Monday, July 29, 2013

Summer Session #2: Nickel and Dimed

Updating Nickel and Dimed
If you weren't at the July 30 session read one of the articles below--your choice. Each of the articles deals with the issue of low wage labor in the last two years. In the comment box below write a response in which you discuss the relationship between the CBS news article and Barbara Ehrenreich's book. You should characterize the relationship with a bold, insightful claim. Then develop and support the claim in your response. 

CBS News Articles on Low Wages
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57569266/minimum-wage-a-bad-idea-ask-execs-who-pay-even-more/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505144_162-57415828/research-shows-the-us-is-a-low-wage-country/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57595861/80-percent-of-u.s-adults-face-near-poverty-unemployment-survey-finds/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505143_162-57504243/during-recovery-most-new-jobs-offer-low-wages/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_162-57595890/fast-food-workers-have-it-your-way-elsewhere/


***
If you weren't at the July 30 session you should also watch the video below and read the commentary below. Both the video and the commentary show ways of responding to counterarguments. (Counterarguments oppose the point you are trying to make. In order to argue effectively it is important to anticipate and address the arguments of the other side either through controlled concession or sharp refutation.


In the comment box write down a possible counterargument (or counterclaim) for your proposal(s) for addressing the problem of low wage work in America. Then respond to the counterargument in a way that strengthens your position.

Robert Reich, "Raise the Minimum Wage"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct8CGJy9eF8


Evan Soltas, "Two Reasons Not to Raise the Minimum Wage"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-03/two-reasons-not-to-raise-the-minimum-wage.html

***
Extras to watch if you're interested in more.
Morgan Spurlock, 30 Days: Minimum Wage (2005)
http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/40720-30-days-minimum-wage-video.htm
(one to two minute clip)

http://www.teachertube.com:8809/viewVideo.php?video_id=258174
(nine to ten minute clip)

29 comments:

  1. Nickel and Dimed and the article Fast-food workers: Have it your way -- elsewhere, on Cnn.com share many similarities that point towards Ehrenreich's overarching purpose. The article uses facts, mainly numbers and statistics, that Ehrenreich stayed away from using, except in footnotes. The statistics helped her projects authority, and proved many of her points about workers in 2000. Ehrenreich talks about striking as well, while she never worked in a fast food joint, she did try to coerce anti managerial sentiment out of her fellow workers at Wal-mart, in the midst of hotel strikes around Minneapolis. Burger king defended their pay saying "For decades, Burger King restaurants have provided an entry point into the workforce for millions of Americans, including many of the system's franchisees who began their careers working at local Burger King restaurants,". While their claim succeeds at pointing out a benefit of the business, Nickel and Dimed had the purpose of demonstrating that in today's weak economy, entry level jobs are not the level that most people need in order to live successfully.

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  2. In "Fast food workers have it your way elsewhere." The argument is made that the minimum wage simply isn't enough to support people. The minimum wage, $7.25 in New York state at the time of the article being written, is not near the $10.25 that the government says one adult needs to support themselves in New York. Even the $9 minimum wage that New York plans to implement would not be enough. This draws many parallels to Barbara Ehrenreich's point in "Nickel and Dimed" Ehrenreich was normally earning roughly $7 an hour in her experiment per job she had at any given time, give or take, and she had to live in such barely livable conditions as mold-filled hotel rooms with no bug screens and distant relatives' apartments with an unfriendly cockatiel just to be able to afford food every day. Even taking that into consideration, Ehrenreich's case was a relatively good one, as she had money saved up that she could use in emergencies, that most minimum wage workers do not have the luxury of. Therefore, the fact that minimum wage has not advanced very far in the at least 13 years that have passed since the "Nickel and Dimed" experiment took place indicates that there is an immediate change necessary in america to allow people to be able to live and sustain themselves in decent conditions and live relatively happy lives. This is exactly what protest movements such as the article's fast food forward movement want. Simply the wages that they need to live happy lives.

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  3. In Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich there is no shortage of jobs. However, they are jobs that do not actually pay enough for anyone to support themselves. Like in the book the article, "During recovery, most new jobs offer low wages" uses lots of research to support its claims.For instance the article cites NELP to define a minimum wage job and Barbara Ehrenreich uses footnotes to support her claims. Though, the book takes place in the 1990's it is similar to the article even though it is current because the jobs that are recovering quickly from the recession are minimum wage jobs. So, the jobs in the most abundance are yet again the ones that you cannot make a living at.

