A review in light of the policy concerns - Term Paper Example

Nickel and Dimed: A review in light of the policy concerns Question no Nickel and Dimed is an investigation into the effectiveness of the government policy entitled the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 1996, a venture introduced by the then president Bill Clinton to eradicate the increasing cases of government welfare checks being issued for able-bodied but jobless individuals. This policy was a result of a change in the American welfare trends beginning in the early 90s that began inclining towards employment as a means of long term sustenance as opposed to government welfare systems. The original system had been around for more than half a century and under it, single parents and low-income family personnel could seek refuge under the government controlled welfare handouts, enabling several sharp individuals to harness loopholes and avail benefits that they could do without. The share of federal budget awarded to each State corresponded with the rise in cases their respective welfare systems had to deal with, leaving no incentive for the States to consider curtailing the number of cases. Thus, amidst growing dissent, Clinton signed the aforementioned Act into effect in August 1996. Nickel and Dimed portrays the deficiencies of this system. While there is an obvious incentive for unskilled but able-bodied idlers to seek work and support their families themselves albeit at minimum wage, such incentive has little to offer as Ehrenreich, as a result of her practical experiments in Florida, Maine and Minnesota proves that wages tend to be minimum while work is all the more labor intensive, resulting in her being unable to save enough at the end of the month and struggle to put forth next month’s rent (Ehrenreich, 2001). In the case of a health emergency, she would find herself in a quagmire of financial difficulties. This can be relaxed by policy measures at the hands of the government in favor of awarding free health care to those who are honest contributors to society but fall within a relaxed income bracket, while still encouraging them to work. Question no. 2 Ehrenreich’s belief regarding her skin color may be warranted by the notion that racism is particularly strong when the individuals dealing with each other both belong to a different class. If an upper class citizen deals with a lower class poverty line worker earning minimum wage, certain precepts come into play that have become part of the moral dilemma within American societies. During her experiment, Ehrenreich had to place herself in the position of a dietary aide in Maine administering drugs to patients and in her limited time frame, being awarded a whole ward full of Alzheimer’s patients to look after (Ehrenreich, 2001). Such a job may not be as easily awarded to a young black male as the wrong skin color here sends a different signal to the employers who, in this case, are looking for someone who can be particular about caring after others. Being white and in her 50s, she was easily accepted as someone with enough experience as a woman so as to fulfill the job requirements. Her conclusions have a great deal to do with the stigma that plagues the minds of corporate America and the acquired racism that trickles down from it. Where a Mexican immigrant is less trustworthy than a poverty stricken white male, the same is seen in areas where a certain stigma prevents an applicant from taking a position since it clashes with the nature of the job. An Asian for instance would find it difficult to engage her services at the nursing home Ehrenreich occupied in Maine since the employer might have reservations about her ability to interact with the patients at hand. Moreover, a middle-aged white lady is more likely to manage her expenditure well and pay the rent, thereby enabling her to be preferable to a young black man/woman for an apartment vacancy. Ehrenreich also discovered how difficult it was to be able to maintain the trailer rent (the cheapest option she could find) in Florida with her minimum wage job, which only goes to show how much more difficult things would have gotten if she was a single parent. Her views regarding the same seem to stand, since her situation was already very tough without child care and other household dues. Question No. 3 The policy issues in question relate to public welfare systems, minimum wage, public housing and employee management. Ehrenreich’s experiences put her in an analytical position regarding how the system of the lower end of the working-class spectrum operates. The aforementioned policies may be seen to be interlinked as they take into consideration the 20% of Americans who form the working class surviving either below the poverty line or just above it as a whole. The public welfare system, which seems to discount the ideology concerning idlers surviving on government welfare checks, promotes a better life by urging these idlers to find jobs. A working life is equated to a prosperous life, leading to an efficient working system that allows the truly needy, such as the disabled and single parents, to benefit from welfare as opposed to simply those who are able-bodied but too lazy to search for and secure jobs. Such individuals include immigrants who either do not have the social security to obtain jobs or