Social Issues In Nickel And Dimed Essay

Poverty was almost like a curse given to Rosa Vargas by her husband, who “left without even leaving a dollar for bologna or a note explaining how come” (29). Many women today with young children are forced to take care of their families as single mothers without the support of the father. These women are often too busy taking care of the children to find a job. The fact that Rosa is a Hispanic affects her ability to find a job as well. Even if she did have the time, her ethnicity and gender would be cause for discrimination.

With Ehrenreich’s limited amount of resources, the world seems to be larger, as making her way around becomes more difficult. Throughout her journey, Ehrenreich argues that individuals working at a low wage experience the struggles of living in poverty, the degradation associated with these jobs, and intensive and physically demanding jobs. One of Ehrenreich’s most prevalent arguments is the reality that living on minimum wages is nearly impossible. Without savings, she tells how she is unable to afford an apartment because she has no money for a down payment. This requires her to live in a more expensive motel where she is also forced to buy unhealthy fast foods because she does not have a kitchen to cook in.

Critical Response: Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich After reading about Ehrenreich's experience one of my first observations was that working a minimum wage job not only had a physical toll on your body but also an emotional toll. While working at both hotels Ehrenreich and her coworkers became emotionally numb to working. It was just a routine, they were going through the motions. Through her observations and her coworkers situations Ehrenreich found that a minimum wage job can barely support one or two people. Most of her coworkers from Hearthside live with other people in less than ideal living situations.

Betty Lewis was just an average person. Admittedly, she didn’t set out in her life to join the criminal justice career. She started out as a manager for an apartment complex, but soon tired of receiving calls all day and night over frivolous things she had no control over. The added stress of living thirty miles away from her complex and being unable to rush to the building on short notice finally pushed Lewis to look in the classifieds for a new job. There, she found that the Minden Police Department needed a dispatcher.

Widows had a hard time keeping their families together and support them while still maintaining the proper role of a woman in the time.Some women decided to stay single during this time because it was easier to not start a family and some decided to focus more on their education. In order to be equal to a man who graduated from elementary school, a women had to get a full education. ()No matter if women were good at their jobs and work as hard as a man they wouldn't get paid about half compares to a man. () If they were involved with either their careers or jobs; the more disadvantages they faced was because of their gender.Instead of viewing women as a helping hand, they were viewed as a threat because of the typical stereotype of American men had in families. The discriminations put upon women were shallow in way because they did not go into the workforce to compete with the men, but to save their family from

The bachelors only hired single women to work long hours for little pay even if their health was declining from the hazardous conditions. The bachelor’s only concern was maintaining

She can’t keep a job for long and it is very tough to get one, and even when she gets it, racism and her status as an illegal immigrant limit her wages compared to normal U.S. citizens. Although she can send some money home to help Enrique her earnings are so low that she has to turn to a form of prostitution to boost her income. Though Lourdes

“As a divorced African-American woman with two children, Annie Johnson found herself in need of a job”(pg.119). Since Annie didn’t have a job, she did not have money to feed her children. She was already in a tough situation, with her being divorced. “Johnson devised an elaborate plan to cook meals for local mill and factory workers. Johnson’s job was hard.”(pg.119) To solve her problem, Johnson took a risk to start a business.

This true story shows many examples of Mrs. Wright’s emotional strength. Although she was struggling with her husband abandoning her with no money, no job, and two kids she still doesn’t break down. Instead of giving up, she started working very for a very low paying job as a cook. It’s inspiring to know that with all that pressure that she faced, Mrs. Wright never

African American women who choose this field of work were almost always undervalued, underpaid, overworked and in most cases unprotected. Some domestic workers also had to face abuse and maltreatment. The work was hard, but there was only little these employed women could do. Women depended on the low paid wages and most of the time had to accept these forms of treatment, since there were no laws for wages or working conditions in the domestic service. “It tends to be perceived as something other than regular employment, as not fitting the general framework of existing labour laws despite the fact that its origins go back to the "master-servant" relationship.” (ILO, 1).

Ehrenreich’s waitress job is so difficult that when its busy she had to run around taking orders and work long hours without any breaks. Most of the working conditions are bad and very insecure. Employers must give their employees good and safe working conditions.

In the museum most of the families had women who worked. During this time period it was usually a sign of poverty and source of shame if a woman worked in the family. But, families such as the Gumpertz, who was a family of all girls, and Rogarshevsky had no choice but to go to work. These families did not have the privilege of embarrassment; this idea was also represented in Jews without Money when Katie began to work. Initially, it was a huge issue with Herman and became only worse when he was finally unable to work at all.

I chose the above paragraph, because it really dawns on you the daily cost of living and struggles faced by the working-class people. “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich is an eye opener, as it helps you get a glimpse into the lives of the working-class people and the many hardships endured by them on a daily basis. It is appalling to learn that so many people do not even have access to proper nutrition and healthcare, which I think should be a basic necessity and not a luxury. These people work hard and have absolutely nothing to show for. California is an excellent example of the great divide between the rich and poor, with the middle class almost non-existent.