Nickel and Dimed: On (not) Getting by in America Critique - Essay Example

Nickel and Dimed: On (not) Getting by In America In her book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explores the situation of the working poor in the United States from the viewpoint of an undercover journalist. Ehrenreich uses his book to bring the plight of the poor community out in the public. She uses her book to show that the poor in the community have to sacrifice a good lifestyle and work on minimum wages in order for the rich to maintain their luxurious lifestyles. Ehrenreich believes that the poor are doing a service to the rich because they are giving up their basic rights to sanitation, space and healthy food so that the rich could easily avail these rights. She believes that the poor may rise up at any time and demand proper rights from the society. However, Ehrenreich has met with considerable criticism regarding these views. Her views have been contradicted as being baseless. Critics point out that people can survive in society even when they are earning minimum wages. An example of this is Adam Sheppard who took the content of the book seriously and set out on a journey to survive with just $25. Sheppard was not just able to survive but he was also able to land a good job, proving Ehrenreich to be wrong in her findings. In this paper, we attempt to understand whether the findings of Ehrenreich are applicable in my own city, Virginia Beach considering the cost of living while supporting a family of two children. Obstacles Faced by the Working Poor Barbara Ehrenreich has explored different problems faced by the working poor in order to survive in contemporary society. She believes that it is the working poor that are being exploited in the capitalist society. This is because these working poor have been deprived of their basic necessities that include proper housing and sanitation; proper food, proper access to health care and the right of respect. In terms of the right of respect, the working poor are subjected to work that does not allow them to explore their potential mental capacity. They are given monotonous work that requires little input from these people. They just have to follow orders and when they just follow orders; their brains are not allowed to function to the capacity it is meant to function. Furthermore, the superiors of this working class consider them on the lowest level of the organization, meant to take orders only. Their suggestions are not taken in, even though they may provide valuable suggestions. Rather they are given one order after another without considering their input in the organization. The input of the working class is often ignored by many and they are instead degraded by the superiors for their lack of initiative and proper education, which they cannot afford without the help of the superiors. The superiors of this working class do not hesitate to call a meeting at their slightest inclination. The purpose of such meetings is usually to reprimand or degrade the workers on the quality of their work or their working habits. Ehrenreich here uses the example of her boss, Phillip who keeps on calling such meetings and does not feel any remorse at dealing with his subordinates in such a manner (Ehrenreich, 24). The work required to be done by the working class is considered to be unskilled and thus does not require a high pay scale. Ehrenreich argues that such unskilled work requires great stamina by the working class who have to continue with the degrading work day in and day out. Unskilled work of this kind also requires focus on the workers as well as sharp memory and quick learning. Thus the work of the unskilled labor is not unskilled but rather more taxing than the work on the respected class. The skills required in such unskilled work include a good memory, a strong stamina and a high amount of learning (Ehrenreich, 18). Ehrenreich also brings to attention the fact that there is a dark side to the signs of help wanted posted on the walls and doors of shops, homes and organization. Even though these places would hire anyone for the job, they will not necessarily keep these people on the job. The slightest mistake at the job can leave the newly hired person jobless. The high turnover rate at such jobs leaves the existing employees dissatisfied and insecure with their jobs. They live life on a day to day basis, with the fear that they may be jobless in the next moment. Ehrenreich also believes that the working class is not allowed the privilege of good food. Since the homes of most of this working class do not have refrigerators, these people have to depend on readymade food. This readymade food is available from local vendors who may not be the concerned about the health quality of the food. The food often lacks basic nutrition and is often more expensive than home cooked food. The working class, after working long hours, does not have the chance to prepare a home cooked meal for themselves and their families. Also they cannot avail the opportunity of refrigerating their leftover food for further use. Thus, these people, though the most hardworking class in the United States, does not have access to proper nutritional food. Ehrenreich also goes on to explore the living conditions of the working poor. The working poor usually live in ghettos and slums that are not the best places to live given their lack of sanitation. These ghettos are often unclean and result in increased health issues for the people living in it. Also the living spaces available within these ghettos for the working poor are often quite limited. Compared to the sprawling mansions of the rich where each person has their own room or even two, the working poor have to make do with one room for the entire family. This creates social issues for the working poor as well since they cannot enjoy privacy even after working long tedious hours on the job. Furthermore, the government does not focus on the improving the condition of the ghettos to provide better facilities to the people who contribute in such way to the economy of the country. The working class has to survive living with their friends and families since they cannot afford their own homes. They even have to live in cars and rented hotel rooms which results in a lack of permanency for such people. Thus, life for them is living by the day with fear of what may come in the future. In the end, Ehrenreich says that she was able to survive, albeit difficulty, because she