Here are some discussion questions pulled from the reader's guide at the back of the book, along with one or two of my own. Pick a couple questions you relate to and post your comments. Feel free to add your own questions or respond to previous comments.
* Have you ever held down two jobs to make ends meet? What is the lowest paying job you ever held, and what kind of help -- if any -- did you need to improve your situation?
* Have your perceptions of poverty and prosperity been changed by reading this book? How about your treatment of low-wage workers, such as waiters, maids and salespeople?
* Housing costs pose the greatest obstacle for low-wage workers, especially in places like the Bay Area. How have you dealt with the high cost of housing? Do you believe there are realistic solutions to the lack of affordable housing?
* Ehrenreich is white and middle class. She thinks her experience would have been different if she'd been a woman of color or a single parent. Do you? In what way?
* The workers in Nickel and Dimed receive almost no benefits. Is this fair? Do you think an increase in wages (say, to a so-called "living wage") would help make up for the lack of benefits...or is this a completely different problem?
* Nickel and Dimed takes place in 1998-2000, a time when the economy was booming. Do you think Ehrenreich's experience would be different in today's economy? How so?
* After reading Nickel and Dimed, do you think that the lower-income people who were recently evacuated from News Orleans and other damaged coastal cities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina will be able to afford to return?
If you'd like more information on Nickel and Dimed...or if you'd like you'd like to hear Barbara Ehrenreich talk about the book or read what others have said about it...or if you'd just like the "Cliff Notes" version of the book, here are some links to check out:
* The Nickel and Dimed web site, maintained by the Institute for Policy Studies, has links to a number of articles, interviews and resources related to the book
* Barbara Ehrenreich interview on Weekend Edition (NPR) interview, May 19, 2001 -- audio file
5 comments:
* The workers in Nickel and Dimed receive almost no benefits. Is this fair? Do you think an increase in wages (say, to a so-called "living wage") would help make up for the lack of benefits...or is this a completely different problem?
It is not fair that the employees in Nickel and Dimed did not receive medical benefits. These workers have physically demanding jobs that create potential physical and emotional injury. The employees should have the opportunity to seek medical attention at an affordable price when they need it.
An increase in wages would only solve part of the problem. Today, it seems rare to receive medical benefits from an employer. The employer follows certain rules that restrict benefits for employees. For example, I work in a production department. Even though I often work 20 hours per week, my medical benefits are not assured. As a full time student who works part time at $14.00 an hour, it is barely manageable to pay rent, pay for groceries, and pay for school supplies. Adding insurance costs to the list of expenses increases the financial strain.
With the increases in medical insurance costs, it seems almost impossible for a middle class family to include monthly medical payments in an already large list of monthly bills. Because medical procedures and medical insurance have become so expensive, employers seem less likely to offer medical benefits to their employees, which makes it almost impossible for a middle class family to afford medical insurance and have money left over. If employers offered medical benefits, I do believe the problem for employees would be less severe. I do not see this happening any time soon because health care has become too expensive for employers to offer medical benefits to its employees. If the price of medical procedures decreased, more employers would be willing to offer fully paid medical benefits to their employees.
Have your perceptions of poverty and prosperity been changed by reading this book? How about your treatment of low-wage workers, such as waiters, maids and salespeople?
A previous comment stated that employers should offer fully paid medical benefits to their employees. I agree. However, I do feel that this might create additional problems in the medical field. Since more people would be seeking medical treatment, hospitals and clinics would have to be able to provide the needed care, which could put a strain on the use of their funding/money and on their staff. More hospital workers would be needed, which would create more jobs, but would also cost more. This is a vicious cycle! Overall, I do feel that at least some medical benefits should be provided to all employees.
After reading Nickel and Dimed, I realized how awful it must be to be poor and trying to make ends meet. I also realized that, as bad as this may sound, society needs poor people to function. Otherwise, who would work in the cheap hotels and serve food to customers in restaurants at all hours of the night. If we were all rich and educated, there would be doctors, lawyers, and want-to-be presidents floating around everywhere. Money corrupts people. Even though Barbara might have gotten sick of her Styrofoam cups of soup and the convenience stored hot dogs, she probably learned to appreciate every meal instead of taking each one for granted.
This book really illuminated the fact that people do not treat the poor very well. Money, once again, corrupts people and takes their gratefulness away.
*Have you ever held down two jobs to make ends meet? What is the lowest paying job you ever held, and what kind of help -- if any -- did you need to improve your situation?
My father was working two jobs at one point. It was extremely difficult because he was working from 5:00am to 12:00 am. It was painful for me because I knew that he was always very tired, and that made me sad. I feel for anyone who does have to work two jobs.
The lowest paying job that I have ever worked paid me six dollars an hour. It was bad money, but I was in high school at the time and they were very flexible with the hours, so it had it's good sides.
How can the government possibly allow this to happen to it's own people? It is sad to know that the world's richest country doesn't step in to fix these issues. It is a heart felt issue when people have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meet. I remember running into a homeless man in L.A. last summer. He had come over from Hawaii to work. Once he got laid off he was virtually left with nothing. he couldn't get by and ended up being homeless. My friend and I gave him some money. I gave him $20 and my friend was kind enough to give him $50 as long as he promised to use the money to get back home to Hawaii. My friend gave him his number and to have the homeless man to give him a call when or if ever he gets back home to hawaii. 8 months later he called and told my friend he made it back. He had scrapped up every dollar he saved up and bought a ticket back home to Hawaii. He is now staying with his mom. The man was in his middle ages, I'd say arond mid 30's. Knowing that he made it back with the help we gave him nearly made me cry. Getting back to the point, I just don't the government does enough to help the people in most need. They have become to pre-occupied in whether they will be elcted or not. There should be a living allowance for all jobs in all counties that helps meet the criteria for standard living. To have these people who work for low paying jobs to not receive benefits is like a slap in the face. There needs to be more done because no one should spend their whole life working. That shouldn't be what life is about, although it is survival of the fittest.
This book painted a picture for me as to just how this problem goes by unnoticed. These people work ungodly hours so that we can get what we need more conveniently, and I believe they deserve better.
It is a shame that so few receive any benefits, because I think that is the least a company could do for its employees. The thought of a living wage sounds very nice, however I'm sure there would be many complications before being able to acheive something such as that.
The economy does not seem to be booming so much anymore, so I do believe that Ehrenreich would have more difficulty in todays time.
This makes me wonder what would happen for those evacuated from New Orleans. Many of them were in poverty, and I doubt many of them will be able to return because of the destruction, it would all just be too costly for them.
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