Nickel and Dimed is a big departure from my typical reading, even my non-fiction reading. The events related in the book took place between spring 1998 and summer 2000. “Ethnography” is a scholarly term for the anthropological study of human cultures. Nickel and Dimed is a non-fiction work that can be described as an ethnography or investigative journalism. Ehrenreich took an immersive approach to her research: she worked in low-wage jobs, such as food service and housecleaning, in order to better understand these workers’ lives. The Question and Answer section for Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. is she successful or not? 2 NICKEL AND DIMED Praise for Nickel and Dimed "A brilliant on-the-job report from the dark side of the boom. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Questions and Answers. Is society better off because Ehrenreich does not personally hire a maid? Barbara’s goal was to find if she would be able to live off the money she earned, and … Written from her perspective as an undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in the United States. Ehrenreich describes personality tests, questionnaires designed to weed out incompatible potential employees, and urine drug tests, increasingly common in the low wage market, arguing that they deter potential applicants and violate liberties while having little tangible positive effect on work performance. ... Word Count: 717; Approx Pages: 3; Grade Level: High School Ehrenreich investigates many of the difficulties low wage workers face, including the hidden costs involved in such necessities as shelter (the poor often have to spend much more on daily hotel costs than they would pay to rent an apartment if they could afford the security deposit and first-and-last month fees) and food (e.g., the poor have to buy food that is both more expensive and less healthy than they would if they had access to refrigeration and appliances needed to cook). Did Ehrenreich make a good low-wage worker? And their behavior is anxious and withdrawn.”. Her first rule is she could not (in her job hunt) “fall back on any skills derived from any education or usual work (Pg 4 The Question and Answer section for Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Select Your Cookie Preferences. Your answers should appear in complete sentences and paragraphs, be sufficiently developed to display high school level writing and analysis skills and be supported with specific examples and direct, cited evidence from the text. With nearly a million copies in print, Nickel and Dimed is a modern classic that deftly portrays the plight of America's working-class poor. Buy Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America Unabridged by Barbara Ehrendreich, Cristine McMurdo-Wallis (ISBN: 9781419346996) from Amazon's Book Store. support@proficientwritershub.com, https://proficientwritershub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/proficentwritershub.png. How would a low wage worker fare in the absence of this convenience? Word Count: 681; Approx Pages: 3; Save Essay ; View my Saved Essays ; Downloads: 39; Grade level: High School Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity — a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate strategies for survival. The author concludes that someday, low-wage workers will rise up and demand to be treated fairly, and when that day comes everyone will be better off. Barbara Ehrenreich 's Nickel And Dimed 2236 Words | 9 Pages. Judge OKs Ex-Waitress's Suit Over Bestseller's Cover, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nickel_and_Dimed&oldid=975515579, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 28 August 2020, at 23:31. Ehrenreich makes an appearance in the documentary The American Ruling Class in 2007. I hoped it might help me understand their experiences and their choices a little more. "Nickel and Dimed" has been on my radar for years. She argues that 'help needed' signs do not necessarily indicate a job opening; more often their purpose is to sustain a pool of applicants in fields that have notorious rapid turnover of employees. Word Count: 536. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Nickel and Dimed taps into a long American tradition of “muckraking” journalism, in which writers investigate abject social conditions and corrupt corporations in order to promote reform. Ehrenreich’s life was made much easier by the availability of a car. This engrossing piece of undercover reportage is a New York Times best-seller. [5] After the release of Nickel and Dimed, Christianson filed suit against the book's publishers, arguing that they used her picture without her consent. What is the author trying to prove in this book? A journalist with a Ph.D. in cell biology, she found that manual labor required incredible feats of stamina, focus, memory, quick thinking, and fast learning. What impact does it have on modern day American economics?6 pages double spaced, not including the cover page. Following are analytical questions for you to answer regarding your reading of Nickle and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America study guide. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Written from her perspective as an undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in the United States. Nickel and Dimed Essay Sample. Ehrenreich writes that hiring a cleaning person was “not the kind of relationship that she wanted to have with another human being.”  What does she mean? Nickel and Dimed On (not) Getting by in America (Book) : Ehrenreich, Barbara : In an attempt to understand the lives of Americans earning near-minimum wages, Ehrenreich works as a waitress in Florida, a cleaning woman in Maine, and a sales clerk in Minnesota. Type: Ehrenreich concludes with the argument that all low-wage workers, recipients of government or charitable services like welfare, food, and health care, are not simply living off the generosity of others. In the book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, doesn’t talk much about the issue of mental health, but what she does say is “forced into a subordinate status within their social systems. (2008). Additionally, she describes her managers changing her shift schedule from week to week without notifying her. An earlier version appeared as an article in the January 1999 issue of Harper's magazine. Show More. Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor. She wanted to find out how non-skilled workers made ends meet. Reference List. Starting in 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich spent several months working low-wage jobs in different cities around the United States in an attempt to experience what it was like to be one of America's working poor. Los Angeles, CA, United States, +1 (657) 363 4469 She feels she’ll fit in as an English-speaking Caucasian in search of low-wage work. Why didn’t the low wage workers just switch to higher paying jobs (Ehrenreich notes that there were higher paying jobs available)? Given the historical patterns of childcare and the current trends in child custody in divorce cases, would these challenges fall more heavily upon low wage women? Nickel and Dimed fits clearly in a tradition of investigative journalism where the writer infiltrates a marginalized group, posing as one of them to find out what life is truly like. 1376 Words 6 Pages. toilet-cleaning and mopping). Nickel and Dimed is about a woman, Barbara Ehrenreich, working at a number of low-income jobs and writing about the experience. Nickel and Dimed. [3] Similarly, Charles Platt, an author and former senior editor at Wired magazine, took an entry-level job at a Wal-Mart store and recounted his experience on the blog Boing Boing. Instead, she suggests, we live off their generosity: When someone works for less pay than she can live on … she has made a great sacrifice for you … The "working poor" … are in fact the major philanthropists of our society. I decided to read it because someone I love is also a low-wage worker who is not getting by in America. Our mission is to promote academic success by providing students with superior research and writing, produced by exceptional writers and editors. Introduction Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America was the first book of its type that I’ve ever read, a real life analysis of what its like to “live in poverty,” working minimum wage … Unless you count Budgie, Ehrenreich had no real family responsibility during her experiment. While I am glad I read it, I can't say I was all that impressed. They become depressed. She portrays her life undercover working as a waitress and is accompanied by a musical rendition titled "Nickeled and Dimed". How would her routine have changed if she were responsible for children? Many of the workers encountered in the book survive by living with relatives or other persons in the same position, or even in their vehicles. Book Review on Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Nickel & Dimed is about her ecperiences as the traveled around america trying to make ends meet just like millions of Americans do everyday. Dr. Matthew Basso Honors 2212 10 December 2015 Word Count: 923 Nickel and Dime Class Citizenship Essay Andrew Carnegie once said “Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself”. What could she have done differently to make her circumstances easier to manage? How would her economic circumstances have changed? The photo of Christianson was taken in 1986 for an unrelated Fortune cover. Ehrenreich, B. How would such a relationship be similar to or different from the one’s that she must have with the person that changes the oil in her car, or the person who cuts the meat that she buys at her grocery store, or the person who cleans the offices in the building that she might work in at her real job? Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. The Progressive Era, around the turn of the 20th century, was witness to multiple muckraking exposés. [4], The book's cover features a waitress, Kimmie Jo Christianson, giving a worried look over her shoulder. Your responses should be an example of your best efforts. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Chapter One: Service in Florida (pages 1-50), Chapter Two: Scrubbing in Maine (pages 51-120), Chapter Three: Selling in Minnesota (pages 121-192). Nonetheless, as pointed out earlier, many of the issues she has raised are factual. To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone. 