How Barbara Ehrenreich Makes Ends Meet

In her inspiring nonfiction novel, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich captivates readers as she researches whether or not if single parents, who depend exclusively on what they can make at minimum-wage income, can endure financially in the United States. She chooses to go as an “undercover” journalist to discover, first-hand, if one can survive in some of the most prominent, urban areas in America. In the first city, Key West, Ehrenreich works at two separate restaurants and as a house manager in a lodge. She soon finds that being a waitress is a tedious job, filled with aching pains and low amounts of sleep. Next, Ehrenreich moves to Maine, the state of the practically all-white low-wage workforce. Ehrenreich discovers that, even though Maine has more jobs available, the wages paid are similar to those of Key West. The last place Ehrenreich stays is Minnesota, where she finds the most trouble finding housing accommodations. In Minnesota, Ehrenreich uncovers the toiling process of job application that she had not taken into consideration. Lastly, Ehrenreich evaluates her overall experience among the minimum-wage worker’s class. She concludes that the minimum-wage lifestyle is unfair and difficult to deal with. Ehrenreich notes that the government is also a factor to be considered when it comes to low-income workers, being that the government decides the minimum wage. She also indicates that the markets are getting increasingly expensive, being that low-income housing and jobs are continually disappearing.

Nickel and Dimed provides a first-hand perspective on the experiences a low-wage worker may encounter. It also supplies the reader with the knowledge that minimum wage is not a “livable” wage. Ehrenreich’s coworkers often fin...

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... workers come into contact with. This novel will make the reader question his financial choices as well as imagine himself in the shoes of a minimum-wage worker. It also points to the complications many have just with paying for housing accommodations and food in this country, while making only minimum wage. Ehrenreich discovers that that even the "lowliest" occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts and imparts the reader with this fact. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its persistence and apprehension, as well as liberality.

Works Cited

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America. New York: Metropolitan, 2001. Print.

Hanna, Jason, and Jim Kavanagh. "Minimum-wage Workers Live on the Edge." CNN. Cable News Network, 25 July 2008. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. .