Reaction Paper About Nickel And Dimed

Week Three Reaction Paper The reading for week three focuses on analyzing the information uncovered by Ehrenreich. The purpose of the Evaluation was to highlight key social problems apparent in the field findings of the three cities Ehrenreich visited. In this week’s reading section, the author focuses strongly on her Minneapolis and Portland experiences. The main points Ehrenreich writes about are unionization, wage, and housing costs. Walmart, one focal point of the section, embodies many of the social and economic problems that Nickel and Dimed brings to question. Ehrenreich notices while at Walmart that workers are unaware of the indignities taking place in the workplace. Many employees lack the education, confidence, and opportunities

Although the wage is being increased frequently, the cost of other necessities also increase at a faster rate that is not being accounted for. The author explains that this society is shaped around hiding poverty from the public, also referred to as “money taboo”. An example, Ehrenreich explains, is the lack of low-wage search help from the media. Many employees often don’t share wages from their jobs in fear of a sense of outcast. Thus, many well-paying jobs go under the radar. Minimum wage employers, such as Walmart, eat up the ignorance of the working class. Such companies resist increasing the wage by promoting flashy “benefits” for workers instead. Ehrenreich explains that in a world where the rich overshadow the poor, low-cost housing can easily be overbid by the rich. As seen in her time in Minnesota, Ehrenreich could not find low-cost housing affordable on her Walmart wage. Even the borderline affordable motels lacked safety and cleanliness. In the Evaluation, Ehrenreich sums up the social and economic problems that seem to be apparent throughout the book. She also effectively highlights the issues of the legitimate lower-class workers she encounters. Ehrenreich incorporates prior knowledge of her specialty into