Nickel and Dimed
Just finished “Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America”. What a powerful book. Barbara Ehrenreich, in the face of US welfare reforms, decided to investigate the lives behind the rhetoric. She went “undercover” working minimum wage jobs in three states. Being a white, educated person with a car, she had a lot of advantages compared to many of the working poor. Still, she found it next to impossible to survive with a safe roof over her head.
It’s also chock full of stats. I wish there were a Canadian study guide to go with it. I was left wondering, how do we calculate things like “poverty level” vs. the US. Nonetheless, that book should be required reading in all high school social studies classes.
Posted: December 31st, 2005 under Culture Consumed.
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