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Nickel and Dimed Or (not) getting by in America

Nickel and Dimed Or (not) getting by in America. By: Barbara Ehrenreich. Have you ever had a minimum wage job or known someone who has? Have you ever thought about the servers at a diner or the housekeepers at your hotel?. Time and Location. June 1998 Key West, Florida

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Nickel and Dimed Or (not) getting by in America

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  1. Nickel and DimedOr (not) getting by in America By: Barbara Ehrenreich

  2. Have you ever had a minimum wage job or known someone who has?Have you ever thought about the servers at a diner or the housekeepers at your hotel?

  3. Time and Location • June 1998 • Key West, Florida • Expensive housing market • Not even in a urban city where you would assume poverty. Exists in a tourist market. • Economy in good shape

  4. Topic: day to day life on minimum wage Focus: surviving on minimum wage versus welfare in Key West Methods: ethnography; or field study and observation Target: upper class who is oblivious to these issues Goals: to find out if someone could actually live off of minimum wage and to observe how others (her coworkers) lived off this lifestyle. Theme: Emotions evoked.

  5. Surviving on Minimum Wage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVhTQEXSFf4

  6. Method “In that business, you don’t just sit at a desk and theorize; you plunge into the everyday chaos of nature, where surprises lurk in the most mundane measurements” (Ehrenreich 2001, 38).

  7. The Experiment “So this is not the perfect experiment, just a test of the best possible case: an unencumbered woman, smart, and even strong, attempting to live more or less off the land” (Ehrenreich 2001, 38) Left life at home, to move to Key West and try and live like a woman trying to get out of poverty. Can’t use skills she got from education or work.

  8. “I had been vain enough to worry about coming across as too educated for the jobs I sought, but no one even seems interested in finding out how over qualified I am”(Ehrenreich 2001, 40). Applies to many hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets but no one seems interested, and salaries are very low.

  9. Job at Hearthside Hotel restaurant waitress $2.43 an hour plus tips 2PM to 10PM shift “From the first day on, I find that all of the things I have left behind, such as home and identity, what I miss the most is competence” (Ehrenreich2001, 40-41). Attachment to the customers and her coworkers

  10. Jerry’s No one is homeless Mutual support group at work George from Czech Republic; goal is to teach him English $2.15 an hour and shared tips with the busboys and dishwashers (average of $7.50 an hour) Workers without marital help work 2 jobs

  11. Housekeeping Is her dream minimum wage job $6.10 an hour No health insurance 9am till done One week of vacation a year

  12. Moving First - $500 a month, 45 minute drive from work. Gas was $4-5 a day. Back cabin behind trailer. Second- closer to work. Can work another job because of location. Trailer about 8 feet in width and shaped like a barbell. “Overseas park is a nest of crime and crack” (Ehrenreich 2001, 49).

  13. “There are no secret economies that nourish the poor; on the contrary, there are a host of special costs” (Ehrenreich 2001, 44). We talk about the usual girl things-men, children, and the sinister peanut-butter cream pie- though no one, I notice, ever brings up anything potentially expensive, like shopping or movies” (Ehrenreich 2001, 48).

  14. Your budget How much do you spend on average each month? What do you spend money on?

  15. Average Spending per Month 30%   ($634) Housing 10%   ($211) Utilities and other housing expenditures (including renters insurance) 15%   ($317) Food (at home and away) 10%   ($211) Transportation (including car loan) 10%   ($211) Debt repayment (student loans and credit cards) 10%   ($211) Saving   5%   ($106) Clothing   5%   ($106) Entertainment   5%   ($106) Car insurance and miscellaneous personal expenses

  16. Minimum Wage in Florida 2012 $7.67 an hour is minimum wage Work for 40 hours a week $1227 per month $845 average on housing and utilities $382 left for food, insurance, phone, child care, car, clothing etc. for the month Is this possible?

  17. “I had gone into this venture in the spirit of science, to test a mathematical proposition, but somewhere along the line, in the tunnel vision imposed by long shifts and relentless concentration, it had become a test of myself, and I clearly had failed” (Ehrenreich 2001, 52).

  18. Results Earned $1,040 Spent $517 on food, gas, toiletries, phone, and utilities If she had stayed within $500 budget then she would have been able to pay for rent and have $22 dollar left. That is $78 less then the cash she started with

  19. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pex9Xv17ukg

  20. How could she have been more economical?

  21. Food could be more economical but doesn’t have more time or money • Fast food versus cheap food at the grocery store • Costs of getting cooking supplies and starting up cooking

  22. What would have happened if she had stayed there longer?

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