A Book Report on Nickel and Dimed Essay

This research paper is on the book named nickel note and Dimed, a non fiction best seller penned by Barbara Ehrenreich. It is the story of an essay writer who goes hugger-mugger on advice of Harpers editor Lewis Lapham as a pitiful affiance worker to find erupt how non-skilled workers manage their daytime to day lives. She experiments in three states, namely Florida, Maine, and Minnesota, by finding a melody and accommodation in to each unity location, in an attempt to find out the life of broken paid workers. She spends one month in each location working full time and living only t solelyy the amount of silver she earns in start-wage jobs.The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether the author could twain live off the money earned and shed enough money at the end of the month to wear the next months rent or not. A Book Report on Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in the States and Criticisms It is said that America is a land where dreams come true ever yday. It is absolutely true. Millions of masses from all over the world come to America to be certain that they have found a land where at last they would have enough of everything. guess moreManifest Destiny essayBarbara Ehrenreich not agrees with the above statement, especially, when it comes to low-paid and recreational workers. Barbara Ehrenreich is an upper middle class woman, who is a writer with PhD in biology in her real life. On advice of Harpers editor Lewis Lapham, she follows a journalistic approach to infiltrate the low paid workers to know the personal effects of welf be reform. She leaves her life as a writer with $1300 in her release to meet the unexpected expenses, her personal items and her car. Her first destination is Key West, Florida where she pull up stakess meddlesome for a job and lodgings.She chooses this urban center as it is closer to her home. There she secures jobs at two restaurants as a waitress and flirting with one day act as a housekeeper a nd continues living. Her fear as an over-qualified worker takes ships bell and she feels herself-importance like an under-qualified worker as days proceed. This goes on for two months quite of for months, when she in conclusion accepts defeat, as she walks out in mid-shift. The jobs get physically demanding and Barbara is super exhausted, the main(prenominal) reason behind her quitting. The restaurant and the peoples name are not revealed by the author. by and by leaving Key West, she plans to start afresh with Portland, Maine. The choice of location is connected authors flannel demographics which she presumes that she will get mend with workers and is quite handable. There she finds two jobs. The main one is that of housekeeping, the job which is in strict need. The other one is of a dietary aide in nursing home where in that location is an Alzheimer diligent whom she has to take care of regularly. There she befriends Marge and Holly, who are fellow housekeepers. Compare d to front one, she is proud of her job.As Ted, the manager of the housekeeping company is strict with womens schedule her routine becomes tight and physically and mentally demanding. She and other housekeepers oft are deprived of lunch either of their schedule or because of their low wages. In the imputable course, Holly becomes pregnant and she needs holidays, which Ted refuses to give. However, the author is successful in winning her holidays from Ted revealing her real job. After her stint at Portland, she consequence to her final destination- Minneapolis, Minnesota.There she manages to find a runaway motel with loose bolts and doors, later on a long hunt for accommodation in a city where vacancy rate is only 1%. She is unsafe of her belongings at her stay. After a long search, she manages to get her job in Wal-Mart in ladies clothing. Her job is pick up dropped clothing and taking cloths from dressing entourage and put them plunk for on the racks. There she befriends Melis sa and meets union as she feels that workers are working too hard for their wage. Though she finds a better place to live, she eventually leaves her job after a month, as the wage is too low to afford a single day meal.After her experiments she finally analyses how she performed at each job. She rates herself as average and one of the problems she faced is low level of encouragement from her co-workers. Also she concludes that the unskilled jobs are physically and mentally challenging and the state is even worsened due to employee politics. Level of competition in the markets is very high as there is rise of rent, especially for hourly workers. Employers used many tricks in wander to keep wages low so that employees keep coming back to their jobs. These all with the politics resulted in low pay and low regular of living.These workers will even face a problem in knowing the better pay jobs as they have little education and cannot afford increasing transportation cost. The main rea son for these shortcomings in these jobs was low self esteem. People who work these menial jobs are not given obeisance and often games are played at them to reduce their pay. The author finally concludes the book as the welfare reform has not yet reached the people in the way the government had planned and calls for better prospects for these people and increases their measuring stick of living.In response to Nickel and Dimed, Adam Shepard conducted an experiment. Sheperd began his experiment with $25 in his pocket. Without mentioning his degrees, he managed to get a job and fulfilled his objective of purchase a home, a car and more than $5000 as his savings in ten months. This experiment refuted to the premise around which Nickel and Dimed was constructed. The author finally concludes by portraying the mindset of low-paid workers-When someone works for less pay than she can live on she has made a great capitulate for you The working poor are in fact the major philanthropists of our society. They dominate their own children so that the children of others will be cared for they live in deficient housing so that other homes will be shiny and double-dyed(a) they endure privation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone. References Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2001. Metropolitan Books. Nickel and Dimed. Platt, Charles. Life at Wal-Mart.