the right expertise. As they venture into the low-wage working world, they are instantly engulfed by the policies governing the system of wages. Thus there develops a policy interlink. These individuals, in order to afford housing, have to find unskilled jobs (which still require a certain degree of skill, as Ehrenreich learns (Ehrenreich, 2001)) in order to pay the rent. However, at this point another dilemma surrounds them concerning housing, the dilemma of not being able to secure a job because of lack of a home address and not being able to secure a place to live because of a lack of job, as Ehrenreich learns in Minnesota, where the vacancy rate was less than 1% (Ehrenreich, 2001). This brings them square under the scope of the policy surrounding public housing. Once the job is secured, the worker is then subjected to policies concerning workplace management and treatment of employees, which are in most cases harsh and disrespectful. The corporate heads are distrustful of the employees they hire “hence the perceived need for repressive management and intrusive measures like drug and personality testing,” (Ehrenreich, 2001, p. 212). In this way, the policies end up intertwining with each other. Question no. 4 Holly Valance 432 West St. Portland, ME 04104 April 12, 2010 Senator Ron Wyden 481 South St. Portland, ME 04213 Dear Senator Wyden, I would like to thank you for supporting the community throughout your term in office. This letter is to inform you that I, being a minimum wage employee, find it increasingly hard to make ends meet. Although the minimum wage that I earn enables me to pay my apartment’s rent each month and feeds me twice a day at the most, it does not leave enough of a saving for me to support myself in case of an emergency. What I was dreading finally came true when I twisted my ankle at work and have discovered that I do not have the money to get it inspected. In order to leave work for the doctor, I will have to skip on the hourly wages that enable me to get by resulting in a backlog of rent payments. I have worked at this housekeeping service longer than a year and am considered experienced enough to supervise a group of housekeepers. However, at this end of the spectrum and with this small a sum in wages, I am expected to work twice as hard without taking any sick leaves while the management remains unaccountable for any health risks. Moreover, I have recently conceived and am now 3 months pregnant. This would indeed make financial matters of prime concern when comes the time to nurture the baby. My co-workers who have similar constraints are going through strict schedules and long hours themselves. Currently, the burden is too strong on our shoulders to come through individually given the current minimum wage. Hence, I would like to appreciate your concern for the same and the support you have shown for the Minimum Wage Bill that proposes an increase in the minimum wages at the lower end of the spectrum for the labor market of Portland. I would be obliged if you could spare a few moments to respond to this letter and am very grateful for your time. Sincerely, Holly Valance Question no. 5 The economic climate has improved since the completion of Ehrenreich’s study. Clinton’s welfare policies concerning the minimum wage workers were meant to engage the surplus of idle labor with jobs in order to decrease the load on the State welfare departments. While this did increase productivity and did not see any significant rise in restlessness and dissent at the hands of those affected, it took place in the midst of a growing economy which enabled many dubious thoughts about the effectiveness of this system to be subsided. However, the study by Ehrenreich (2001) brought forth plenty of miscalculations such as the determination of minimum wage as she discovered the difficulties in paying the rent and other basic amenities throughout her study. Her experiment ended in 2000, but since then there has been a rise in minimum wages in most States and federal policy indicates the use of EITC or Earned Income Taxed Credit (Internal Revenue Service, 2010) which allows for low-income earners to get a refund on their taxes, and in turn be paid support at the hands of the government. This would undoubtedly shave a load of burden off the original employees and co-workers that took part in the experiment. They would have more disposable income on their hands and in the case of single parents, with either biological children or foster children, would be entitled to more handouts at the hands of the government, sums in hundreds of dollars. Such a benefit would indeed curtail the economic burden on her shoulders as well as that of her co-workers but it would still continue to harbor workplace hostility and profiling through questionnaires and tests. The difference between management and employee is reinforced by these tests and while better-off from an economic standpoint, these low-wage workers would still be seen to express displeasure with respect to the worker – management personal relations. References Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America. New York: Metropolitan Books. Internal Revenue Service. (2010, March 17). Earned Income Taxed Credit. Retrieved April 11, 2010, from IRS.gov web site: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=130102,00.html Read More