Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2001

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

Misconceptions Around Low-wage Work

Ehrenreich dismantles common misconceptions around low-wage work, such as the myth that these jobs are easy, the perception that the people who perform these jobs are less able or educated, and the notion that low-wage work provides a sure path out of poverty.

She notes that the jobs were far more difficult than what many people assume, requiring her full attention and effort, as they involved not only learning new skills but also navigating complex social hierarchies. She believes that the term “unskilled work” is a misnomer: all of the jobs were difficult and, despite her PhD education, she never caught on especially quickly or easily mastered the skills required. She was “a person of average ability” (194) in her jobs. She is proud that she was able to do the work, especially because of the physically exhausting nature of the work, and highlights a few moments that gave her a strong sense of accomplishment. By sharing the sense of meaning and worth that she felt when she did the jobs well, Ehrenreich is showing that despite the drudgery of these jobs, they are valuable and important work that provides important services. Thus, the author rehabilitates these jobs as essential, though they are typically viewed as lowly and less respected, and she portrays the people who work these jobs as deserving fair compensation.

She also comments on the difficulties of navigating the social dynamics, which were subtle and important for her to understand. While there may be a misconception that low-wage work is simple and straightforward, Ehrenreich notes that “each job presents a self-contained social world” (194), and being able to navigate that world was essential to her success. For example, it was important to do a good enough job that her coworkers liked her, but not such a good job that she made life more difficult for her coworkers by drawing the attention of management, who might expect more work from her or everyone else.

Further addressing these misconceptions, Ehrenreich goes through the budget breakdown for each location and comments on the difficulty of holding two jobs to dispel the myth that it is possible to survive on the low wages of only one job. The difficulties of holding down two jobs, including logistical difficulties such as scheduling and physical exhaustion, are highlighted when she works seven days a week in Portland, Maine. This provides support for her argument that low-wage work is not an effective tool for lifting people out of poverty. Even Ehrenreich, with many advantages such as her own transportation and not having any children to care for, either does not have funds to pay month for the second month of the experiment (in Minneapolis) or barely makes it (in Key West).

Pervasive Stereotypes of Poverty

One of Ehrenreich’s main points is that the stereotypes of people who are impoverished that are pervasive in American culture are harmful because these stereotypes are used to justify paying lower wages and minimize the worth and visibility of people in the lowest-paid professions. Some common stereotypes that she notes are that impoverished people are lazy, defective, or have addictions in some way that justifies their poverty. When Ehrenreich asks Holly and Marge, two house cleaners for The Maids, what the homeowners think of the people who clean their homes, Holly says, “They think we’re stupid” and Marge says “We’re nothing to these people” (100).

Ehrenreich includes many anecdotes about her coworkers and her first-hand experiences in these jobs to showcase that many of the stereotypes that people hold about impoverished people are untrue. Though her characterizations are inevitably anecdotal and based on her subjective viewpoint, she attempts to capture an honest portrait of the people that she meets. The primary traits that she observes in her coworkers are resilience and generosity. She also notices the creativity and ambition of some of her coworkers, commenting that many of her coworkers write “journals and poems—even, in one case, a lengthy science fiction novel” (9).

During her time in Key West, Florida working at Hearthside, Ehrenreich develops close relationships with her customers and her coworkers. She describes her coworkers and how she builds individual connections with each of them—even Billy, the cook at Hearthside who is rude and crass, has a redeeming side. This shows that, although she attempts to maintain “scientific detachment” during the experiment, she cares about her coworkers and feels for their many struggles. Her personalized descriptions of the customers at Hearthside, whom she refers to as “patients” (18), show Ehrenreich’s connection to the work she performs as a waitress despite the fact that she is undercover as a reporter. The notion that impoverished people do not work hard or are lazy and unmotivated is proven fallible through Ehrenreich’s observations of many of her coworkers, such as Gail, who cares about her customers. Ehrenreich quotes a poster in a dank basement apartment of a hotel front desk clerk: “[I]f you seek happiness for yourself you will never find it. Only when you seek happiness for others will it come to you” (20). This quote captures Gail’s giving nature and the self-sacrifice that many low-wage workers make by doing such difficult work for such low pay. While working with The Maids, Ehrenreich observes that some of her coworkers are motivated by seeing the luxurious homes that they clean. In addition, by commenting on the difficulty of the work that they do, she shows that even those in the lowest socioeconomic groups are extremely hardworking people. At Wal-Mart, Ehrenreich is stunned when a coworker generously brings her a sandwich because she had mentioned that she did not have a kitchen and was living off fast food. Her observations of the generosity and endurance her coworkers display contradict the stereotypes many people have about poverty.

Ehrenreich comments on the terrible consequences that the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 had for impoverished people, arguing that the media gave a false view of the effects by citing the few success stories and ignoring the widespread distress following so many people who lost welfare benefits. For instance, one consequence was that the number of Wisconsin food-stamp families in extreme poverty tripled. She notes that many middle-class people are under the false assumption that poverty is a result of joblessness or laziness, when that is not the case from the statistics. In fact, she notes that following the changes instituted by the Welfare Reform Act, upper- and middle-class people are unsure how to regard impoverished people. Before, the welfare impoverished were seen as lazy, “addicted,” and blamed for their inability to get out of poverty, but now that they are the “working poor,” the previous judgment and condescension are no longer justified. She hopes that this will enact a shift away from these stereotypes, and that this shifting perspective will result in higher pay and benefits for impoverished people.

The Constant Risk of Injury

The illnesses and injuries that Ehrenreich and her coworkers experience are a major theme. The physically draining nature of the jobs is compounded by the fact that employers do not provide healthcare for their low-wage workers and the workers are not paid enough to take care of themselves, afford expensive medications, or eat healthy diets. The workers are also encouraged or expected to work through injury and illness, and never given a chance to recover.

During her work with The Maids in particular, Ehrenreich comments on the poor physical health and injuries her coworkers endure. The vacuum that the company has its workers use is particularly hard on the workers with back problems. Several of the workers who have back problems are not able to vacuum using the device; as a result, they are punished with fewer raises. Ehrenreich has a conversation with a physical trainer whose home she is cleaning that highlights the issue. The trainer jokes that she tells her clients to clean their own homes and that they will get in shape. Ehrenreich writes that this is incorrect: “[T]his form of exercise is totally asymmetrical, brutally repetitive, and as likely to destroy the musculoskeletal structure as to strengthen it” (90).

Working seven days a week was also physically exhausting, and Ehrenreich imagines that if she kept at it for several more months she likely would have suffered from physical injuries, like many of her fellow workers at The Maids. At first, she feels accomplished after a week of work—to celebrate she goes to the beach and listens to a Peruvian band playing near the pier. She is momentarily happy, only to go home and find that she is having a severe allergic reaction to something, leaving her with red itchy bumps on her body. Her boss, Ted, tells her to work through the pain. She is in constant discomfort, but the experience actually bonds her with her fellow cleaners, who all suffer from a variety of ailments and pains and discuss them frequently with each other.

Though this is a lesser component, the poor diet of many of her coworkers is another factor that contributes to the risk of the job. Many of them cannot afford to eat a balanced diet and some of them eat junk food during their breaks. When Ehrenreich’s room at Clearview is flooded with sewage, she moves to another room at Clearview. Because she does not have access to a kitchen or a fridge, she can only eat fast food or food that is non-perishable. Ehrenreich points out how the workers’ bodies are treated as disposable, and the lack of pay for such painful and exhausting work is unjust.