Nickel And Dimed By Barbara Ehrenreich Analysis

The Hardships of a Low Wage Worker In the excerpt from Barbara Ehrenreich’s, “Nickel and Dimed”, Ehrenreich uses her own knowledge and scientific experience from a PhD in biology to further research the life of a low wage worker. She goes through her own low wage job experience with the corporate cleaning agency, “The Maids.” Ehrenreich offers a profound perception of the day-to-day challenges and sacrifices that low wage workers face to keep their jobs, support their families, and survive in a corporate driven society. During the beginning of Ehrenreich’s first day at “The Maids”, she observes her fellow employees as they simultaneously gather their cleaning supplies and feast on the daily breakfast supplied by the cleaning agency. Before

The company gets $25 and we get $6.65 for each hour we work” (Ehrenreich 396). The cleaning agency is taking in triple the amount of profit that they’re paying out to employees. Ehrenreich is puzzled by this. The hourly pay is unfair to the point of her comparing the cleaning agency to freelancing, “So the only advantage of working here as opposed to freelancing is that you don’t need a clientele or even a car” (Ehrenreich 396). This is how corporate greed works in our society. A day later, Ehrenreich has completed her training and is sent out with one of “The Maids” teams. She quickly realizes that the training videos from the day before, are nothing like being an employee for “The Maids”. It’s a fast paced environment involving hard labor. “Usually, by the time I get out to the car and am dumping the dirty water used on floors and wringing out rags, the rest of the team is already in the car with the motor running” (Ehrenreich 398). During Ehrenreich’s research experiment, she learns that each person employed with “The Maids” makes sacrifices on a daily basis to attempt

She appreciates the running water in her shower, “I have paid for it, in fact, I have earned it. I have gotten through a week at The Maids without mishap, injury, or insurrection” (402). The stories from the employees at “The Maids” show strategies on how to get by in our society, but they also show that living as a low wage worker in corporate America means greed, sacrifice, and lack of