Barbara Ehrenreich is a journalist who went undercover in three US states (Florida, Maine and Minnesota) to see how easy it is to survive working in a minimum wage job in modern America. She took whatever jobs were offered, and worked variously as a cleaner for a maid service, an aged care worker, a Wal-mart 'associate', and a waitress, and lived in the cheapest accommodation she could find.
Despite her good health and lack of dependants, Ehrenreich found that getting by working full time is subsidence living, and that it is almost impossible to get ahead. Without the money for first and last month's rent, she was forced to live in more expensive, pay-by-the-week hotels. Some of her coworkers, unable to afford gas (or often even a car) had to work close to home, even if there were better paying jobs elsewhere.
Despite her good health and lack of dependants, Ehrenreich found that getting by working full time is subsidence living, and that it is almost impossible to get ahead. Without the money for first and last month's rent, she was forced to live in more expensive, pay-by-the-week hotels. Some of her coworkers, unable to afford gas (or often even a car) had to work close to home, even if there were better paying jobs elsewhere.
Ehrenreich writes in a conversive, relatable style, and her subject matter is not only fascinating but vitally important. As she points out, the problem is that of the system - despite a shortage of 'unskilled' labour (Ehrenreich points out that the positions she worked in all required a number of specific skills), the employees have no voice and no power.
Particularly interesting to me was her insight into the employer-employee dynamic at the maid service where she worked, where the cleaners felt as though taking time for themselves (in the case of injury, for example) would hurt their boss. He has managed to instill a powerful need for his approval in his employees, despite objectively being (at least on the face of it) a not particularly good employer.
Ehrenreich also points out that leaving for a new job, even when the current one is sub-optimal, is often not an option because there's no time to job search or interview, and living hand to mouth doesn't leave any padding for even a short unwaged period - particularly when the employer (for some reason I didn't understand) withholds the first week's pay.
This powerful book should be required reading for anyone who thinks the poor are lazy and wasteful, and for those who think anyone in American can make it if they just try hard enough. - Alex
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