She talked about how even when workers are in high demand (as the case was in Minnesota), there is no good housing available in their price ranges. If you’re only going to read one chapter of Nickel and Dimed, it ought to be the last one, which discusses the overall themes she found in her journey, including the problems with housing, why pay stays low, and how these individuals function. Watching her struggle to find housing, work back-breaking and mind-numbing jobs, and appreciate first hand how difficult life at the poverty level is.

She began as a waitress in Key West, worked in housekeeping and elderly care in Maine, and finally at Walmart in Minnesota. nickel and dimed: on (not) getting by in americaīarbara Ehrenreich is a journalist and author and, at the challenge of a friend, decided to take on lower-class life and see if it was possible to survive financially. This title seemed vaguely familiar to me (I’m sure I heard about it somewhere seeing as it was a best seller), and when I came across a reference to it on All and Sundry as she tried to find a housekeeping service, I read a few reviews of it on Amazon and promptly put in a request for it at the library (have I mention how much I love and adore our library?).

I like knowing all about big industries in our country and how they function. I read Fast Food Nation the summer after my freshman year in college and loved it. I like reading about the “behind the scenes” in American life. I love books like Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America for some reason.

Nickel and dimed full book