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  4. I'm trying this too:

    In "Research shows the US is a low wage country" Mark Thoma uses research from John Schmitt of the Center for Economic Policy Research to show (among other things) that wage disparity has grown in America. In *Nickel and Dimed* Ehrenreich too shows economic disparities, particularly in the "Scrubbing in Maine" section of the book where we see her cleaning the homes of affluent people. However, whereas Schmitt's Figure 6 graphs shows an statistically objective increase in the percentage of low wage workers in America since 1979, Ehrenreich presents the subjective experience of individual low wage workers within affluent homes. Schmitt's statistics used by Thoma show what the trend is and Ehrenreich's descriptions of the arduous physical work, demeaning interactions with bosses and homeowners, and the difficulty of the living (buying food, clothing, and healthcare) with the wages accrued by working for affluent members of our society illustrates vividly and emotionally why the trend is significant. By combining the objective and subjective data a reader can better understand how low wages are harming an increasing percentage of people in America

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  5. nickel and dimed was written before the recession. after the recession growth for low paying jobs were stunted. some areas have grown faster than others and the middle class has grown during this recovery. many of these low paying jobs now make more then the minimum wage. retail salespeople has a net growth of 350,000 during the recovery. retail salespeople make make on average $10.97 an hour on average. which is a little of $3 more then minimum wage.

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  6. The article "Research shows the US is a low wage country" shows that the US leads the field in low wage work. There are many people unemployed and those who can find work are stuck with these wages that are at or below the minimum wage point. If we created more jobs at the minimum wage then the unemployment rate would shrink.If we stopped raising the wages of the people that are already earning large sums of money, then we would be able to bring the low wage workers up to standard of pay, with the extra money, to a point where they could get by without having to worry largely on their food and shelter, like Ehrenreich did throughout her project.We need to satisfy everyone to point of getting by in America, but not to a point where the high wage worker's wages just keep going up and up.

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  7. Zoe P

    A connection I made between "Nickel and Dimed" and the article "Fast-Food Workers:Have it your way-elsewhere" is the idea of a union for the employees. When working at Wal-Mart Barbara Ehrenreich mentioned the idea of forming a union, but she was soon leaving Minneapolis so she did not pursue it. In the article it is mentioned that many fast-food employees are going on strike to earn a higher wage. Another connection between the two is the mention of not being able to live off of a minimum wage salary. In "Nickel and Dimed" Ehrenreich had to work two jobs in Maine to be able to afford her rent and meet her other needs. In the article Erik Sherman writes "According to the Living Wage project, a single adult in New York would need to make $12.75 an hour, which is far above the $9 an hour minimum wage..." This shows that a minimum wage salary is not enough to live on and it is also experienced through Barbara Ehrenreich's journey in "Nickel and Dimed."

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  8. Article two in comparison to Nickle and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich can be shown by the similarities that each posses about the American minimum wage. It can be said that in the Cbs New article that the United States has obtained a polarized form of government pay between wages. The solution to getting America back onto its feet would be to create a more noticeable middle man. The middle waged people existing in America however could be stated as people just barely out of the reaches of hell of a low paying job or are in possession of one. For example Barbara Ehrenreich's friend in Minneapolis in Nickle and Dimed was a low wage worker with a husband who got around $10 per hour. Together these two were able to be defined as a middle class but were unable to leave a low paying job and were minimum wage workers themselves living in what seemed to be a cramped house were people slept on couches every night. Further more even while a baffling 24.8% of U.S workers work minimum wages not all low paying wages are the same. A job at Wal-Mart for example was at $7 an hour in Maine and Minneapolis while a job at the Merry Maids was around $5 to $6 dollars according to Ehrenreich's first interview at the Maids. People earning this sort of pay in Nickle and Dimed are usually unable to live alone on their wages without a person or a second job. In the Cbs News article the percentage is most likely estimated and not including people with two jobs and any other special circumstance. To sum up the similarities between the two forms of writing is that the polarized gap between low and high wages are only a slim estimation into the real world of real life job market.

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  9. Points made in the article, Fast-Food Workers: Have it your way--Elsewhere, strengthen the argument made by Barbara Ehrenreich, in Nickel and Dimed, that what many businesses consider a living-wage is hardly livable. While in Minnesota, Ehrenreich is offered a wage of $8.50 to start working at Menards. With further research she uncovers that a true living wage for the area she is located would be higher than what she is being paid. The "living-wages" as stated in both the article and Nickel and Dimed would need to be changed depending on the location one lives and their living situation, such as having children.