did not have a family to support. She was not like the other single mothers who were being forced to feed for themselves and their children on their limited wages. Also she had come from a good background that allowed her the benefit of good health as well as a car. Her healthy lifestyle before this role playing allowed her to save money and time otherwise spent on visiting doctors and such. Cost of living for Single Parent The concepts explored by Ehrenreich in her book do raise a number of questions for the community. While many have refuted her claims, there are others who realize that the issues usurped by Ehrenreich do have valid claims. We cannot ignore the fact that the working class are the most ignored class in our society despite their contribution to the society, which though may not be creative and intellectual, is still important for the society to function as a whole. Thus, in order to evaluate the claims of Ehrenreich, I will go on to explore the cost of living for a single parent in my home state, Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach is the thirteen ninth largest states in the United States and is located at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. It has the longest beach in the country and thus is termed as Resort City for the highest number of resorts in the area housing and entertaining people from all around the country as they come to relax and enjoy. Cost of living can defined as the basic expenses that an individual incurs when maintaining a certain standard of living. The cost of living in Virginia Beach or any other states in US, for that matter, includes the cost of the rent, transportation costs, utility bills, food costs, maintaining a bank account, health care costs etc. Under the Federal Law, the minimum wage per hour for an individual in Virginia is $7.25 dollars. Even though certain companies pay higher than this, the idea is to evaluate the cost of living for a mother with two children surviving on minimum wage. Since the mother is expected to work at least 8 hours, her wage each day would be 58 dollars and each month, she would be earning around 1500 dollars. Thus, the mother and her two children have to survive on $1500 each month. In Virginia Beach, the cost of renting an apartment for mother will two children would not be less than 700 dollars. This includes two bedrooms and one bathroom. The mother and her two children would require at least two bedrooms; the mother took take one and the children could share the other one. However, they would have to do with one bathroom for the whole family. The living space for such a place would be between 750 Sqft. to 1000 Sqft. Since the mother is earning only minimum wage, she would have to do with public transportation. Even though this would require more walking when compared to using a car, the mother and her children have no other option. Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) serves as the public transport in Virginia Beach. Since the mother would be travelling each day, she could avail the opportunity of the 30-Day Go Pass what would cost her 50 dollars a month. Her children could avail the opportunity of buying a ticket for 1 dollar since they are probably younger than 18 years. They would mostly be travelling during the weekends, thus it would be feasible for them to buy tickets on the spot. Thus the monthly cost of transportation for the children would amount to approximately 60 dollars. Utility bills for a mother with two children would be around 250-300 dollars. Utility bills include water, electricity, phone bills, gas bills etc. Since the mother would be living in a small apartment, we could expect that she would not be paying much in terms of utility bills. For three people, the average grocery bill in Virginia Beach should amount to 300 to 400 dollars, if the mother only buys necessary items. However, when the mother would be buying groceries, she would be required to cook at home rather than opting for a delivery or a take away. In case, the mother does not have the time to cook after her job, she would have to rely on local fast food that would cost around 4 dollars per person, which would amount to 720 dollars for just lunch and dinner. Therefore, it would be feasible for the mother to cook at home but this would require a refrigerator which would cost around 100-200 dollars. In terms of health care, the mother can benefit from free clinics operating throughout the state. However, she would be required to pay for her own medical supplies that could cost around 100-200 dollars per month depending on the health condition of the mother as well as her children. Analysis The above calculated costs show that the mother and her two children would barely be able to survive in the limited pay that the mother receives. Even if only the basic necessities are taken into account, the mother with her three children would have a difficult time surviving in Virginia Beach on her minimum wage. This is quite unfair for the mother and the poor in general since they are putting in the same amount of time and energy in their jobs but they are having difficulty in fulfilling their basic needs. The poor find it more expensive to survive since they do not have the basic necessities that the rich can afford which include refrigerators, cars, insurance plans etc. The working poor have to buy their own medicines since their limited health care plans do not cover the cost of their medicines. Their organizations do not deem it necessary to provide for the poor. I believe that Ehrenreich has brought an interesting and thought provoking idea into being. Even though many would argue that it is not quite difficult to survive of minimum wage, they do not take into account the fact that people earning minimum wages have their families to support. They cannot afford to leave their children in day care facilities as they usually cannot afford such facilities on their minimum wages. Surviving on minimum wages may be affordable to teenagers and tweens given their lack of responsibility towards the family, but the poor cannot be expected to live on such income and survive for a long time. Eventually the rising inflation, the rising cost of living and the rising expenditures of these families takes the toll of these families and they have no savings to depend on for emergency times. References Ehrenreich, Barbara, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, New York: Holt Publishers, 2002, Print Read More