Nickel and Dimed Book Report
From ThePlaz.com
Macro Economics Nickel and Dimed (Amazon) Book Report
Contents |
Summary
Nickel and Dimed is about a well-off author, Barbara Enrenreich, and her experience when she sets aside her college education, white collar job, and joins the ranks of workers living near minimum wage. During her experiment, she struggles to just get by; becoming ever more hopeless toward the end. She jumps from job to job, always searching the want ads for opportunities, and avoiding the wrath of the management. She points out the problem of the poor, without enough money upfront, they are stuck paying much higher amounts on room and credit cards to live paycheck to paycheck. In addition, firms are only interested in hiring drug-free people good at following orders, and ones which don't steal company time. Affordable housing is very, very hard to come by she finds. Overall, her experiences were less the positive.
My Review
Nickel and Dimed scared me into making sure I get a good education, and a good, well paying white collar job. In addition, I will never look at a service person the same way again. They go through so much, and make so little. Even buying a uniform for their next job puts them weeks behind. These people seem to live in a different country then us, both because of their standard of living, and the lack of information about them. Next time, I will definitally support raising the minimum wage. In addition, tips are a large part of wages for servers; I should remember that as I start eating out without my family.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book a lot. When I first read it I could not put it down. I read all of it in one day. I seem to enjoy books like this, giving a view inside American society, and how it works. The book is very will written and describes her experiences almost perfectly, without becoming repetitive. I appreciate the facts she intersperses with her story. Overall, I would highly recommend that other read the book in order to gain the same insight which I did.
Connection
Nickel and Dimed is about the income inequality which exists in the American economy. The book talks about "market" conditions do not mirror real life. Economics assumes that people will have all of the ideas they need to make a smart choice. But the wage taboo prevents wages from being dicussed. Help wanted ads are always posted, and almost all don't offer numbers. Job searches take time, which can be better spent working.
It talks about how life becomes hard, living with minimum wage, a subject economists can't understand. This book puts faces behind the numbers and explains how impossible it is to live near minimum wage.
Reviews
Sources
Enrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed.New York: Henry Holt, 2001.
Cut
She sets out on her journey telling the difference between her and a real "wage slave:" She pays for a car with her credit card, is healthier then most who worked hard all of their lives, and has the security of knowing that if she can't make it, or at the end of the experiment, a large house and a well-paying job awaited her.
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