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

In “Evaluation,” Ehrenreich presents her arguments for why poverty is a major issue in American society, why it has been ignored, and some of the aspects of low-wage work that make it extremely difficult to make any changes to these inequities. In this chapter, there is less of an emphasis on her personal experience during the experiment, though she does draw on it in a few places, with the focal point being the broader landscape and how current conditions became so dire. She presents historical background on poverty, rent, and wages and the relationships between these aspects. By connecting her personal experiences in the three different locations with broader historical and economic trends, she makes an even stronger case for the urgency of addressing poverty in the US.

In this chapter, Ehrenreich synthesizes her personal experiences in all three locations with the broader trends that have left low-wage workers in a position to be unjustly exploited by their employers. Ehrenreich writes:

[S]omething is wrong, very wrong, when a single person in good health, a person who in addition possesses a working car, can barely support herself by the sweat of her brow. You don’t need a degree in economics to see that wages are too low and rent is too high (199).

Portland, Maine was the best fit between income and expenses because she was working two jobs, seven days a week, but if she was there in the tourist season, her rent would have ballooned. In Minneapolis, she notes she made several regrettable mistakes, such as not taking the job at Menard’s.

The crux of her argument is that the cost of rent has skyrocketed, making it impossible for low-income people to find housing because the stagnant wages do not keep up with the inflating cost of housing. Competing for space with the wealthy inevitably leaves low-wage workers with few options. Her experience in Minnesota was especially dire in terms of housing. In Minneapolis, most job growth occurred in the suburbs, but the few pockets of somewhat affordable housing were deep in the city, very far away from the jobs. The fact that the wage increases do not match what the lowest-paid workers were making two decades earlier in 1973 (203) emphasizes the fact that those who are impoverished are falling into greater and greater despair despite the economic progress in America. Ehrenreich builds up the case that the story of American prosperity in the late-20th century is built upon the labor of the low-wage workers: because of the low wages they are paid, the upper-middle class and wealthy are able to prosper from the profits of their work. This goes starkly against the commonly invoked notion that the wealthy are the most valuable members of society as job creators, and thus they should be given greater tax breaks and privileges. Ehrenreich instead argues that the wealthy make their money off of impoverished people who endure costs to their health, their families, and their self-worth.

Ehrenreich also draws attention to the lack of government intervention into these issues. As the cost of rent has increased and there is a paucity of low-income housing, the government has done little to ameliorate this issue. Ehrenreich states that “expenditures on public housing have fallen since the 1980s, and the expansion of public rental subsidies came to a halt in the mid-1990s” (201). This has created an even greater burden on those who are impoverished, who must compete for the few available public housing options and are oftentimes left to fend for themselves in the free-market. The question of the relationship between capitalism, free-market economics, and the welfare state is a major theme in the backdrop of this book, and Ehrenreich uses this chapter to depict how the policy decisions leading up to the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 have become catastrophic for those who are impoverished.

The lack of housing is a major problem, as this scarcity drives up rent further, which creates situations in which working people are without houses, living in cars, or living in crowded and unsafe conditions. By providing the hard statistics to back up her struggles to find affordable housing and detailing the issues with housing with which her coworkers deal, Ehrenreich constructs an argument in favor of lowered rents and better options for housing for people who are impoverished.

Another issue that Ehrenreich explores in this section is the many difficulties that make it harder for people in poverty or working low-wage jobs to make the “rational” choice. Pointing out the stark differences between an abstract view of poverty and the actual, complex lives of those who struggle with poverty, Ehrenreich provides evidence that policy measures that are based solely on the rational, “economic man” are useless and even detrimental. She frequently mentions the issues with transportation, childcare, and scheduling that make it hard for people to find the best-paying jobs or transition to new jobs smoothly. She argues that policy measures should take these challenges into account, rather than gloss over them with the belief that the market will simply take care of it as people gravitate toward higher-paying jobs.

Ehrenreich theorizes that part of the reason why wages remain so low, and workers do not unionize more frequently, is because of the many indignities they experience as low-wage workers. She contends that these daily humiliations ultimately affect their sense of self-worth and cause low-wage workers to feel they do not deserve better pay. The emotional, mental, and physical costs of poverty are numerous, and little is done to even acknowledge these facets of poverty, much less address and solve these challenges.

The way that those who are impoverished are rendered invisible in society is another major theme Ehrenreich explores, focusing specifically on the way that the wealthy and the impoverished live in different worlds. The affluent rarely acknowledge the people who labor for them (with one of the most evident cases occurring at The Maids, where only one homeowner ever offered Ehrenreich a glass of water). The affluent share fewer and fewer spaces with people who are impoverished, both in their daily lives as well as the lives of their children, who are shuttled to private schools while the children of impoverished parents go to public schools. Another factor that increases the divide between the affluent and the impoverished is much closer to the daily existence of low-wage workers: the managers, who are themselves typically much wealthier, often distrust and fear their workers. Ehrenreich points this out because this dynamic between employer and employee heightens the sense of dehumanization felt by low-wage workers. This creates deeper inequality as wages are continually repressed.

Though wages increased slightly in the late 1990s, it was only by about 0.50 cents per hour on average. Ehrenreich includes comments from economists who support her views, citing one economist who notes that productivity has been rising despite stagnant wages, so workers should earn much more. This observation illustrates the level of desperation among workers, who work harder and harder for a paycheck that buys them less and less due to inflation. While inflation is often attributed to economic growth and prosperity, it leaves low-wage workers with few opportunities to save money to try to improve their situation.

Ehrenreich does not solely point to the government’s and society’s responsibility to provide just wages, as she is clearly aware that this sense of responsibility has eroded over time. Readers in the 21st century might view this with even greater cynicism following the 2008 economic crash, the dissolution of Occupy Wall Street, and other movements that sought to rally for workers’ rights and fair pay. As such, Ehrenreich returns to the theme of unionization, which she believes can be a powerful means for low-wage workers to empower themselves, though she is well aware of the many obstacles that employers have instituted to prevent unionization from occurring. Employers are incredibly resistant to wage increases, and instead try to offer benefits such as free meals, discounts, and other perks that are easier to take away if the market changes. She also alludes to Wal-Mart’s especially egregious treatment of workers seeking higher wages; with a legal loophole that allows Wal-Mart to punish workers for unionizing, the company has targeted and fired employees for minor infractions who have tried to form unions or sue for overtime pay. Nonetheless, Ehrenreich ends her study with the hope that, despite the challenges posed to unionization, workers will pursue better wages together.