Mental Health Care In Nickel And Dimed By Barbara Ehrenreich

In the book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, doesn’t talk much about the issue of mental health, but what she does say is “forced into a subordinate status within their social systems. They become depressed. And their behavior is anxious and withdrawn.” According to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMH), 1 in 4 American adults, have some form of mental illness. Low-income workers will most likely not get any benefits or medical insurance; since most health insurance companies will not adequately cover the cost of services required to fully overcome mental health issues. Working long hours, not only drains the worker physically but mentally as well, due to the inadequate funds to support their family. Low-income worker and their …show more content…
If low income families are given better access to food, health care, child care, adequate wages, and the knowledge that they can stop going to the food bank for food, or don’t have to count on well fare to provide for a family’s basic needs can not only stop the cycle, but make society better for everyone. Without proper education, the children will not learn how to get out of the cycle and if positive self-esteem is developed, those children will be more likely to succeed in life, and be able to get access to those opportunities they need to go on to leave a healthy, productive life. Education will not work alone. The major factor to help stop this cycle and to decrease the psychological strain on low income families is raising the minimum wage.
“Low-wage earners are doing jobs that our nation requires. A living wage won’t solve the problem of poverty, but it can fix it for a whole lot of hard-working people. (Teachers College …show more content…
Happiness may not be a given either if the employee does not feel that they are being compensated fairly for their work. Only 20.8 percent of all minimum wage workers were heads of household, while 49 percent of those working at federal minimum wage are those under 24 live above the poverty line. An increase in minimum wage would also cause employers to cut training, increase layoffs, cut back on benefits; reduce school attendance, and encouraging employers to hire illegal immigrants. It would increase the demand for workers with skills as it reduces competition in low skilled workers. Increase minimum wage won’t reduce the poverty levels, especially when a reported 63.5 percent of poor Americans don’t work (CATO). Lastly another counter attack is that federal minimum wage is made by entry level employees, that most likely will not earn the same wage for an extended period of