Nickel And Dimed Analysis

Wage: The Realities

When it comes to the working class, minimum wage is such a debatable topic. From about two dollars an hour waiting tables, to about seven working in retail, people are wondering why they don’t get paid more by the hour for all the work they put into their jobs day by day. Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of Nickel and Dimed investigates the realities of minimum wage jobs, and with using her work and other resources, the effects physically, mentally, and financially can be determined. Also, the perspective of society in general when it comes to the peculiar topic can be evaluated.

For instance, Ehrenreich in her novel goes undercover by moving across the country and willingly attempts waitressing, being a hotel maid, house

cleaner, nursing home aide, and a Walmart associate in three different states. One of the hardships she faced with her low wage jobs was the physical exertion she faced when she was working.

A lot of her shifts were very lengthy, such as nine hour shifts, which caused her to develop back pains. She even talks about how she was so relieved when at the church she attended that “one of the ten or so men on the stage orders us to stand and start singing, because the folding chair is torturing my overworked back” (67). AFL-CIO.com explains that low wage workers are hit a lot harder when injuries happen. “First, they lose pay because the vast majorities (more than 80%) of low wage workers don’t have any paid sick leave to take time off to recover. Second, not only does the paycheck shrink, but because of inadequate workers’ compensation laws, they must shoulder a bigger portion of their health care costs with those smaller paychecks” (AFL-CIO). This is very evident in Ehrenreich’s book. While waitressing at Jerry’s, Ehrenreich talks about Lucy, who is an older waitress, is suffering from a leg issue that cannot be diagnosed unless she has health insurance. When Ehrenreich is working for The Maids in Maine, a co-worker named

Holly, injures herself on the job and cannot work. However, Ted, the boss at The Maids, is still asking her to work, and in Barbara’s words, is putting, “money above his employees” (110). Holly cannot afford to take any sick leave, so she hops around on her foot to keep cleaning at the current house they’re at. According to the center for economic and policy research, “Health-insurance premiums have also increased enormously when expressed in terms of the minimum wage”. The financial numbers have increased drastically. “In 1979, one year of individual health insurance cost a minimum wage worker 130 hours. By 2011, the same average cost 749 hours”. It doesn’t get any better for families either. The cost for families went up 1,750 hours in the time span of 1979-2011. If low wage job workers cannot afford healthcare, how are employees expected to provide their best efforts when they cannot even stand up or sit down because of an injury they cannot heal?
In addition with physical exertion, finances can play a big role when it comes to minimum wage jobs.

On page 213 in her evaluation, Ehrenreich goes on to saying that the result with keeping wages low is that “many people earn far less than they need to live on”. She goes on explaining how research was done that the average “living wage” for a family of one adult and two children is thirty thousand a year, with a wage of fourteen dollars an hour. Ehrenreich continues with saying that “this is not the very minimum such a family could live on; the budget includes health insurance, a telephone, and child care at a licensed center, for example, which are well beyond the reach of millions. But it doesn’t include restaurant meals, video rentals, internet access, wine and liquor, cigarettes, and lottery ticket, or even very much meat” (213). She ends this point with explaining that, “The shocking thing is that the majority of American workers, about 60 percent, earn less than $14 an hour” (213). If low wage workers want to make more, it looks like they have to find their significant other before that would happen. It’s really disheartening that you have to eat a small bag of chips for lunch because the pay is so low.

As financial issues take part with minimum wage, so does your mentality. Ehrenreich believes that if we are such a free democratic country, why do we have to “check our civil liberties out the door, leave America and all it supposedly stands for behind, and learn to zip

our lips for the duration of the shift?” (210). She endures with talking about how working a low wage job is kind of like a authoritarianism environment, and if you are reminded of how lowly your status is and getting drug tested and everything else, it can change your mindset, even when you can increase your self-esteem with your thoughts.
Although low wage jobs might seem to make people depressed, they try to make the best of it. Ehrenreich asks in her work on page 178, “Why does anybody put up with the wages we’re paid?” You can tell from the book that the employees are okay with the wages they’re paid. She goes on by explaining that most of her current co-workers live with spouses, and that the cook at the Radio Grill has two jobs. She sits in the back with one of her co-workers one evening and she finds out that she has another job working at a factory for nine dollars an hour. The other lady says it is what she’s always done, even when Ehrenreich asks if she gets worn out. You see no issues with employees, and that they put persistence into their everyday lives, even when it’s tough.