Minimum Wage = $2.13 ? -- More than Epinions Pays!
Written: Nov 29 '01 (Updated Dec 10 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A "Hands On" exploration of the plight of THE WORKING POOR in America
Cons: Deliberately graphic and mundane - a slice of realism that shames TV imitations.
The Bottom Line: A Strident Wake-Up Call to those indifferent to the well being of those who make life as we know it possible! Unpleasant - It could happen to you or yours!
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| ASourdough4's Full Review: Barbara Ehrenreich - Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Ge... |
INTRODUCTION
Why should anyone read this book? Because it is likely that someone: like you, your friends, your parents, your grandparents, your children or their children may wind up in one of these very real predicaments. So, be informed. And, for love of the human race; have pity.
Call her a "Muckraker", a "Commie", a "Traitor to her Class and/or Country", or anything else that is derogatory; Dr. Ehrenreich writes of the unspeakable, the unthinkable, the inhuman disregard for the plight of what she calls "THE WORKING POOR". These are people who have been 'weaned' from welfare but cannot succeed due to an unrealistic Minimum Wage law. Her main reason for carrying out the experiment was "... to see if (her) Income could match her Expenses; as the truly poor attempt to do each day." (cf pg 6) She demonstrates that it cannot be done.
Many readers and some Epinionators missed that point; electing to flay the Author for her political agenda. Well, who else has anything to say FOR the poor?
CONTENT
The principal messages delivered by the Author of "Nickel and Dimed" : on (not) getting along in America" are: 1. The Minimum Wage; 2. Unskilled Labor; and 3. Poverty. This is an account of a two year long first-hand experience in which the Author joined the Proletariat and took several low wage jobs in several geographic areas of this country. This book is not for the squeamish; that is, for those who find these subjects to be frightening, irrelevant and distasteful or cannot tolerate detailed discussions of mundane things in plain English.
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Everyone should be familiar with these terms and their implications for the United States of America. The Author, Dr. Barbara Eherenreich, is well qualified to perform this sort of research; she has earned a PhD in Biology. Further, she has written 11 other books about our society. One would be of special interest to many:"Fear of Falling - The Inner Life of the Middle Class. Here, the very real prospects of those who are now or were until recently employed by so-called "New Economy" companies for unrealistically high wages that, in retrospect, were far from permanent. are presented.
Let us examine the subjects noted:
THE MINIMUM WAGE
When I was a very young man, I worked for $2.00 an hour putting things in cardboard boxes and handing the box to a delivery truck driver. I was happy. My housing, a one room apartment behind a garage in a nice middle class neighborhood, cost me $50 per month. That was 14.4% of my $346.64 Gross Wage. I did have a budget and a very old car. I went to my boss and pleaded for a NICKEL per hour raise; that would allow me to purchase a better car. He smiled, this was entertaining. The company gave me a DIME!. Now, I was unspeakably happy. I had plenty of money to spend on a car, food, and entertainment. (Note the incredible coincidence of fact with the book title!)
Today, I would be lucky to get such a job, the pay would be $5.15 an hour; not because of misplaced generosity, because it is the LAW OF THE LAND. My housing cost, here in Rural Nevada would be $500 to $600 per month. The average of $550 would be about 61% of my $892.59 Gross Wage. The United States Federal Government has a department called Housing and Urban Development or HUD for short. According to HUD, housing is affordable when it costs less than 30% of gross income. (Note: 40 hour weeks, 52 weeks/12 months = 4.333 weeks per month.)
Nobody can force landlords to lower their rents because many workers WILL pay these extortionate rates. They have to because there is no other alternative My $550 apartment would require me to earn ($550/.3) = $1,833 per month or $10.58 per hour. Precious few of those jobs exist, according to Dr. Ehrenreich, the national average is about $8.89 this year. (A recent Associated Press article states that "Workers need $13.87 an hour to rent apartment"; suggesting that Rural Nevada is a bargain for the Working Poor. Further, the AVERAGE wage of the nearly 125 million workers in the United States was $16.97 per hour. That amount leaves $3.10 per hour or $536 per month for other expenses.)
