A Critical Analysis Of Nickel And Dimed By Barbara Ehrenreich

The phrase “you never know what someone is really going through until you walk in their shoes,” is something Barbara Ehrenreich took seriously. A writer who had a Ph.D. in biology decided to give up her whole life to research poverty in America. Yet, her research was a little different than most. Instead of interviewing different workers in the lower class she joined them and attempted to live on minimum wage. The way she researched this type of life gives a whole new look into what the lower class actually has to go through. Ehrenreich starts her journalism journey in a town not too far from where she actually lives, Key West. She tries to avoid waitressing at all costs, but unfortunately she cannot avoid it for very long. She needs to pay her bills so she takes the first waitressing job she can find. This starts her journey to really find out what the lower class have to go through every day. After dealing with low wages, incredibly strict management, and high rent, Ehrenreich decides to pack up and move. Portland, Maine was her next destination. Here she struggled with a grueling maid job and an interesting nursing home. Here she was exposed to women who were desperate for work and were constantly trying to please upper management, even if it meant “working through the pain.” Ehrenreich found her maid job extremely hard, not only

The lower class is struggling to provide for their families. Even just for single people, living alone is a challenge. The mix of low wages and high rent prices is killing the lower classes chances of living comfortably. After reading this it is evident that even when you have a job, you still can be struggling. Ehrenreich ends by saying “ours is an economic culture that reflexively rewards and flatters the prosperous while punishing and insulting the poor, no matter how hard they work. Turning this around is the task of a lifetime, at