Living Off Of Minimum Wage - 1490 Words

Living off of Minimum Wage in the United States In Barbara Ehrenreich’s documentary novel, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America (2001), she claimed that it is almost impossible to live off of minimum wage in the united states. She supports her claim by writing a documentary novel explaining the details of the life of the American struggles caused by the minimum wage. Through her book, she supports that minimum wage salary is insufficient means of survival and leads to a difficult life. After encountering many people who falsely accuse welfare receivers of being lazy and not work hard enough, she wrote a book to challenge and change the public’s negative opinion towards them and also about the day when the minimum wage workforce will stand up for themselves and demand to have a higher wage. Ehrenreich’s purpose for writing this novel was to bring attention to wage workforce by showing the general American public the life of their fellow citizens who are struggling to survive. The main, primary theme that Nickel and Dimed focuses on is the hardship and distress caused by the poverty in the United States. Ehrenreich’s main concern regarding this theme is how it is practically impossible to have basic necessities for survival with the amount of money earned from a minimum wage salary. She grasps the reader’s attention and proves her claims and arguments by using a unique technique called investigative journalism, which allows her to get the first-hand experienceShow MoreRelatedMinimum Wage Needs A Change1184 Words   |  5 PagesDoherty Ms. Lee English 2 16 May 2017 Minimum Wage Needs A Change According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 14% of the nation lives below the poverty line, the current population is 326,474,013, and 45,706,362 of the population lives in poverty every single day. One of the reasons why such a large chunk of the population is in poverty is because they are not being paid a reasonable salary for them to support themselves and their families. Raising the minimum wage can lead to problems, but gradual increasesRead MoreThe Minimum Wage Should Not Be Raised858 Words   |  4 Pagesis of the opinion that the Minimum wage should not be raised. 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This is important social policy because it deals with the distribution of wealth particularly with lower class workers. Part of the discussion about minimum wage is whether or not someone can make a decent living on it. Talks of subsidization and supplementation haveRead MoreArgumentative Essay On Minimum Wage1314 Words   |  6 PagesThe minimum wage has arguably become the most controversial topic regarding our economy today, as it influences one of the largest classes of people within the United States, the working class. Federally, the minimum wage has not been raised in eight years, so it has stayed at $7.25 per hour for all non-exempt workers (U.S. DoL). The opinions on this topic are typically split across a progressive-conservative line, with progressives being in favor of a raise from $7.25, and conservatives wantingRead MoreEffects of Increasing Minimum Wage794 Words   |  3 Pagesa federal minimum wage is a good one. The idea is to protect low and unskilled workers and allow workers to earn a living wage. The recent debate on the floor, though, is whether or not to raise the minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour up to $10.10. President Barack Obama made this proposal during his annual State of the Union Address, and after this there were many hot debates about it. The debates focused not only on the pro side and the con side of increasing the minimum wage, but also