Rating: 
Summary: First hand look at the indignities of low-wage work
Review: The author's experiences as a low-wage worker leave little doubt as to the near impossibility of supporting one's self on wages of $7.00 an hour. However, it is pretty obvious in this multi-month experiment that the author was never subjected to the gut-wrenching fear of being without money for life's essentials: she could and did bail out or fall back on resources from her affluent life when she felt the squeeze. But the book is only partly about the wage squeeze that the lower echelon of our work force must endure. It is the conditions of employment that the author describes and experienced that drives the book. As the author moves from waitressing, to cleaning houses, and to being a Wal-Mart associate it becomes obvious that the industrial relations of low-wage jobs exact a very burdensome toll. In low-wage work the distinction between management and employee is emphasized: the employee is not to be trusted and is required to follow exacting rules of work enforced by close supervision or the threat of surveillance. The personality screening and drug testing that occur when being hired stress to the new employee the inequality of the employment relationship. It is a lesson to be absorbed and not forgotten. The author was forced to fight the fatigue, frustration, and even boredom of the low-wage jobs as constructed by the employers. Even a few moments of dignity and self-respect that originate from a job well done cannot offset the controlled and demanding nature of low-wage work. The author is obviously an advocate for unempowered low-wage workers. But in what may be the most disturbing point of the book, the author admits to finding little in the way of understanding among her low-wage co-workers of their conditions of employment or of class relations in general - many even were mostly concerned with satisfying unreasonable managerial expectations. Such is one of the effects of many low-wage work regimes. In a era when welfare has been reformed right out of the consciousness of most Americans, this book attempts to place the very real poverty of millions of hard-working Americans back on the radar screen.
Rating: 
Summary: How the Working Poor Are Abused
Review: "How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled?" That's the fundamental question that Dr. Ehrenreich set out to answer by living as an unskilled person in Key West, Portland Maine, and Minneapolis. Basically, she couldn't make it work very well at all, despite having many advantages over the typical worker in these jobs. Along the way, she meets many people who make it work better, but are still being ground down by their fragile economic and work status. This book reminds me of the classic sociological exposes where the author set out to try the role of the downtrodden on for size. Her conclusion is that "no job, no matter how lowly, is truly unskilled." These are hard jobs. Despite her association with wanting to be a pleasant, helpful person, Dr. Ehrenreich soon begins to see customers as the enemy in her service jobs. Interestingly, her co-workers can keep a friendly, cooperative attitude better than she can. Although there is anger in her report, there is also much humor (often aimed at herself and the managements of the companies involved) and praise for her "unskilled" colleagues as they cope with housing and medical costs that soar much more rapidly than their wages in an America where income and wealth are growing best for the richest and most well educated. Her rules for this experiment were simple. She would not use her educational skills, she would take the highest paying job offered to her, and find the cheapest place to live. Unlike many poor people, she started off with enough cash to make down payments and place security deposits on apartments. She also could rent a car, so she had more choices of places to live and work. She did not have children with her, as many "unskilled" new workers coming off of welfare do. Despite her best intentions, she bent all of these rules. You would have done the same. She lived in some pretty scary places, and probably placed her life more at risk than this book indicates. We should all be grateful for her courage and her willingness to share what she learned in such an accessible and interesting form. Based on her experiences and what people told her who were her co-workers, it is only possible to succeed with these jobs if you hold at least two of them. You also have to have some way to get between the two jobs, and some method of finding an inexpensive place to live. Your best bet is to share housing with friends or relatives. You won't have access to the time and information to find a better job very easily, and will find yourself worn down by the constant surveillance, high workloads, and physical demands of your work. One of the most interesting parts of the book is that she raises the question of whether the currently free market for labor is the best approach. There are other costs. Turnover is high in these jobs, and supervisory costs are also high. If people liked the jobs and stayed longer, profits would be higher and costs lower. In some jobs, it was typical for people to leave after only one day. Also, there are social costs in terms of children who don't get help, medical needs that are untreated, and criminal behavior that is encouraged. The problems described here seem to be typical for restaurant, "unskilled" health care, retailing, cleaning, and lodging workers. The number of these jobs will keep growing. I hope that people who own or manage businesses will take the time to consider how they can redesign jobs in order to pay better wages to "unskilled" people, so that a living wage is available. I also hope that the same consideration will be provided for these workers as for the scarce technical talent that is so often wooed. Also, think about how you treat such workers when you are a customer for these services. How can you be more considerate? Uphold dignity, respect, and opportunity for each person!
Rating:
Summary: Response to the one-star people
Review: It's interesting to read the few one-star reviews of this book because they indicate exactly how the free-market people (and the Republicans) justify the growing gap between rich and poor.
The argument goes something like this. Find a person who actually did manage to succeed from a low-wage background, then generalize "if one person can do it, so can everyone else." This plays nicely into the American as individualist mythos as well as the "capitalism provides everyone with an equal opportunity" idea. The problem is that such success depends as much on outside factors as it does on one's own efforts--which is just the point the Ehrenreich tries to make. Perhaps housing and utilities are cheap in Houston, but that doesn't mean they're cheap or even readily available elsewhere. Having a car is nice, but the cost of a vehicle often includes insurance which can be the real killer (let alone rising gas prices). Budgetting that works in one place might be meaningless elsewhere. And, as Ehrenreich points out, what really hammers the low-wage people is the occasional unforseen expense. Tripping and nearly breaking her ankle can hardly be blamed on the maid she writes about, but paying for treatment of that injury could wipe out what little she might have saved. (And, as the author notes, she DOESN'T have her ankle looked at, which could produce larger problems down the road that may be MORE EXPENSIVE to treat or could prevent her from getting a better job.) Or lets look at the so-called "new" economy, which requires computer skills. Many working poor lack the time or opportunity to acquire these skills. As this technology grows more and more prevalent, they fall farther and farther behind. Once again, the poor end up being marginalized. While it's nice that the one-star people managed to escape the low-wage pit, their lack of sympathy for those still in it is appalling. But, it's that lack of sympathy that has allowed the Republicans to win office. Moreover, it's that lack of sympathy that has allowed CEOs to line their pockets with outrageous compensation packages while minimum wage workers continue to struggle to climb to some modicum of the American dream. (Those who succeed deserve to succeed handsomely; those who fail deserve to suffer.) Contrary to what most people seem to want to believe, earning a low wage does NOT mean someone doesn't have a work ethic or wants to welch off the state. (No one in Ehrenreich's book seems to be a slacker.) If it did, there would be a major movement among the low wage earners to vote themselves benefits. Instead, they also believe the mythos that anyone can succeed in America and most of them work hard to try to reach that goal. Yet, the one-star people fall into the trap of blaming those who struggle for their own struggles. It's a simplistic argument but such demonization seems to play well for votes. (So does the tactic of resorting to economic arguments as if they were unrefutably proven scientifically. Economic theorists can only describe trends and their predictions grow less and less accurate the closer one gets to the ground.) Both approaches ignore the many factors that influence a person's economic life in favor of the idea that "if they just work harder..." Sure, making sure people work hard is good for society, but making sure they're rewarded for their hard work is also important. (After all, there are many stories of CEOs who are handsomely rewarded for driving their companies into the ground. Shouldn't they be demonized just as much as those welfare cheats?) It's time for people to get a balanced view of people's individual economic value rather than attack the poor for their problems. It's hard to believe, I know, but most poor people don't want to be poor.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretending Poverty
Review: Nickel and Dimed is a sometimes witty and often disturbing glimpse into the daily life of America's working poor. However, Ehrenreich's treatment of the subject brings to mind the exploits of the Civil Rights Freedom Riders of the 1960s--affluent, college-educated students who traveled from northern universities into the heart of the Deep South to help combat racial injustice. The only problem with their experience--and Ehrenreich's book about the working poor--was that the Freedom Riders were almost always people who experienced racial injustice as outside observers. They never actually faced racial apartheid as Black persons in a predominantly White-controlled South. After completing their good works, most Freedom Riders returned to comfortable middle-class homes and families, free to pursue their dreams as White Americans. Ehrenreich's book suffers from the same dearth of perspective. Try as she might to convince the reader that she truly understood what it was like to be a member of the working poor, she always knew that in a moment of desperation she could reach for her Visa card and seek temporary (or permanent) respite from her travails. Poverty, as Ehrenreich so aptly described it, is a hellish trap for many minimum-wage workers. However, the knowledge that one is poor and most likely will always remain so is horribly dispiriting, and this essence--utter hopelessness caused by the knowledge that one is and may always be poor--is glaringly absent from Ehrenreich's narrative. For those who want to learn more about plight of America's working poor, Ehrenreich's treatise is a provocative if somewhat sesquipedalian look at their lives.
Rating:
Summary: the hopelessness is in the details
Review: What does it mean to work like the devil at one, two or more jobs and still not be able to afford a decent place to live or decent food? What does it mean to then turn on the TV and see some one-in-ten-million proclaim, "if you can dream it, you can do it?" What does it mean when a good employer is one that will let you live in your car in the lot behind the business? Some argue that it is impossible to know what life is like for anyone other than yourself. This has the unhappy effect of leaving each of us trapped in our own little disconnected universe unable to communicate our most basic experiences or understand those of our neighbors. Barbara Ehrenreich proves otherwise. We can imagine. We can understand. We can empathize. Ms. Ehrenreich lives as best she can the life of a waitress, a maid and a sales person. She doesn't do very well. But then, neither do her co-workers. Employers and customers do what they can to make the employees' lives miserable. Low pay, long hours, no benefits and no way out is a sorry existence. Ms. Ehrenreich has a way out. She "pretends" at each job for a month, but even the "pretending" for such a short time is a near impossible task. Better, she understands and conveys to us the trapped, minimalized lives of her co-workers. A maid trips and falls. "'Something snapped,' she sobs. 'I heard it snap.'" Under duress from the author, she calls the boss - and appologizes! And keeps working. What Ehrenreich shows us is that low wage work destroys individuals, families and communities more effectively than any welfare system however maliciously designed. The ancient Egyptians developed an economic system unsurpassed at building huge temples and great pyramids. We have developed an economic system unsurpassed at making a few individuals and a few giant organizations unimaginably wealthy and powerful. The wealthy and powerful are our temples and pyramids. What we have yet to do is develop an economic system which is based upon and supports the freedom, dignity, needs and willingnes to work of each individual and community. Ms. Ehrenreich demonstrates that the mind numbing requirement that we extract every last sweat bead of profit from each transaction permits no time or resources for living a decent life. Barbara Ehrenreich has done us a service.
Rating:
Summary: ITS ALL ABOUT SURVIVAL!
Review: One does not need to go to the depths of the Amazon rain forests to learn how to survive. Take an employed person earning minimum wage, put a cloud of job security over their head, add to that financial debts, stress and a family to support (especially if you are a single parent) and you are living in a modern day concrete jungle. If you can survive these obstacles, you could probably write the book on survival. Barbara Ehrenreich deserves a medal and a thousand ovations for writing this sad but true account of what it is like to survive on miminum wage (if you you can even find employment) and the stigma that goes with existing as "financially poor." Notice, I said, "existing" not living. If you fall into the social class society refers to as "poor," you do not live from day to day - you exist. It takes every single penny earned just to survive. We can launch ships to the moon, pay exhorbitant dollars to run countries, build start-of-the-art facilities; meanwhile, we have people living on the street who cannot afford food or a roof over their head. In my opinion, there is something terribly wrong with this picture. I was a street counsellor for many years in a Canadian city, and believe me, it is one of life's a great myths and misunderstandings to assume all street people are addicts, criminals, emotional unbalanced and lazy individuals. There are many well-educated, kind, honest and harmless people out there, not by choice, but by circumstance. The only difference between the street people and ourselves is that we have been blessed with the opportunities they have not had. Ehrenreich discovered first hand what is what like to survive as one of the living poor. Even with the advantages of an education, a car and money for rent, she struggles to stay out of a shelter. I highly recommend this excellent, well written book. It is a factual and an honest-to-goodness eye-opener in what is is like to desperately try to survive in a world that is not always kind or caring. If you are fortunate enough not to fall into the income bracket of the financially poor, the book should leave you with a greater appreciation for what you have, for there are no guarantees of what tomorrow will bring to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Whine, Whine, Whine
Review: Barbara Ehrenreich has captured the essence of the "feel good" left positions perfectly in this book. More anti-American drivel from the socialist left who want to redistribute the nation's wealth. She fails to realize that her arguments are not only bad economics, but philosophically a slippery slope. She and her ilk fail to understand three of the most important things about living in our free society. First, no one is forcing anyone to work for minimum wage. Second, just as social security was not meant to provide a full comfortable retirement, minimum wage is not meant to be a living wage. Third, people must take responsibility for their actions. You should not have children if all you are capable of earning is minimum wage. But if you have not planned ahead, then get two or three minimum wage jobs. Of course the government rapes you in taxes when you do get multiple jobs, so aren't they the real enemy here? Ms. Ehrenreich suggests that a decent minimum wage would be something in the $14 per hour range. She lays blame on the middle and upper class for their apathy toward this "under class." Ms. Ehrenreich can take a flying leap. I worked my tail off along with many in my class to get where I am and combined with a little luck I am cutting my own path through life. Sure I hated working in poor conditions for low wages all the while paying my way through school, but that is what builds character and feeds the human need to experience the journey and all its fantasic ups and downs. For those Americans unwilling to partake in this glorious journey, then seek safe harbor elsewhere -just stay out of my pocket. Here's a novel idea: MOVE. Too lazy to move, ok, family, communities, synagogues, and churches all over the US have plenty of support systems to help you if you are in dire straits. Fortunately, Ms. Ehrenreich's ill-conceived positions are irrelevant not taken seriously by anyone of import. Her pedantic agenda is embraced only by the ivory tower elite, limousine liberals, and Fabian socialists -all of which have a combined IQ and capacity for critical thought equal to an amoebae.
