Preview

Nickel And Dimed Chapter 2 Summary

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
207 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Nickel And Dimed Chapter 2 Summary
In "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich, Chapter 1 introduces her experience of living in low-wage jobs in America. The chapter highlights the challenges of finding a job that pays enough to cover living expenses, as well as the physical and mental toll of working low-wage jobs. It sheds light on the systemic issues that lead to poverty and inequality, and calls for systemic change to improve the lives of low-wage workers.

Chapter 2 explores the challenges of low-wage jobs in Minnesota. The chapter highlights the physical and emotional toll of working in the service industry, as well as the lack of support and respect shown to low-wage workers by their employers and society. It also calls attention to the need for systemic change to address

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich explores the dynamics of social stratification by gender in working class America. Similarly to race, Ehrenreich shows how gender and gender roles are a part of a closed system in the American workforce. One can first see this early on in the book when Ehrenreich works as a waitress. Ehrenreich describes a dynamic in this work setting in which female workers are subservient to a dominant male manager who is very critical. She mainly shows this by introducing the reader to Joan,…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel-and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, she investigates whether welfare reform programs are appropriate in aiding women in poverty and that these institutions will affect their economic and social mobility in the future.…

    • 2196 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Whereas, In Nickel and Dimed on (not) getting by in America, which was our third book review an experiment of living the life of an average person on minimum wage conducted by Barbara Enrenreich. The reason as stated in the initial review was to see if Enrenreich,”could match income to expenses, as the truly poor attempt to do every day “(Nickel and Dimed, 6). In chapter eight of the Doob text labeled under “Poor People Work” one of the factors listed that affected employment opportunities were minimum wage. It basically discussed how the minimum wage is not very beneficial for people living in poverty. (You hear in the news and constantly displayed through different forms of the media that the American Dream is the golden ticket) Well how…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to these low paying jobs people are forced to live in cheap hotels or even their car, because they can't afford enough to live. Managers are given more for doing less than someone who is running around and working for hours which are seemed to be unfair to many in a busy workplace. Politizane’s, Wealth Inequality in America argues that the gap of how who is rich, poor and middle class is very uneven in America. In the video they give an example that 4% of the nation's money goes to the 1% of people who happen to be known as rich. I agree with all the following argument due to all of the opportunities given by Canada or America placed unfairly. I strongly agree with Barbara Ehrenreich's piece of Serving in Florida. In the community of Rochester minimum wage is set at $7.75, with a full time job at the end of the year an individual with minimum wage of about 15,080. A car may cost 10,000 and a house is much more. I agree with the fact of people making minimum wage do not have enough to live but I disagree with the fact that they do more than people who are doing other work. In Rochester, Mayo Clinic and IBM happen to be the biggest…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this final chapter, Edin and Shaefer wrap up all of the hardships that $2 a day households endure while trying to maintain barebones survival. In their conclusion, they highlight several important points, but two stuck out to me. The first is that everyone deserves the opportunity to work; whether it be a job in the private sector or a job formed out of government-subsidies. Additionally, another main point in this chapter is that the government’s current safety net for the poor needs a large scale revision. Although it benefits some, it completely overlooks those that are in the biggest need of assistance: the $2 a day poor.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the selection "Nickeled and Dimed in America" the author talks about the struggles that a maid faces every day. How they make minimal money to follow absurd rules and get treated like a second hand citizen daily. They would not be able to smoke before work, or during work, curse, even if there is no one in the house. The maid service companies would also charge 25 dollars, the maids would only make $6.65 for each hour that they have worked. For the amount of work that a maid, or someone who works inside cleaning a house does, they deserve a lot more than just $6.65 and hour, which no one can make a life off of that anyways.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nickel And Dimed