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  10. #2

    This article shows that a relatively high percentage of American employees work low wage jobs. The article suggests that the solution to high unemployment, is to find work for the millions who are unemployed, and to lower the wage polarization. Finding a job did not prove to be difficult for Ehrenreich, which conflicts that there is a problem for millions of Americans who cannot find a job. The problem is not that there are no available jobs, but that they pay too little. Jobs that are labeled "unskilled" often pay less than other jobs. According to Ehrenreich there are no jobs that do not require some unique talent or skill to complete. Raising the pay for unskilled jobs would employ the millions who are unemployed, which is similar to Ehrenreich's findings.

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  11. Nickel and Dimed and article #3

    Obama mentions the widening gap between the rich and poor as a problem causing the deteriorating economic security of many Americans. In Nickel and Dimed while Ehrenreich was working as a maid in Maine, she experienced this gap first hand. She worked as a bottom feeder cleaning the houses of executives of huge corporations. This article talks about the "invisible poor" of lower income whites. This "invisible poor" is seen in the majority of Ehrenreich's coworkers.

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  12. Minimum wage a bad idea? Ask execs who pay even more and Nickel and Dimed show how many Americans making only minimum wage ($7.25) cannot survive adequately. If the president passes this law, the national average of minimum wage will increase to $9.00 an hour, giving the poor more choices in life. Nickel and Dimed show how tough the struggle is to survive on a meager salary; having to ration everything from food to gas, many things that we take for granted. If the minimum wage is increased, this could have some unforeseen effects on big business. For example; if Walmart raised the amount each associate was payed to the new level of minimum wage, that amounts to huge extra payments to its over hundreds of thousands of employees. Alternatively if they raise minimum wage, the extra money would lead to a boost in morale, increasing the quality of work and improve work ethic.

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  13. The article "80 Percent of U.S. Adults Face Near-Poverty, Unemployment, Survey Finds" strongly supports Ehrenreich's point of the working class needing serious help along with the racial competition for jobs. Ehrenreich often demonstrated the gap between the rich and the poor. This article backs this idea into a reality with a survey that concluded 4 out of 5 adult Americans that rely on welfare or are near poverty. The article also shows the growing minority population that mainly occupy the working class. With this article hopefully it will open the country's eyes to this growing problem.

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  14. Article three contains statistics that support claims Barbara Ehrenreich makes in Nickel and Dimed. In her research, Ehrenreich makes a point to mention the “job hogging” certain ethnic communities practice in the low wage workforce. The article mentions that racial and ethnic minorities are “most likely to live in poverty”. Although the predominant face of the poor is white, the article says, poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics are nearly three times higher since the recession. Ehrenreich, more than once, had to turn away from job openings due to an overflow of minority workers looking to fill the positions in her experience going “undercover” as a minimum wage worker. The article also states that the risk of “economic insecurity”, defined as at least a year of periodic joblessness, has risen 79 percent. The author describes her experience turning to an agency for aid during a “bout” of economic insecurity, and even delves into the unjust criticisms working poor, when reliant on food stamps and other forms of aid, face. The third article and Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed strengthen each others’ claims regarding poverty, the latter providing personal experiences to support statistics of the article.

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  15. In the article "Minimum wage a bad idea? Ask execs who pay even more", the author uses many similar techniques to get his point across that Ehreneich, such as constantly pointing out how low minimum wage was compared to living rates. However, the author of the article focuses more on the outcome and effect that the changes will have on the economy, where Ehreneich does not.

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  16. I got the article " During recovery, most new jobs offer low wages" and it talked about how in the last few years the majority of jobs offered are low wage jobs like food preparation, retail sales, costumer service, and house cleaning. They are a huge part of the new america trying to recover from bad economics. These new jobs available are making up a bigger percentage than other "skilled" jobs that are not low wage. In the book " Nickel and Dimed" she tells the reader her journey through low wage jobs. She describes her jobs being emotionally and physically stressful and that demonstrates how low wage jobs are sometimes more work than what the people get paid for. Majority of people she worked with, were adults who had to support themselves and others with the low wage pay. This article talks about how only 42 percent of Americans fall under "middle class" and I personally think that this article goes with what the book has been trying to show the reader: how America's working class is getting bigger and the difficulties they face each day.