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. Constant and repeated movement creates a risk of repetitive stress injury; pain must often be worked through to hold a job in a market with constant turnover; and the days are filled with degrading and uninteresting tasks (e.g. Ethnographies are based on fieldwork, in which the ethnographer collects data … Introduction In the beginning of Nickle and Dimed, the main character and author, Barbara Ehrenreich establishes regulations and limits on how close she is actually willing to get to poverty. His account reaffirmed some of Ehrenreich's experience, including the low pay and tedious nature of the job, but Platt also reported positive experiences with supervisors, safety training incentives, and employee autonomy and treatment. Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich's perspective and for a rare view of how "prosperity" looks from the bottom. Following are analytical questions for you to answer regarding your reading of Nickle and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. On p. 91. Barbara chooses Maine because of how white it is—from college students and professors to the hotel housekeepers and cab drivers. She also details several individuals in management roles who served mainly to interfere with worker productivity, to force employees to undertake pointless tasks, and to make the entire low-wage work experience even more miserable. She also comments that she believes they are a way for an employer to relay to an employee what is expected of them conduct wise. Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich's perspective and for a rare view of how "prosperity" looks from the bottom. How would if affect their labor supply and housing decisions? The book was first published in 2001 by Metropolitan Books. It is not a book report but it is a paper dissecting the premise of the author and the authors purpose. They neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared for; they live in substandard housing so that other homes will be shiny and perfect; they endure privation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. Barbara moves to three different cities in the United States to experience poverty and working conditions in those cities. The case was later dismissed as part of a settlement.[5]. In her book Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By In America, journalist Barbara Ehrenreich conducted ethnographic research to study what it’s like to be a low-wage worker in the United States. In the book of Nickel and Dimed, the author Barbara Ehrenreich, decided to go undercover as a low wage worker. An iconic symbol of America’s working poor is the self-made man (individual), the apex of economic citizenship in America. Nickel and Dimed In this spec mortgage company commercial, a smarmy salesman nickel and dimes an unassuming borrower who is trying to complete a home loan application. In ten months, Shephard was able to land a job which paid well enough to buy a pickup truck and rent his own apartment. She also posits that one low-wage job is often not enough to support one person (let alone a family); with inflating housing prices and stagnant wages, this practice increasingly becomes difficult to maintain. In 2019, the book was ranked 13th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best books of the 21st century.[1]. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Questions and Answers. Nickel and dimed: on (not) getting by in America. On Politics, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "Biden proposal for stimulus to include raising minimum wage" - Page 6. Nickel and Dimed November 22, 2020 / in / by admin. Foremost, Ehrenreich attacks the notion that low-wage jobs require only unskilled labor. Ehrenreich later wrote a companion book, Bait and Switch (published September 2005), which discusses her attempt to find a white-collar job. 1818 N Vermont Ave Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Nickel and Dimed: Undercover in Low-wage USA at Amazon.com. 4.5 The Carbondale Hospital is considering the purchase of a new ambulance.... MKT 571 Week 3 Segmentation and Target Market Paper (Need 100% Original). "[2], Some critiques contrasted similar projects to Ehrenreich's such as the one described by Adam Shepard in Scratch Beginnings of starting homeless in a new state with only $25 in his pocket. No one since H. L. Mencken has assailed the smug rhetoric of prosperity with such scalpel-like precision and ferocious wit." Barbara Ehrenreich states in her book that her goal is to "see whether or not I could match income to expenses, as the truly poor attempt to do every day. It's considered a modern classic in several disciplines, including journalism, sociology and economics. [5][6] In 2007, a judge ruled that the lawsuit could go ahead, because the cover was not part of Ehrenreich's narrative and was part of the publisher's selling of the book. 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. The thought provoking book, Nickel and Dimed, was well-written and it is worth reading for opening the eyes of the readers regarding minimum wage employment in America. What circumstances discourage low wage workers from seeking out and taking the best paying job that they can find. 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