The Minimum Wage of $5.15 / hour equals ($5.15 x 40 x 4.333 x 12) = $10,703.70 yearly. (We ignore the painful reality of a shorter week, one that allows an employer to withhold fringe benefits.) In her book, Dr. Ehrenreich quotes the poverty rate for a family of 3 as being ($246 x 4.33 x 12) = $12,782 yearly (ibid p61 footnote) . How the Federal Government could conclude that a head of household could support a family of 3 on that Minimum Wage is a mystery. Incidentally, one hears of persons who hold more than one job. Only 6 percent of workers do this (ibid p 43 fn). It is more common to "double up"; that is, pay the rent with 2 or more separate wages earned by multiple tenants. Landlords love this solution.
UNSKILLED LABOR
Here the Author really rubs the reader's nose in her subject. In her search for America, she landed jobs in a Restaurant, a House Cleaning service, and a "Big Box" Retailer. All of the positions involved a surprising amount of cumulative expertise. A line manager at any one of those employers is simply overhead that is expendable; cheap overhead at that. For managerial positions, the lucky promotee can count on an increased wage of Zero to $3 more per hour. The experienced employees (read survivors) do the training. Some enlightened retailers actually have training classes that might last three days or, more likely, only one where the 'Corporate Culture' (i.e. Rules, where to park, penalties for violations) is explained.
Highlights of a Restaurant: - South Florida
1. Wages for 'tipped' employees are only $2.13 per hour. If reported tips do not equal or better the $5.15 minimum wage, employers must pay the deficit.
2. "Barb" suffers from the first day from her own perception of her lack of competence. Procedures at the Restaurant consist of a multitude of minute chores such as scrubbing, slicing, refilling, restocking, etc. All are crucial. Labor saving devices such as touch screen ordering require constant fine tuning - "Gravy on the Mashed Potatoes?" She suddenly achieves a service ethic: "...to have the closest to a "fine dining" experience that the grubby circumstances will allow."
3. Management: Hard as one works, one is under the surveillance of (people) whose job it is to monitor one's behavior for evidence of sloth, theft, drug abuse, or worse. Hired to find something wrong, they unfailing do so. Management is by stress and threat.
4. Health: The kitchen is unspeakably filthy but "Barb" speaks out anyway. "Employees Must Wash Hands" is ordered but some item crucial to the process is always missing. Those hands then place rolls on plates, pick the spilled lettuce up from the sticky countertop, equalize the fries from one plate to another, lift slices of pie - the hands are utensils.
5. There is no law requiring a "Restroom Break".
6. One develops a sense of desperation.
Highlights of "Maid Service" - Portland, Maine
1. No apartments available, rents for 'Condos' start $1,000 (see Minimum Wage, above)
2. Personality tests - No "Right Answers". "Some people work better when they're a little bit high." In 1955, when a career in the U.S. Navy was a remote possibility, I answered 500 questions like these in one test. About 200 were written to detect homosexuality.
3. Just as in Key West, a $5-$6 wage will not do without a second job.
4. A nursing home wants her part-time. Weekends, $7/hr. Dietary Aide. The Alzheimer's Ward. A breeze but must be quick - the "... residents might collapse into their plates from low blood sugar or escape..." Duties: Feed and Run the dishwashing machine. Her father died in an Alzheimer's Ward, so she almost feels at home. Three meals a day.
5. An independent cleaner may earn $15, "The Maids" charge $25 / hr.
6. Dusting, Vacuuming, Bathrooms, Kitchens. Vacuum is a special backpack design. 14 pounds. Bathrooms - soap scum, dust, counter crud, dog hair, stains, and smears - damp rag. No germs acknowledged. Cosmetic touches only. Spray house with signature scent.
7. Floors are washed on hands and knees - the old fashioned way (ibid p52)
8. A single bucket of water suffices to redistribute the dirt from one room to another.
9. Toilets. There are three kinds of s*h*i*t stains: a. Landslides; b. Backsplashes, c. Crust. Each requires special techniques to remove. (Sometimes, the same damp cloth used in the Bathroom is used to wipe the kitchen counter.)
10. A sense of desperation develops.
THE BIG BOX - Minnesota
1. Local papers advertised entry level jobs from $8, apartments for $400 Max (review Minimum Wage, above)
2. The personality test is "wrong". She has deliberately answered three wrongly to avoid accusations of cheating. e.g. "Rules have to be followed to the letter at all times". She had answered "Strongly" instead of the "correct" one of "Very Strongly". Etc.
