Analysis Of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel And Dimed

Barbara Ehrenreich’s story, in her book “Nickel and Dimed,” was humbling to read. Her quote at the end of her book left me speechless. She states, “I grew up hearing over and over to the point of tedium that hard work was the secret to success: ‘Work hard and you’ll get ahead’ or ‘It’s hard work that got us where we are.’ No one ever said that you could work hard—harder even than you ever thought possible—and still find yourself sinking ever deeper into poverty and debt (220).’” When I first started to read this quote I thought it was going to be encouraging, but by the end my heart felt heavy for people like Ehrenreich that are stuck in poverty and can’t seem to get out, no matter how hard they work. It is such an eye opener to me because I have grown up hearing things such as “work hard to get what you want”, which is similar to what Ehrenreich has heard as well, yet Ehrenreich didn’t find this to be true. Being privileged and having parents that support my financially is something that I take for granted.

Ehrenreich’s quote definitely reflects the lives of the “working poor” during this time.

It portrays the idea that people worked hard and long in terrible conditions and still were not bringing much home. It was especially hard during this time to raise a family if you were considered part of the “working poor.” For example, Ehrenreich meets a women named Caroline who is raising a family while barely scraping by. Caroline explains to Ehrenreich that her and her children have had to move multiple times, and have even been homeless. Regardless of everything that Caroline is in good spirits and always puts others before herself, she even goes out of her way to make Ehrenreich some chicken stew to take home with

her.
The kind of service that Caroline lends to Ehrenreich is out of love. While her other job, along with Ehrenreich’s job is done out of a need for money to support their lives. This kind of work ties into Tillie Olsen’s poem titled “I want you women up North to know.” Olsen’s poem carries a very mournful tone as she tells of different accounts of people who work hard and in terrible conditions just to barely get by. Her poem is like a message or a letter to the privileged women up north, explaining to them what people have gone through to make the fancy dresses they buy their little girls. One part of the poem that really stuck out to me was when Olsen writes, “…Maria Vasquez, spinster, for fifteen cents a dozen stitches garments for children she has never had…” In other words, women like Maria Vasquez are giving so much of their energy and living on so little to make dresses that they wouldn’t be able to afford for their own children. It shows how much the low wage workers sacrificed to make items for other people, and the women “up north” don’t even realize or appreciate the hard work that goes into making these things.
People like Ehrenreich, Caroline and Maria, would all have similar experiences if they lived in 2017. While just a year ago we have had many programs that would help low wage workers, now our president, Donald Trump, is starting to make cuts to some of these programs. These cuts could send families and individuals into similar circumstances such as those living between 1934 and 2001. Reading Ehrenreich’s story and Olsen’s poem about people living in poverty and working in terrible conditions, makes you take a step back and realize the impact that our economy has on people like this. Like Ehrenreich says, you can work has hard as you possibly can and still come up short.