such as motels or vehicles, or

She wanted to shift the people’s attention to the fact that it isn’t the working class’s fault for not prospering, but instead to realize that the system is corrupted. Wages are set low, while rents and things necessary for survival are set at a high price. The working poor often have to in endure endless hours of hard labor to be able to survive. Ehrenreich stated that, “What [we] don't necessarily realize when you start selling your time by the hour is that what you're really selling is your life” which makes the working

One, Ehrenreich could have rented a room or had a roommate to help with the cost of rent. Two, she could have found her kitchenware at a yard sale or second hand store. Last, there were different options for work however, she did not want to work eleven hours on her feet. Finally, she did not truly take in to account the privilege of being a white woman. If she had been a women of color with children the experience would most likely have been very

Barbara Ehrenreich in her book “Nickel and Dimed” first handily accounts her experiences and trials as a well educated and prosperous woman who goes out and encapsulates the life of an American service worker, through reading, I questioned the validity of her words, experiences and wondered how much of the real trials did she actually face. It is no question that Ehrenreich worked the hours, put in the labor, and accounted her own work difficulties but prior her experience set limitations which include basic privileges such as no intentions of homelessness or going hungry but these privileges are also ones that she experiences that her co-workers most of the time, don’t. Ehrenreich even goes through and depicts the housing arrangements of her

The main message that is shown throughout Ehrenreich’s investigation and what she was able to write in the book, shows the readers that it’s almost impossible to get by in America if you’re working below minimum wage. “ … with job entry-level jobs advertised at $8 an hour and studio apartments for $400 or less” ( Ehrenreich 122). This example from the book can show that in Minnesota, those prices are the ones being advertised, yet for low-wage workers living in a $400 apartment is not an option which is why Ehrenreich decides to live at a house that belongs to a friend’s friend and came with the agreement to take care of the owner’s cockatiel. This is also able to make an image of what people have to go through just have a roof over their heads

When you are placing an order at a restaurant, I bet it doesn’t occur to you who is the person that is preparing your meal. Typically, the people working in that environment are teenagers and adults who are supporting their families. And if we go further into thought, you may find yourself wondering on how people can make a living at the current minimum pay. Like some teenagers, I found myself in that person’s shoes behind the register working for minimum wage. And from my experiences I began to realize how difficult it is to live off a small amount of pay and support a family or even have a solid future. A thought begins to form and it poses a question on how can a person be considered poor if they are

Ehrenreich embarks on a difficult journey, taking us to the society in which we live in. She not only takes us into the struggling lives of hard-working Americans, but she also “opens the window into the daily lives of the invisible workforce that fuels the service economy” (Katherine Newman, the Washington Post). This heroic transformation, middle class to the working class, is vital as it demonstrates the power of solidarity within the workers, which entangles with the pursuit of one’s happiness. Solidarity is “unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards”.

Ethical principals are the seed of which nursing flourishes from. Many ethical principals were involved and dishonored in this case such as, justice, autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, confidentiality and fidelity (Burkhardt et al., 2014). I believe justice was the main principal involved as the entire ethical predicament was revolved around unjust behavior and treatment of the residents. The residents were treated poorly and given unequal rights as a causation of their illnesses. Autonomy, an essential piece of human rights was also being violated in this ethical dilemma. The residents did not have any choice or independence in their care or how they were being treated. Beneficence and non-maleficence are significant dynamics of this ethical situation, as the health care providers needed to reflect on how they can have the maximum benefit while diminishing possible damage to the residents (Burkhardt et al., 2014). Our actions as nurses should always be beneficent and non maleficent, continuously being kind, compassionate and doing what is in their best interest as well a removing and preventing harm. Confidentiality is a key component of nursing and it was blatantly being violated as the health care