From welfare to what? Reading 'Nickel and Dimmed' opened Cricket White's eyes to the invisible Americans. . Getting by in America - Bookmark - Nickel and Dimed: On not - book review

For A Change, April-May, 2003 by Cricket White

I have never held a job as a waitress or worked in Wal-Mart or in any other aspect of the service industry. When I read Nickel and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America *, I was dismayed at my ignorance. I didn't know:

* that most adults who work at fast food restaurants can't afford to buy a hamburger there;

* that many of the people who work at the minimum wage at a steady job can't afford to live anywhere but a rent-by-the-week room in run down motels;

* that people who work in the service sector have no medical coverage or benefits;

* that some discount department stores actually force their employees to work for no pay or lose their jobs.

IN EVERY STATE

And I didn't know that all of this is going on, every single day in virtually every state and city across the United States. The idea that America is a nation that promises liberty and justice for all and a fully accessible economic system is false, according to Barbara Ehrenreich, a journalist and author of over 12 books dealing with social responsibility and the economic system in the USA.

Before the words 'Enron' or 'WorldCom' made CEOs feel embarrassed and the date '11 September' brought either cries of despair or victory, the United States was going through a 'boom' period. The stock market moved upwards in a seemingly unending rise. Dot-corns made money for the most timid investors, and the media declared it a time of wealth and prosperity for all.

The government's new 'from welfare to work' programme was meant to get people off welfare and into productive jobs. Social services and welfare were to be stringently reduced over several years while the recipients got jobs. The programme stressed that the only ticket needed to escape poverty was a job. And therefore, the theory continued, only the laziest would fall victim to the reduced services that would be offered. Those willing and able to work would share in the economic benefits of the boom.

Ehrenreich questioned this theory. She began an in-depth, undercover investigation of the claim that everyday people could live on the minimum wage. She spent one month at each of three different locations in the United States. Her challenge was to see if she could get a job at the minimum wage with no resume or references, support herself for one month (room, meals, etc) and be able to save up enough money to pay her rent for the second month.

JOB ADVERTS

Her first stop was an off-season tourist town in Florida. There were many job adverts and she applied for several. Her first real lesson came when she realized that employers continue to advertise for workers even when there are no jobs available. This is a strategy to maintain full employment in a high turn-over industry. As employees leave, new ones are already waiting to be hired. However, it falsely inflates the figures for vacancies.

After numerous applications, she found a job as a waitress. The food service industry in the US can legally pay below the minimum wage. Tips from customers are expected to make up the difference. But this was not possible in the inexpensive family restaurant where she was employed. She had to take a second job at another restaurant to make enough money to pay rent on a small trailer.

Ehrenreich wanted to understand fully what kind of a life was possible working for the minimum wage. For instance, how did her co-workers live? One lived in a van that was parked in the shopping centre lot. Others lived with several folks to a room, and one even lived in a flophouse that only charged by the week. Ehrenreich herself was able to find a place a 45-minute drive from her workplace.

Thus Ehrenreich's second big lesson was that affordable housing is not available. And the housing that is available can only be acquired with a month's rent as a deposit and a month's rent paid in advance. She found that it was impossible to accumulate enough money at the beginning of employment to pay both deposit and rent. Rooms rented by the week were available. Even though they cost more they were the only possibility for many as they did not require two months' rent up front.

MAID IN MAINE

She found much the same during her experience of working as a maid in Maine and later in Minnesota. Her coworkers were unable to pay for child care, dental care or other basic services.

Ehrenreich refers to the working poor as 'invisible' and 'the greatest philanthropic class in America today'--philanthropic because they subsidize the rest of society by doing the worst work for the lowest pay; invisible to most people as they make up the background of support for day-to-day life in the US.

The major weakness of the book was that Ehrenreich missed the opportunity to suggest substantive solutions.

When I finished the book, I saw the people around me in a totally different light. I became conscious of the issues that Ehrenreich points out and began to notice some of the examples she gives: the middle-aged woman who works behind the counter at McDonald's who always looks fatigued and seldom smiles. I may have spoken to her as I got a hamburger in the past; now I really see her and think about her life. I find myself very patient with the saleswomen at discount department stores who seem only marginally helpful and generally confused about where items might be located.