Sunday, Apr. 12, 2009
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Journalists write about the challenges of the poor and under-employed all the time, but Barbara Ehrenreich didn't think that was good enough. She wanted to experience the struggle of working-class life herself, so she voluntarily (albeit temporarily) gave up the comforts of a stable, successful writer's life to get jobs where she earned around $6 per hour. Although constantly exhausted and abused, Ehrenreich manages to support herself — thanks for the advice for her co-workers (waitresses, house cleaners, nurses' assistants) — but it's not easy. She nearly becomes homeless, even though she starts her project with $1,000 in seed money.