Even though Wal-Mart saves families money, some families still go without or live very lean. How can one be expected to pay high premiums and then their share of a the doctor bills when making minimal wages? In an article by John Miller he states that, “Wal-Mart according to its own reports, pays an average of $9.68 an hour. That is 12.4% below the national average wage for retail workers, even after adjusting for geography”(12). Wal-Mart also does not allow overtime and has on occasion asked employees to work “off the clock” the employees comply as they don’t want to be fired, even though what is being done is not right.
A woman working in the same job as a man will usually earn less, despite the fact that she may have the same or better training, education, and skills required for the job ("Study Shows Female Managers in Britain Earn Less than Men, and Equality Could Be 57 Years Away." 2010). Women are consistently discriminated against in the workplace. Women only make 60 percent or less than their male counterparts in the same job position (Louis, 2010). Throughout history men are seen as the “strong/tough ones”; the belief is that they should be paid more than women in order to support their families (Loney, 2005).
Frustrated, she name-drops a few well-known feminists and the "womyn" in her feminist criticism class from graduate school, and addresses the issues they once mentioned involving motherhood and careers. She finally comes to the realization that she is most frustrated with her husband, because it was not through discussion that her position as strictly housewife came about. The result of the piece is resignation, and an occasional babysitter--not uplifting or hopeful, but a way to cope and another woman's story to think about. - N.T. Hope Edelman looks at the realities of marriage and imbalanced parenting roles in her article "The Myth of Co-Parenting."
There is quite a big change this could be because she has been very successful and there are no more books to write so she isn’t stress. She could be using a lot of fillers when she talks about her childhood in “SIXTY Minute” Suggesting she had a traumatic experience. We see examples of this here “I-I emr wouldn’t go back even if you paid me” she uses a false start as she is hesitant to the question and unsure. She then uses filler for herself to think because this is a hard point in her life. By false starting she is not sure whether to reveal this information as this is one of her first interviews she doesn’t want to damage her image and look unnatural and false therefore she is hesitant.
In addition, although life is less than happy, they are ambitious for change. A $10,000 check is coming in the mail that could ultimately give them a better life. Until this check comes, however, they all have hopes and dreams of what can be done with the money. Mama’s dream of how to spend the money is the main dream, because it is the one that goes through. I don’t think Mama had too much of an education as most African American people in the 1950’s did not, because Mama uses the money to help her family and does not even think about investing it to make more.
Yes, Wal-Mart provides many uneducated Americans with job however it isn’t a job from which can make livable wage. Wal-Mart pays all their employees besides management minimum wage. With prices on the rise like they are today it is hard for a person to live off minimum wage which is currently 7 dollars and 25 cents in New York. Not to mention if you have kids it is virtually impossible to live off minimum wage and if you do it’s an unpleasing struggle. Another problem is that there is no growth in your field if you work at Wal-Mart.
P. Shipsey March 22, 2012 Nickel and Dimed Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich provides an interesting, and at times amusing, look at the plight of low wage workers in America. Although it is an unrealistic journey, as the author has the luxury of returning to her “real life”, has no familial structure to aide her, and moves constantly, rather than staying at one job to strive for advancement, the author does manage to highlight the difficult lives of those earning a minimum wage. Ms. Ehrenreich, a conflict theorist, approaches the problem of living on minimum wage. She posits that the problem is that the minimum wage does not provide a living wage, and that the benefactors of the low wage are companies. The author’s glass is half empty as she blames the unequal allocation of resources for the hard lives of herself and her temporary peers.
Everyone has the right to an opinion, especially when it has a huge effect on a person's life. The fictional novel Lyddie by Katherine Paterson is a story about a poor girl who had to leave her home to work in a factory. Lyddie finds that people aren’t very fond of the factory’s working condition. There is this petition floating around that is trying to change these conditions, but the problem is, if she signed it,she could lose any job, anywhere. This makes her wonder if she made the right decision moving to Lowell.
Even though immigrants wanted to leave their home country to get better living conditions, they would have to find jobs, live without knowing how to speak the language and face immigration policies. Finding jobs as an immigrant was not that difficult but they would usually be forced to take the low paying jobs that were available. Living in the U.S. without knowing any English words was also difficult. Most immigrants would learn how to speak English since it was not easy to live there without a source of communication. Additionally, it made their daily lives more comfortable.
The main reason why women should choose to be a working mother rather than a fulltime housewife is due to the unstable economic state. This is because of the inflation and other economic changes have become a burden especially to families in the lower and middle income groups. As a result, women also have to support their family income as they hardly survive on husband’s income alone. According to Dr Yeah Kim Leng, economist of Rating Agency Malaysia (2008), he pointed out that urban household with a monthly income of RM3, 000 needs to struggle to make ends meet based on the prevailing costs of living. In fact, there is only one breadwinner in majority Malaysian’s families.