Afterword By Barbara Ehrenreich Analysis

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The Final Words of the Poverty-Stricken Society

Ingrid McVay

University of South Alabama In Barbara Ehrenreich’s "Afterword,” she makes a summary of her novel that was written over twelve years ago and used for the educational purpose in schools and universities. This book has made a significant impact in the society, and she was amazed the book had done quite well, even after the stock market crashed. She addresses many important issues of people surviving on minimum wage and challenges the difficulties poor people have to endure. Such as judgment and success of Ehrenreich’s book, supported low-wage workers and students, inequalities and mistreatment (Ehrenreich, 2001, p. 123).

Ehrenreich’s book laid the foundation for the impoverished people to be noticed and that poverty is a social problem that needed attention. People were stunned after reading her book and could not believe how people survive on minimum wage. The wealthy disapproved of her book and labeled her as a nonbeliever and a Marxist, which she found amusing. She also received numerous letters from impoverished people and was praised for writing the book (Ehrenreich, 2001, p. 224).

However, the speech was not acknowledged by the union. Although the speech was not victorious at the college, the book was read by low wage workers and the upper class. She has received many emails from people that have read the book. Some people had assumed that poor people just do not eat healthy, and people that work a trade job make more than $10 an hour. Ehrenreich showed in her text that poverty-stricken people do not have the funds to eat healthy, cannot manage to pay for health insurance or pay for utilities due to low wages. In this book, she displayed letters from impoverished people to show the society that poverty is ongoing, and this is a social problem (Ehrenreich, 2001, p. 226 to