As of 2016 in the United-States of America, 12.7% or about 40.6 million people lived below the poverty line according to the national bureau of census. A high percentage of those struggling Americans make up the minimum wage workforce, having barely enough funds to sustain themselves, and often their families, on even a week to week basis. Although this humbling data is startling or eye opening to some, especially when compared with modest life of the middle to higher classes of society, it is hard to truly understand the complications that arise from trying to survive on minimum wage. The book author and political activist, who self-described herself as "a myth buster by trade", Barbara Ehrenreich tried to debunk these unforeseen troubles of the low wage populations in her book “Nickel and
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This paper will offer insight on how these arguments feeds a vicious loop that perpetuates poverty.
Firstly, it is a basic need of all men to have shelter, and place to live, eat and sleep protected from the environment. However, even this simplest need is hard to accomplish for the low-wage worker as the cost of living is much too great compared to the minimum earned income. Especially in recent times, with the cost of housing greatly increasing all around the country because of the real estate boom. Ehrenreich, in her book, notices this difficulty from the very beginning as being one of the hardest obstacles to overcome. She states later in her book that “Something 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 rents too high.” (EHRENREICH). This statement comes after a plethora of struggles that the author had to find proper housing and to pay her rent throughout her experiment. At first in Key West
This paper will offer insight on how these arguments feeds a vicious loop that perpetuates poverty.
Firstly, it is a basic need of all men to have shelter, and place to live, eat and sleep protected from the environment. However, even this simplest need is hard to accomplish for the low-wage worker as the cost of living is much too great compared to the minimum earned income. Especially in recent times, with the cost of housing greatly increasing all around the country because of the real estate boom. Ehrenreich, in her book, notices this difficulty from the very beginning as being one of the hardest obstacles to overcome. She states later in her book that “Something 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 rents too high.” (EHRENREICH). This statement comes after a plethora of struggles that the author had to find proper housing and to pay her rent throughout her experiment. At first in Key West