3. This was a Wal-Mart. To spare the reader unecessary torment, of the 5 richest people in the entire world, 4 are Waltons. They obviously got there by adhering to corporate culture: a. Browbeat suppliers to cheapen their goods and slash wholesale prices; b. Dehumanize employees. This is a Wall Street Darling; one of the sacred Dow 30. The dues are simple. Deliver increasing profits. Labor is the single most costly expense. Cut it 15% to 20% every year or an influential stock brokerage will downgrade and ruin your Forbes 100 rating.
I am privy to an inside view of a completely different kind of retailer; one that is regarded as being enlightened and deserving of loyalty. The wage difference is modest but the customers love the store. Reason: the employees are so desperate for a job (many have two) that they will do nearly anything to keep one. Also, the company offers Medical, Dental, 401k, Respect - to survivors. Customers, accordingly, are happier. Few of these employees could tolerate the degree of dehumanization found that "Big Box"..
CONCLUSIONS
There is a widening gulf between the Working Poor, into which category former welfare recipients are being dumped; and the others. The one puts the fork and napkin on the table; the others complain about the number of forks. The one might have to sleep in the car, the other sleeps in a 5 Star Hotel (pillows fluffed by Working Poor) where the bottom line is the only issue - Reduce Labor Costs.
Affordable housing is anathema to the others. Not In My Backyard (NIMBY), you don't. The others influence government officials by threat of recall elections. They need someone to pick on. The Working Poor are simply despised; bias, prejudice, discrimination and disdain are de jure and institutionalized in the Housing Element of the local General Plan. Amazingly, HUD wrote the equations that support and legalize this pious fraud.
In our local Nevada County, Douglas, agreements with HUD have not been met, some 1,300 dwelling units affordable to their occupants are owed of the original 1,400 promised to elude HUD Sanctions. The agreement simply defines 'Affordable' as housing prices that are restricted 'no more than' 80% of the MEDIAN (i.e. Middle) County income. That income is $60,400 per year! That implies monthly rents of almost $1,200. Thus a restricted unit would, by law, be out of reach of anyone not earning a wage of $20 per hour! What a cruel and cynical hoax this is. (I see as this is being written that Orange County, CA is fighting the good war against Affordability of Housing. It is becoming a National Hobby. And scandal.)
Even this math exercise is not tolerable to the local Bigoted Upper Class (you comprehend, there is no middle class) who hate the thought of sharing their privileged status with anyone else. Terms like 'affordable' and 'apartments' are not in the local dictionary. Bigotry and intolerance are present in abundance. But these elites want their Haute Cuisine, their oversized Mansions kept clean, and their Discount Stores - at a safe distance, that is.
I am not a radical. That is, I try to work within the existing laws. But this one can be tempting to anyone who has a bent for revolution. History repeats itself. The poor may outnumber the others in numbers and at the polls.
"Dr. Barb's" book is another wakeup call that will be misunderstood or ignored at peril. As for those who seek relevance here; please examine some videos of the bread lines of the 1930's. And, the French Revolution. And, "Dr. Zivago" (Clue: See it and note how the Proletariat 'redistributed' housing.)
Thank you patient readers, raters and others. This is a logical place for me to get off the Epinions Carousel. To all of you - Farewell!
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"Nickel and Dimed" - Or (Not) getting by in America
Barbara Ehrenreich, PhD
Copyright 2001 - 221 Pages
ISBN 0-8050-6388-9 (hc.)
Subjects: 1. Minimum Wage - U.S. 2. Unskilled labor - U.S. 3. Poverty
Metropolitan Books Division Henry Holt and Company, LLC
http://www.henryholt.com
New York
DEFINITIONS: Webster's 9th Collegiate Ed.
labor - 1 a : expenditure of physical or mental effort esp. when difficult or compulsory b (1) : human activity that provides the goods or services in an economy (2) : The services performed by workers for wages as distinguished from those rendered by entrepreneurs for profits (more...)
proletariat - 1 : the lowest social or economic class in a community 2 : the laboring class; esp the class of industrial workers who lack their own means of production and hence sell their labor to live.
Recommended:
Yes
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ASourdough4
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Member: Maurice McDonell
Location: Above Beautiful Napa Valley
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July-2009 Gone to the Wide World of Wireless. Still reading and rating. Mostly elsewhere.
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