Nickel And Dimed Analysis

We live in a work-obsessed society where our main objective is to support our families, and ourselves, but this objective has become increasingly hard for working class families. According to PBS, 3.3 million Americans worked at or below the federal minimum wage in 2013, and hourly paid employees over the age of sixteen, made up about 60% of our workforce. In order to further understand low-wage work, as well as the influence of networks and motivation, this paper will examine Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, “Ain’t No Getting By” by Jay MacLeod, and “Networks, Race, and Hiring” by Roberto Fernandez and Isabel Fernandez-Mateo. Nickel and Dimed is the story of Barbara Ehrenreich’s workplace study, in which she goes undercover as a low-wage

When first searching for housing in Key West, she discovered that the only affordable housing was about forty-five minutes away from major employment opportunities. Eventually, the commute became too long and expensive and in order to live closer to work, Barbara breaks her rules by dipping into her emergency funds to pay rent. Recounting the life of her various colleagues, she explains that some spent time living in their truck, peeing in a plastic bottle and reading by candlelight at night. Additionally, she narrates stories of many of her other coworkers living in hotel rooms or apartments with a number of other people, or co-workers living in uncomfortable situations because they would be unable to afford the rent otherwise. This includes co-workers such as Claude who stays with his girlfriend and 2 other people in an apartment, or Gail who splits her rent with a male friend who hits on her. Her co-workers, however, do not have the luxury of dipping into an emergency fund, in order to find better housing like she does during her time in Key West.

In addition, to the challenges finding affordable housing, low-wage workers often suffer from the inability to receive affordable and quality health care. Barbara experiences this in her study as well, especially because of the strenuous nature of her jobs. While waitressing, Barbara mentions that the pain is so bad that she often takes

This makes attending to health needs even more challenging for low-wage workers and they are forced to go to work regardless of their health conditions. Working class minorities, especially, rarely have employer provided health insurance, and 30% have limited or no health insurance at all. Moreover, a PBS study states that 62% of low-wage workers are women, yet I believe there are even less guaranteed health benefits for female workers than men. According to CNN, The U.S. is the only industrial nation that does not guarantee paid maternity leave for working mothers. I believe that this forces mothers, especially low-wage working mothers to stay at work longer before giving birth as well as return back to work quicker, even if it may cause health risks to them and their child. Furthermore, CNN cites that only 13% of American workers have access to paid leave through their employer and over 40% of workers are not entitled to unpaid leave at all, even through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The parameters of FMLA require that an employee “worked for their employer at least 12 months, at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months, and work at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles,” in order to be eligible for leave. Because Barbara did not remain in her jobs for any extended periods of time, had she