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  17. The article " Minimum wage a bad idea? Ask execs who pay even more" is related to Barbara Erenreich's book,in that it answers the question in the book that asks what are ways to help the working poor. This question is answered in the article, thorough a statement that claimed raising the minimum wage will reduce the amount on people on welfare which includes the working poor. In the book "Nickel and Dimed" the author discussed how several low wage workers are welfare recipients, and yet even with a job they can hardly afford to pay the bills. At the end of the book the author talks about what the proper course of action would be, now that the true struggle of low wage workers is revealed. The article suggests that raising the minimum wage would help those who receive welfare get out of it.




    Raising the minimum wage would encourage companies to hire less people, thus increasing unemployment.


    Increasing the minimum wage would only cause the companies to have stricter interviews for the positions, and would not increase unemployment because the unskilled workers are essential to stimulating the economy.

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  18. Meagan H.

    The relationship between Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed and the CBS News article, “Fast-food workers: Have it your way – elsewhere” is very complimenting. The two works have in common that the outlook of the author is that something has to be done about the minimum wage worker situation, and how they do not have enough to get by in America. This is very true that many people sit below the poverty line, and that minimum wage cannot cut it for making bills and payments, but both the novel and the article hint at raising the minimum wage, solving these problems. Ehrenreich writes of the billion dollar franchises that only pay their workers enough to be legal. Sherman of CBS writes of the huge fast food franchises that do similar things for their employees, letting the big investors make up for the money not spent on the workers.
    Counter Argument: What about the large executives of companies that make enough for thousands of families to live off of in a year?

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  19. Meagan H. (continued)
    Argument
    The solution to helping people out of the poverty-stricken streets of America that is overlooked quite frequently is not raising the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage does not take all of the parties into account- like the small businesses. Huge franchises are not responsible for helping the individual shops pay their employees. So, if the Wal-Mart in your area only pays its employees a small $7.50 an hour, it could be because they don’t make very much. The big owners of the companies often do, but not the individual owner. Plus, if the wage is increasing then so will the cost of living. The companies and small business, motels, and diners will have to charge more to keep up with the increase in minimum wage, henceforth, just making it that much harder for the people who are making minimum wage to keep up. As for being able to care for your family, you should plan ahead, thinking about what would happen if you got laid off, and not started a family if you don’t have the resources to pay for it. The correct solution would be applying the money effectively to charities that will actually do something and letting each individual take the reins of their destiny. Warren Buffet and so many other billionaires spend a large majority of their money on charities. If there is a government run organization that can help compensate for the lack of money in the lower class, this could help get people up and running again. But there are programs that are government funded that are just being taken advantage of, like welfare, the Obama Phone, etc. The research and investigation that will go into these newer programs will be strict and no one should receive any benefits without very good reason. In Ehrenreich’s book she talks about Key West and how difficult it was to be there, and how the managers were always there to watch over everything you do and criticize you for things. Well, in Key West, if you show up every day in good condition (not drunk or hungover like many of the people there) you can get upgraded very quickly into a management position. With an attitude like Barbara adopted, she ended up walking out of jobs and developing sourness to the people in charge, something that really should have gotten her fired. If you work hard and put in the time and leadership qualities, you can get out of the poverty hole, it’s just a matter of whether you work hard enough. For someone working in a minimum wage job, what got them that way? It is actually a lot easier now to get a college degree with money from scholarships, or to get a grant for a cool idea you had. So, if slacking off in high school and blowing off college is what got you in a position like that- then maybe it’s a good thing that you’re at the bottom of the food chain- because someone has to be. It’s up to them whether or not they can crawl back out of it and actually own up to their previous mistakes- not the hardworking small business owners or the successful people. It is actually not the leader of McDonald’s job to make sure that all of his employees are making $15 an hour, he provided the job, started the idea, made all the plans, charged a very cheap rate for his food, and made a dream a success. I am sure, that when we are successful people later on, the majority of us won’t want to use our hardworking money to help out the high school peers we had then never tried and never took anything seriously. America is the land of opportunity, not the land of freebies and endless chances.

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  20. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich talks about how the supply of jobs is high but the shortage in pay makes living off of one low wage salary impossible. In the article Fast Food Workers: Have it Your Way Elsewhere the low wage workers are trying to increase there pay so living off of one job is possible. In this article it also talks about beginning different Unions to represent the low wage employees. If Unions began then they would protect the workers from having their hours cut to prevent the employer from having to pay for benefits and things of that nature. This article and the truth that Ehrenreich exposes about the true low wage workers prove that there has to be a change without a doubt.

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  21. Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed discusses the positive benefits, for low-wage workers, in organizing unions in an effort to eventually strike for higher wages. In the article Fast Food Workers: Have it Your Way Elsewhere fast food employees have begun to do just that. Evidently minimum wage is not enough to sustain an individual, as Barbara Ehrenreich proved, let alone a family, which many workers in fast food restaurants and other low-paying jobs attempt to do every day. Naturally, franchises defend their position in low-wage work saying they offer “an entry point into the workforce for millions of Americans” or they are “proud that Wendy's provides a place where thousands of people with different backgrounds and education levels can enter the workforce, gain life skills, and advance through their own initiative and abilities”. At Wal-Mart Ehrenreich faced a similar we’re-doing-you-a-favor attitude. They hired large masses of people, making it clear that an individual is easily disposable, and discouraged talks of organizing a union. The message large corporations sends to its employees is that they are helping you and they can easily replace you if you attempt to undermine their unjust tactics.

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  22. To relate Ehrenreich's book to the article "Research shows the U.S. is a low-wage country": The book and the article have the same message, saying that people can't survive off of less than eight dollars an hour. Her book, through experiences of her own, proves that she has trouble feeding herself and staying sheltered with her low-wage jobs. The article proves that America is the leading country with minimum wage workers, and high unemployment rates to sustain that. The article says that the States needs more middle-wage jobs so the unemployed can move up a notch and the low-wages can earn more, too.
    Counterargument: I personally don't think we should raise minimum wage. People with minimum wage jobs are all my age, coming from well-suited homes. Plus, if these people are really that poor, there are programs they can go on that won't make them not want to work anymore, but fund them enough. The government could always raise the EITC percentage given to lower-class people instead of minimum wage itself so the people who really need the help will get it, not the people who need it and the people who will blow it on bubble gum. However, other people say that minimum wage should be raised because it will balance the economy, which it would. This way there would be a more even playing field and there would be more groceries bought and more presents from Santa each year. But lower-class families would still spend less than the average household would, and over half of that minimum wage money would go to the high schoolers. Raising the welfare-like programs would benefit only the people who really needed it, just as if we were to rid the actual welfare program of all the freeloaders who could be working but aren't.

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  23. The article "Minimum Wage A Bad Idea? Ask Execs That Pay Even More,” relates to Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed in many different ways. Both address the problems with minimum wage and solutions that may be able to fix the problems. The article suggests increasing minimum wage would help people in welfare move on from welfare. In Nickel and Dimed Ehrenreich talks about her fellow employees saying most of them are on welfare and are struggling to pay their bills.

    Counterargument: As many others who have responded to this I also do not believe we should raise minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs are mostly “gateway” jobs for people to gain experience working before permanently entering the working world. These gateway jobs aren’t meant to be lifetime jobs. Most people my age work minimum wage jobs and raising the minimum wage would only truly help people who don’t need it. The whole system of minimum wage is a very delicate system because whether we increase it or not there are going to be people who benefit and do not benefit from the situation.

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  24. In Ehrenreich's book she discussed the experiences she has had working minimum wage jobs throughout America, and the problems she faced supporting herself. Based on her personal experiences, and things she has heard from her coworkers, she believes the minimum wage should be higher so the working poor can support themselves without having to turn to government agencies for assistance. The article, "Minimum Wage a Bad Idea? Ask Execs that Pay Even More", discussed how the raised wages encourages higher morale which in turn increases productivity. While this is something Barbara Ehrenreich agrees with,as she says in her book, not all of her past employers felt the same way. Wal-Mart, for example was constantly taking new applicants which meant employees were easy to replace. Both the article and the book talk about how minimum wage could be raised, however I think the article goes into more detail on the topic.
    Counterargument: A reason minimum wage should not be increased in America is because the raised wages may be harder for businesses to pay their workers, causing some to have to shut their doors. The closing of businesses would cause a greater level of unemployment. If minimum wage was raised, businesses would have to find ways to give workers the extra pay. Raised wages could also lead to more workers being laid off, causing a higher level of job loss throughout America.

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  25. While reading article three, I couldn't help but find it repetitive to what Barbara Ehrenreich was trying to argue in her book, Nickel and Dimed. This article talks about the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the amount of families ( white, hispanic, black, etc.) that live under the poverty level, a whopping 46.2 million. While stereotypes of american poverty lead to non-white nationalities this article explains how nearly 41% (19 million) of America's poor is white. Reflecting on Ehrenreich's time spent in Maine working for the maid service, she talked about being invisible. While she may have been talking about the maids as a whole, as it stands today the entire poverty class is invisible. The gap between the rich and poor is growing steadily and our racial misconceptions are growing steadily as well.

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