Abstract
This paper introduces the importance of what Barbara Ehrenreich described of her experiments of 1998-2000 in joining the American working poor that now accounts for millions of citizens who labour at jobs that cannot meet their basic expenses. The paper discusses how Ehrenreich was inspired by mid-1990s U.S. welfare reform 'sold' to the public as progressive because it would force 'the lazy' to work. The paper describes how she discovered a very UN-lazy underclass whose best efforts could not succeed in the economy.

Tags:ehrenreich, nickeled & dimed, review/critique

Abstract
The paper looks at how this writer's perceptions of America's working poor were both reinforced and also altered by reading Barbara Ehrenreich's acclaimed 200o book, "Nickel and Dimed". In particular, the paper looks at the exploitation of working people, at the strength and generousness of working people, and at how low unemployment rates, a booming New York Stock Exchange, high home ownership and all the other things about our American economy we are told to cherish, are often mere window-dressing that obscures the very real anguish of millions of lower-income citizens. The paper shows how those who give the most to America are also the most exploited members of America.

From the Paper
"The following paper will look how this writer's perceptions of America's working poor were both reinforced and also altered by reading Barbara Ehrenreich's acclaimed 2000 book, "Nickel and Dimed". In particular, the paper looks at the exploitation of working people, at the strength and generousness of working people, and at how low unemployment rates, a booming New York Stock Exchange, high home ownership and all the other things about our American economy we are told to cherish, are often mere window-dressing that obscures the very real anguish of millions of..."

Tags:ehrenreich, working, poor

Abstract
This paper reviews Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed". The paper describes Ehrenreich's experiences in the book as an undercover journalist who went to three American cities and worked as an ordinary American. The paper specifically discusses the inequalities and problems that Ehrenreich exposed in the book; that the daily lives of most Americans consist of driving beat up cars, living from paycheck to paycheck, and being disrespected. The author urges that Ehrenreich's book should be used as an example, and that the wage system in America should be improved.

From the Paper
"The problem with American culture is its continued clinging to the American Dream. Although few Americans can make that Dream come true, children are taught in school that all Americans can and will succeed if they only work harder. Yet when those children graduate and try working in the real world, they soon find that their low-wage job leads nowhere. Employee benefits are nonexistent because employees are allowed to offer part-time packages to essentially full-time workers. The underlying American political philosophy fears any shift toward social services that might too closely resemble communism."

Tags:american culture, wage system, book review, employment

Abstract
This paper is a critical review of Barbara Ehrenreich's book, "Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America". It discusses Ehrenreich's account of her undercover experience as a non-skilled, low-wage worker, and the challenge presented in the book to minimum wage legislation and its perceived benefits. Ehrenreich's interesting assertion that low-wage workers represent the biggest, most philanthropic section of society is also discussed and explained.

From the Paper
"Low-wage earners are probably one of the most neglected sections of the American workforce. While minimum wage is a highly controversial subject and often sparks hot discussions in social and political circles, no one is really interested in the lives of the real recipients of this legislation. When an increase is made in minimum wage, the government and others are more concerned about the reaction of the employers instead of the response of the low wage section. This says a great deal about social discrimination and division that prevails in our society and which severely hurts the cause of unskilled workers."

Tags:social, discrimination, division, neglected, workforce, urban, poor, earners, employers, income, expenses, standard, living

Abstract
This paper provides a review of Barbara Ehrenreich's book "Bait and Switch," which asserts that the changing shift in the economy since the Golden Age has led to less stable jobs, contingent labor, and underemployment in America. The paper explains that author Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover for a year to explore the social issue affecting millions of Americans - underemployment, unemployment and over-qualification. This paper provides additional evidence to support Ehrenreich's findings by incorporating other sociological concepts such as the breadwinner homemaker model, gender inequality, and age discrimination. Several articles from other research findings are used as additional support. The paper concludes that the lessons most important to be learned from this book are the American dream is a myth; the career mystique is not attainable; hard work sometimes does not pay off; and structural factors a play a role always in life chances.

From the Paper
"Ehrenreich's inability to obtain a job casts doubt on the career mystique. The career mystique requires two conditions. The first requirement is an expanding economy with upward mobility in the work force, and the second is a breadwinner-homemaker model (Moen, Phyliss, Roehing 2005: 9). The breadwinner-homemaker model is an antique way of life during the Golden Age, where nuclear families in the 50's benefited from the expanding economy and where gender inequalities was not yet political discourse. Neither of these conditions is easily attained, and because of this, Ehrenreich's does not achieve the career mystique. If the career mystique was true, Ehrenreich's hard work in finding a job would have resulted in finding a lockstep job."