Rating:
Summary: Minimum wage, maximum stress: who's getting away with what?
Review: If you've ever stayed in a motel, shopped at a Wal-Mart, visited someone in a nursing home, or casually, yea, righteously stiffed a waitress at a restaurant, your blindness to some of the issues affecting the working poor will be blown away after reading this unnerving little bombshell of a book. And if we were still engaged in a national War on Poverty, journalist Barbara Ehrenreich would deserve a Medal of Honor! Who knows what might happen if printouts of these customer reviews started showing up in the smoke holes and break rooms of various restaurants, box stores and nursing homes--along with directions to the nearest public library! To avoid any action that might be construed as copyright infringement, a safer course of action would be to donate copies of Nickle and Dimed to your local DHS office, churches, tech schools, job training centers, etc. It would be great, as well, to encourage our politicians and Chamber of Commerce members to read about this not-so-young woman's experiences while she was doing her undercover investigation of what it's like to live without adequate housing and transportation, much less the security of a good salary, health benefits, and retirement plan. Education can't be the whole answer to this problem. Someone will always have to be hired to provide these services. If people working fulltime are not able to get by in America, who's getting away with what? Ann Adams Cleary Bartlesville, OK
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Summary: Should be required reading for corporate VIPs
Review: I just finished Nickel and Dimed, and found it fascinating, often hilarious yet mostly heart-wrenching reading, and I learned a lot from it. I couldn't believe Wal-Mart - charging employees $1 for the privilege of wearing jeans to work on casual Fridays. With over 800,000 employees, that must be a great source of easy profit for them! This book opens your eyes to the plight of the working poor - and the author was healthy, had no kids to think about, and the knowledge that this was a temporary situation for her. I applaud her courage in undertaking this experiment. She's educated a great many people, and every corporate executive should be required to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Ehrenreich tells us what we'd rather not know
Review: Describing her efforts to survive on low wage jobs, as millions of Americans must do, Barbara Ehrenreich, who becomes "Barb" as an "associate" at Wal-mart putting back the garments "guests" have tried on and tossed, gives us an unforgettable reading experience. She tries to make it by the sweat of her brow in Key West, Florida; Portland, Maine; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition, to the Wal-mart job, in the course of the book she works as a waitress, food server in a nursing home, and household cleaning crew member. She allows herself a "Rent a Wreck" car in each city and it soon becomes obvious she could not have managed to even get to prospective jobs and possible housing without a vehicle. In her survival stint for purposes of writing this book, Ehrenreich does not encumber herself with any dependents, unlike many of her women co-workers. Nevertheless, as hard working, willing to live in dangerous dumps, and resourceful as she is, Ehrenreich cannot make a go of it. She cannot support herself on the money she makes, even though she is working full-time. The book is both heart breaking and funny, and is very well written. There are revelations on almost every page from the almost-comical: Wal-mart associates can only wear jeans on Fridays if they pay $1.00 for the privilege, to the incredible: statistics determining the poverty level in this country do not take skyrocketing housing costs into account, only the cost of subsistence type food. The book is an eye-opener and deserves the widest possible readership.
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