Analysis In the book Nickel and Dimed On (not) Getting By In America Barbara Ehrenreich writes of her experiences as she makes an attempt to be a part of the “working poor” in America. Her goal was to see if living comfortably was possible on a very low income, as a single woman with no children. “In 1998 – the year I started this project – it took, on average nationwide, an hourly wage of $8.89 to afford a one-bedroom apartment, and the Preamble Center for Public Policy was estimating that the odds against a typical welfare recipient’s landing a job at such a “living wage” were about 97 to 1” (3). Going into the project she knew there was a good chance that it would be difficult but was optimistic she could do it. She came up with a bare bones resume and got started. By the end of the book she realized how horribly hard and degrading it is to be a part of the working poor. She believes the government should give more assistance to the “working poor” and others should rally behind getting them better pay.
The author is persuading the reader to feel sorry for the people she writes about and to understand their hardships. She seems to have succeeded, but I’m not sure creating more taxes for other families by issuing more government help to these people is the way to do it. I do applaud her going to speak at rallies promoting more of a steady pay for the “working poor”. Her experiment did seem to bring attention to those who cannot fend for themselves. “I’d been a