Tags:overqualification, career, mystique, breadwinner, job

Abstract
The paper describes how Barbara Ehrenreich's book "Nickel and Dimed" explores the nasty and depressing life of minimum-wages earners and their struggles to sustain a healthy existence and emerge from the endless cycle of poverty. The author of this paper highlights Ehrenreich's personal experience as a strength of the book and posits that the issues addressed in this book are very thought-provoking and engaging.

From the Paper
"Ehrenreich does not attempt to assume anything as she delves into the working class in three different cities. To experience what it means to be locked in the lower class, Ehrenreich took many "unskilled jobs" to pay her bills. She waited on tables, cleaned hotel rooms, and even worked at Wal-Mart. One of the first things she realized is that even "unskilled" jobs required some set of skills that needed to be learned. It is not easy waiting on tables or cleaning rooms and it certainly is not easy being on one's feet all day for seven or eight dollars an hour. As Ehrenreich felt her way through a stifling life, she discovered many of the other troubles that exist with this threadbare sustenance. Poverty means much more than difficulty paying rent and having enough money left over for groceries. It also means not having the money to pay for the health problems that are associated with standing on one's feet all day long and not eating a healthy diet. There is no health care in this world and the best hope is that aches and pains will simply go away. Childcare is another problem that Ehrenreich did not have to face but certainly began to comprehend as a terrible burden to those working for low wages."

Tags:poverty, wages, rent

From the Paper
"The development of the feminist movement can be traced back to the nineteenth century with growing agitation for women's suffrage and for other social changes, but as a strong political force feminism came to the fore much more recently, beginning after World War II as a result of changed perceptions on the part of women regarding their roles in society, in part because of their experiences from the war years. The history of the 1950s is examined from somewhat different perspectives by Betty Friedan in her book The Feminine Mystique, with Friedan approaching the issue as a feminist, and by Barbara Ehrenreich in The Hearts of Men, with Ehrenreich approaching the issue as a sociologist. There is considerable agreement between the two books and some disagreement which may stem from different personal experiences, perceptions, and training."

From the Paper
" Barbara Ehrenreich, in her collection of brief essays The Worst Years of Our Lives, presents the general thesis that the 1980s, the infamous Reagan era, were indeed not good years for many if not most Americans. The book argues that the 1980s comprised a decade of superficiality, corruption, deceit, selfishness, racism, sexism, and so on. In short, every false and/or destructive value which can be championed was championed in the 1980s in the United States. The corruption was shared by all to some degree, says the author, but especially flowed from the top down, specifically from the White House down.

This book of essays is comprehensive in the subjects it takes on, exploring political, social, economic, sexual and religious topics which preoccupied America during the decade in question. She shoots her arrows not only at the political.."

Abstract
The paper describes how Barbara Ehrenreich joined the working poor of Key West. Ehrenreich describes in detail, first hand, the results of American policy reducing the welfare safety net - according to a myth of work producing an end to poverty. The paper analyzes how the world of minimum wage workers is described very well, between the lines, indicating a reality very different from what most Americans would presume. The paper further analyzes how, although many Ehrenreich writes of are women, she does not have a feminist approach. The paper concludes that Ehrenreich has taken care not to be ideological and this is the article's particular strength in describing a certain impossible reality.

From the Paper
"Barbara Ehrenreich wrote an expository article on a subject of which far more educated or well-off Americans need to be aware. The article addresses women's reality in so far as many of the people she describes happen to be women. However, a strong aspect of this article is that it does not commence from ideology, or impart more than a few points, here and there, on how Karl Marx might examine the particular sub-culture that Ehrenreich came to know."

Tags:ehrenreich, welfarereform, workingpoor

Abstract
A review of the book "Nickel and Dimed, On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich that focuses on her methods and whether she effectively shows the hardship the poor go through.

From the Paper
"In her seminal work "Nickel and Dimed, On Not Getting By in America", Barbara Ehrenreich adopts six different personas while toiling at minimum wage jobs in three different cities. The goal of her study is to understand the true life of those who earn low wages in America; in order to accomplish this, she spends a month in each city and undertakes in-depth interviews with a different woman in each location. The book is provocative and offers a glimpse at the world of those who fall between..."

Tags:Ehrenreich, class struggle, nickel and dime, anthropology