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).
This task proved to be far more challenging than she originally anticipated. Text to Self I can relate my life to Nickel and Dimed more so than I would like to be able to. I have never lived in absolute poverty, but definitely in working poverty. Neither one of my parents attended college, so their income is quite limited in today’s economy. They make enough money just to get by and support them, but that is about it.
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.
Particularly vulnerable groups were the old, who had no means of acquiring money. The young, were dependant on their parents’ financial status and good will, if they were not orphans. Seasonal workers were vulnerable due to the cyclical nature of their employment. Anyone who suffered from illness either long or short term fell into poverty because there were no sickness benefits. Women were another vulnerable group because they were always paid at a lower rate than men.
He stresses the importance of inalienable rights that cannot be taken away. This is important because as minorities, women were not being treated with their full rights given by the constitution, it is evident that tolerance and acceptance would be the cure. Imagine the life of a woman just before the 1960s. [2]Women were denied basic civil rights, “trapped” in their homes and discriminated in the workforce. When the 1960’s came along and men were enlisted into World War II, women had the chance to work the jobs of men and have a say in the government.
These married woman who’s husbands were fighting in the war couldn’t care for their children while simultaneously working so the nation called upon their next big target, the single women fresh out of college. Most young women just out of college didn’t work and any that did would take office jobs, working in the factories was unlady like. What was America to do(Yellin 43)? In 1943 a fictional female character named “Rosie the Riveter” was born. She was everything the manufacturing forces wanted in a woman; strong, tough, loyal and pretty, the ideal female worker.
Sabrina Tavernise from the New York Times says, “as a result, there is a growing generation gap, with younger Americans far less likely than older ones to have a family member who served.” (Tavernise) Americans are excessively self-satisfied, and think the government will always take care of their needs. Obviously not all Americans are like this, yet an excessively high rate are. Individuals need to figure out how to provide for themselves. I don't accept that everybody ought to be thrown into battle (just on a volunteer premise), however everybody should be required to go to basic training and serve for a year. It would definitely lower wrongdoing, expand development, make individuals more astute, fit, and more thankful.
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.
Nike was providing jobs to people in areas that was not easy to provide for their families but Nike made some mistakes. “The majority of challenges Nike had to overcome involved ethical issues and debates. Even though Nike was providing jobs to those who may not otherwise have one, it was paying “a mere $1.60 a day to Vietnam factory workers when the living wage is at least $3 a day” (Hill, 2009). Nike could have avoided this challenge by paying each employee worker the living wage of the country he or she lives in to purchase necessary items”. (Phoenix Business, 2014).
She is doing this experiment to prove that if you don’t receive a college degree you would have to be subjected to working two or three jobs just to make ends meet. She is overworked and under paid and barely gets to take a break. “The break room summarizes the whole situation: there is none, because there are no breaks at Jerry’s” (Ehrenreich 291). she starts to get to know her co-workers and Barbara soon realizes that they don’t want to advance in life they just want to work enough just to get by. She discusses that her living arrangements have become a little extreme.