Ehrenreich then left the maid position after one day and the waitress position also became equally demanding.

Interestingly, she was unable to cope with the two jobs. As a result, she opted for a second job at a local hotel to work as a maid. However, the payment she received from the job was hardly adequate to sustain her and pay for the next month’s rent. Luckily, she got recruited to work as a waitress in a diner-style restaurant and found an efficiency apartment thirty miles away from the city to live in. To start her experiment, Ehrenreich decided to go to Key West, Florida, which was near her home to try to find an employment there (Ehrenreich, 2008). However, after getting her point of view from her personal experiences, the difference between the rich and the poor has become even more apparent to me. Whereas the experiences that the author underwent were captivating, I did not get the feeling that she really anticipated to achieve something in her tricky experiment. Ehrenreich’s expose´ has revealed so many things to me concerning the situation of the low-wage workers in America. The author decided to go on this experiment with the intention of establishing whether the amount of money paid to low-wage workers is enough for their sustenance. Although she was working full time, she found it hard to meet her needs adequately and she was often forced to do two jobs at a time to make ends meet.

Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor.Ehrenreich worked and lodged in every location for about a month. 'Nickel and Dimed' reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity - a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate strategies for survival. And one job is not enough you need at least two if you intend to live indoors. She soon discovered that even the 'lowliest' occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 to $7 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson.

She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life.

Millions of Americans work for poverty-level wages, and one day Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. Item #253435 ISBN: 0805063897 The 'New York Times' bestseller, and one of the most talked about books of the year, Ni'ckel and Dimed' has already become a classic of undercover reportage. EHRENREICH, BARBARA Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

Nickel and dimed pages