365 Days of Books

For Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America, Barbara Ehrenreich set out to see how people coming off welfare managed work and housing. She made three forays into entry level work in three different areas of the US: Florida, Maine, and Minnesota. She started out with set-up money but then paid for her food, clothes, and housing from her wages. The jobs she worked at were waitressing, hotel room cleaning, house cleaning, food worker at a nursing home, and retail work at Wal-Mart. She lived in a variety of housing options some of which did not meet her minimal starting requirements of basic safety.

What did she find out? That poor people work very hard and barely make enough to survive. Any small health problem or the need to change jobs or housing can take the money that is used for sustaining food. Towns and city plans make affordable housing difficult to find near available jobs. Fresh, nutritious foods are not easily available near either the cheap housing or jobs and refrigeration and cooking sources/implements are often not included in rent even for furnished apartments/trailers.

I've put "Fear of Falling" on my list for future reading. I highly recommend this book. NEither the vocabulary nor the concepts are beyond the capacity of middle school children.