In this now classic work, Barbara Ehrenreich, our sharpest and most original social critic, goes “undercover” as an unskilled worker to reveal the dark side of American prosperity Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a … promised that a job–any job–can be the ticket to a better life. But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 an hour?
To find out, Ehrenreich left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered. Moving from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. She lived in trailer parks and crumbling residential motels. Very quickly, she discovered that no job is truly “unskilled,” that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort. She also learned that one job is not enough; you need at least two if you int to live indoors.
Nickel and Dimed reveals low-rent America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity–a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich’s perspective and for a rare view of how “prosperity” looks from the bottom. You will never see anything–from a motel bathroom to a restaurant meal–in quite the same way again.
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If one wants to understand inequality and how the working poor are exploited in America, read this book. It is an important book that is very readable.
I’m having a hard time with this one. Although the writing and flow were well structured, the content/results seem flawed for certain reasons.
Let me ‘splain:
I’m pleased to see that Barbara Ehrenreich spent time on such a worthy cause and helped shine light on a broad social issue the middle-class willfully allows to be swept under the rug. The …
This is a classic examination of how the working class get squeezed in our economy. Told first person, it is enlightening, well-written and thought- (and anger) provoking. A must-read for everyone.
This is a book which will change for better the way you look at the world, especially in how you regard and treat those making minimum wages. It is charming, witty, and mind bending all at the same time.
This is an amazing look into the life of those living on minimum wage. I love that she immersed herself in this lifestyle; attempted it personally and did not just interview people. I use some segments as teaching points for in my high school math classes.
A fascinating look into a part of America I have never seen!
An excellent presentation of the issues facing the working poor in the US.
This is an eye opening book about the tremendous disparities in America. It dispels the myth that if we only work hard we will not only manage but have the American dream.
Well worth reading. It made me change the way I tipped.
This book came out in the 90s, I think, so it is a bit dated. The facts are all transferable, however. We may have just increased the federal minimum raise when this book was released. The author works at and describes the circumstances wrapped around several different low wage jobs. I think I remember wait staff in Key West, a worker at Walmart …
Probably even more of a necessity to read now with so many under or unemployed.
Best book there is on the subject. Only wish there was a 2010 update
Timeless. Everyone should read this book.
Shocking and insightful and a must read for those who think they know the struggle of other people
Great perspective on low income America. Any one who has not lived it should read it.
Ehrenreich explores the challenges of the working poor. Although I disagreed with many of the decisions she (and some of her co-workers she wrote about), she did a terrific job of explaining the limited options for those “at the bottom,” If you don’t care about the people she writes about after you’ve read this, go the graveyard, because your …
I read this years ago. Nothing of note has helped the people in this situation, so it is still relevant.
This book may be 25 years old but it is timeless. As long as we have an underpaid underclass, this book is so relevant. A terrific lokk at why hunger, short life span, the inability of some to ever get ahead is all explained in this short little book.
I’ve never forgotten what I read.
As relevant today as when it was written, this book is a sobering look at the factors that help solidify generational poverty.
I really liked the book. It opened my eyes to workers trying to get ahead, working a full time job and still barely getting buy.