Way back in 1998, author Ehrenreich decided to go and try
and live like the lower class did. Allowing herself a car and a $1000 in startup
money, she went out to land a working class job- waitress, hotel maid, house
cleaner, nursing home aide, Walmart associate- and survive on the wages. She
discovered how wages didn’t cover rents, or much food, or any way to relax.
Most people were working two or even three jobs just to survive. Most often,
there was no affordable housing near any source of employment, and there was no
affordable transportation. If a worker got ill or injured, they had no option
other than to just keep on working. The working class can’t afford to miss work,
even if the doctor visit was covered by insurance- and it usually wasn’t back
then. Affordable child care simply didn’t exist.
Of course, she wasn’t stuck in this situation. She could tap
out at any time and go back to her normal existence. She didn’t live with the
knowledge that she would have to live this existence for the rest of her life,
with no vacation, no retirement. So she didn’t develop the despair and depression
that plagues so many working class people. But she noticed it and reported it.
Many people have torn down the author for ‘slumming’, because she could leave,
but I feel she wrote an important book because many people were unaware of the
situation the working class faced. One person could scarcely cover the entire
problem. I did find some things irritating- her fear that she wouldn’t be able
to ‘pass’ as a working class person, that her education would out her. Guess
what- not every working class person speaks poorly, and there are such things
as libraries that allow even the poor to read. One thing that I feel is
important about this book is that it showed to the upper classes (if they
choose to read it- hah) that even one of their own, a hard working educated
woman, couldn’t make it in the system. So much for calling the working class ‘lazy’!
These days, there is a lot more awareness of the problems of
the working poor- but I’m not sure there is any more being done about it. Rents
are higher, gasoline costs are higher, but wages are the same as they were 20
years ago. There are still huge numbers of people without health insurance. Perhaps
it’s time for a reissue of this book, with an update? Five stars.
I read this some time ago and I thought it was important, as you say at least someone was trying to tell the world what was/is going on. Since then there have been other books on the general topic of working poor or the 1%. I just finished "Squeezed". It was ok but I still think Ehrenreich is the best on the subject so far.
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