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Through Ehrenreich's experiences she proves that even while being a hard worker who is driven by determination there is no possible way for any US citizen living off minimum wage to achieve the goal of the American Dream. For example The prosperity that was achieved by the middle-upper classes was causing rents to rise, leaving those on society’s bottom classes sandwiched between wages that remained lower than 1973 levels and housing that was quickly becoming unaffordable and…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Morgan Spurlock's 30 days on minimum wage was a documentary that really highlights the struggles of living on the bare minimum. I would be lying if I told you that I watched the documentary in your class, due to the fact that I was asleep, but because Economics is my priority I watched the documentary on my own. I am very fortunate to say that I make above minimum wage, even though I don't have many expenses I do make more than the average student my age. What really struck me in this documentary was that I, a seventeen year old high school student, am making more than adults attempting to support themselves and their families. I grew up in a family that frequently financially struggled…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    NICKEL AND DIMED

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages

    After reading about the travels Barbara Ehrenreich took in the book Nickel and Dimed as an attempt to “discover some hidden economies in the world of the low-wage worker” to Florida, Maine, and Minnesota, I have been able to deepen my understanding of the harsh reality people face while working in low income jobs. (Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, p. 3) She undertook several different types of low wage jobs such as a waitress, hotel housekeep, nursing home cook, maid and a retail associate. The workers she encountered in the low-income workforce struggle daily with the grueling task of trying to find affordable and safe housing, medical insurance, fair workplaces, and many other different issues that apart of trying to survive on minimum wage. Barbara’s adventures have opened my eyes to the rude reality that most low-wage workers truly face.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The problem addressed in this dissertation, is that the current federal minimum wage laws in the United States (US) is inconsistent across the country. (Addison et al, 2013) While policy makers are undecided whether to sign a new federal minimum wage bill into law, the minimum wage earners are held in a quandary. Due to several states and various industries being exempt from the minimum wage laws, wages will remain imbalanced. (Clain, 2012) Some of these industries include, switchboard operators, retail workers (non-managers), farm workers, and workers with disabilities. (DOL, 2016) While in the past, 29 states to include Alaska, Delaware, and Rhode Island policy makers were successful in establishing a minimum wage policy to increase wages…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the city, minimum wage was eleven dollars per hour (Columbian 1). A team of economists at the University of Washington said, “Increased wages were offset by modest reductions in employment and hours, thereby limiting the extent to which higher wages directly translated to higher average earnings” (Columbian 1). Low-wage workers have few jobs and less hours because minimum wage has not increased (Columbian 1). Increasing minimum wage will not hurt the workers or companies; they want to find a nice minimum wage that helps the economy (Columbian 1). Minimum wage will be higher in the rural areas (Columbian 1). This article was exceedingly important because it shows what companies think and what it is like in the city. The question is not fully answered; we still don’t know what the higher class thinks about raising minimum…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Minimum Wage Job Analysis

    • 1874 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Nowadays, any parent with children could not sustain a decent life working at $7.25 an hour. However, it is the individual’s skills, determination, and education which determines to whether that individual would have a low-income job or not. The minimum wage is the first steps of any person who begins climbing toward the top of the economic ladder obtaining experience, knowledge, and motivation in the process. Nowadays, groups and unions of employees are demanding an increase in the minimum wage. To them, their lives are packed of struggles fronting poverty; however, several of them are unskilled individuals that are lacking of professional educational knowledge. On this paper, it will be shown four important keys about minimum wage jobs. First,…

    • 1874 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Miller, G (2004) Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-Mart (Online), available,…

    • 2430 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The whole point of Nickel and Dimed is to show the cycle that people are put in when they are situational forced to take the low income jobs that are impossible to work out of. The lack of power, or money in the capitalist state, creates a vacuum of opportunity to a large percentage of Americans that are placed in unprivileged…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Low Paying Jobs

    • 1700 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Based on the essay “Selling and Minnesota” I believe that low paying jobs have a negative effect on a person’s personality. In addition, I think that low paying job is an opportunity, on the other hand a barrier of achieving success and a finer future. Mostly, low paying jobs is an opportunity for teenagers. In the U.S, teenagers could start working at the age sixteen, so I think it’s really fantastic that you don’t need to depend on your parents for everything, and you can even help them financially. At the same time, low paying jobs could be a burden, it could stop you from accomplishing your dreams and goals, and also from a successful life.…

    • 1700 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays