It is often taken for granted that if one needs to give their child a certain amount of money for a school field trip or make repairs to one’s vehicle that the resources are available to do so. For many working Americans this is not the case. Should it be a right that if a person is working what is defined as a “full-time” job that they earn enough money to take care of living expenses? Barbra Ehrenreich tackled the task of finding out how difficult it really is to work for a minimum wage and support herself. Through her book Nickel and Dimed key points are highlighted which need to be fixed to give workers a chance to enjoy life. Such points include how minimum wage employers treat workers and how the economy is structured against the lower class.
Ehrenreich found out how many employers treat their minimum wage employees. As she took up many different jobs, she cites Wal-Mart in particularly, “Wal-Mart, like so many other low wage employers, holds back your first weeks pay,” (Ehrenreich, p. 173). Basically this puts too many people who are already behind on payments even further behind. It simply is not logical for one to put in a weeks work and not receive a paycheck at the end of the week. Here is a prime example of how “low wage” employees are not seen as a person but almost as a replaceable part of a machine. This does not seem to preserve the natural rights of a human being. If a person puts in an honest days work then they deserve to be paid for it. However, what if this pay doesn’t even provide one with the ability to pay for living costs?
Going through her experiences Ehrenreich reiterates the fact that is nearly impossible to live by making minimum wage. She recalls a co-worker complaining of a very sore toothache and to try to alleviate the pain they turn into a convenience store to attempt to find a remedy. “It turns out I haven’t brought money with me and we cannot put together $2 between the four of us,” (Ehrenreich, p. 80). It does not seem fair to anybody that four people can’t pool their resources together to put together a small fee. Not only is that troubling but many people working low wage jobs do not have benefits such as dental care. Should it be mandated that a person who is working full-time hours receive health benefits?
Another factor playing into the hard life of those living at minimum wage is the economy. The economy is geared for the consumer who can afford family expenses. Ehrenreich states, “There are no secret economies that nourish the poor…If you can’t put up the two months’ rent you need to secure an apartment, you end up paying through the nose for a room by the week…” (p. 27). It certainly seems like the economy is not flexible to those in need. In other words, there are not many options when you are in debt and living from paycheck to paycheck. The lower class seems to be pulled further from mainstream society because of the inadequate support the economy provides. Is it right that if a person is trying as hard as possible to make money, yet because they are behind on rent cannot afford an apartment thus must pay a more expensive weekly option?
There are definitely ways to cure this situation. For one it seems the minimum wage must be bumped up. Simply too many people are working 40 hours a week and not coming up with enough money to get by. Along with that, benefits should come with a full-time position. If one comes down with a serious health issue it alleviates great pressure to know that care can be paid for. However, as for the economy, it does not seem like there can be much done about the way certain aspects are structured. Can it be a law to say that a weekly payment should add up to equal the cost of a month’s rental? It seems that this decision is solely up to those who own the houses/apartments/rooms they are renting out. Although, if there are remedies to the payment of workers and treatment towards workers then the economy will take care of itself.
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3 comments:
Your argument about how the economy appears to be stacked up against the low income worker is extremely valid. The capitalist society that we live in today always appears to favor big business and is further perpetuated by the government. The main benefactors of big corporations and their success is the government and the state will look out for the interests of big business. It would seem no one is truly fighting for the rights of the poor, the back bone of the economic gains in big business. Big corporations benefit from exploiting the poor workers why would they care about how the exploitation affects the actual people that make up the lower income class? Its a question of moral conviction weighed against economic gains.
I would agree with your ideas that the higher bodies above low wage workers are the main reason for struggling workers. The main issue for employers is making money. The more people that they hire at low wages improves their own personal gains. While it's a fundamental right for employers to provide safe working conditions and options such as health plans (like your example of the dental coverage). The problem is that most small business employers fall far enough between the cracks of capitalism that they can get away with not providing great conditions. Just like Zach pointed out, the economy is fueled by the profits that these employers make. For the government, it's better for them to have a few highly payed employers who can afford to buy sickeningly expensive items in order to feed back into the economy. Since the government needs the money that employers earn to be fed back to them, they can afford to turn a blind eye to the conditions and rights violations of the low wage workers whom they are supposed to be protecting.
The points made in your writing are very effective. It is true that in our society, few citizens can manage to get by on a full-time salary. If this is the case, what is to say for the individuals without jobs? A very important area you touch on is the idea of replaceable work. The working class is seen as cheap labor much like others in our country's history. This cheap labor is what our country depends on so we don't feel the need to stop this pattern of low-wage workers who are desperate for jobs. Solving this issue comes from the higher levels of power in our society, but government is dependent on these big businesses. Without these business, they cannot survive. We begin to see a cycle that needs to be halted. This begins with the government's recognition of it's role in the lives of low wage workers.
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