Award-winning political essayist and social critic Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Elon University’s common reading, “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America,” discussed her book and responded to questions from audience members Tuesday, Sept. 14 in Alumni Gym. Details...
Ehrenreich recounted the conditions and situations she encountered as she took several low-wage jobs as part of her assignment to understand poverty in America. Traveling across the country, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. Very quickly, she says, she discovered that even so-called “unskilled” jobs require exhausting mental and physical effort.
“I have a PhD.,” Ehrenreich said. “I’ve written books — I’m pretty smart. I had trouble learning my jobs. I had trouble keeping up.”
She also described the difficulty of finding housing on full-time paychecks that, after taxes, often amounted to around $1,000 a month. She described a frightening and unsanitary residential motel where she lived after being unable to find housing within her price range.
“The greater challenge than the work I faced was making ends meet,” she said. “It was the cost of housing that I was completely unprepared for.”
Ehrenreich contrasted the stark poverty she encountered with what she called a growing concentration of wealth in upper class America. She also condemned the disparity between the punishments handed down to poor criminals in the legal system with the light punishments often handed out for white-collar crimes involving much greater amounts of money.
“The message is, if you’re going to steal, steal a lot,” she said.
She encouraged the audience to get involved in changing the treatment of low-wage workers by supporting labor unions, improved public housing and universal health coverage, and by voting and supporting on-campus workers at universities.
“Low-wage workers should be considered America’s primary philanthropists,” she said, because of the amount they contribute to society for little reward. “It is time to end this involuntary philanthropy of America’s working poor.”
A contributing writer for Time since 1990, Ehrenreich’s books include “The Worst Years of Our Lives,” a New York Times bestseller, and “Fear of Falling.” She has been a guest at universities around the world and has appeared on national programs such as “Good Morning America,” “Crossfire,” and “All Things Considered.” She recently taught in the Women’s Studies Program at Brandeis University.
Each year, a committee of Elon students and faculty select a book for incoming students to read. This provides a common point of reference for students and faculty at the start of the school year, and the book is used in classroom discussions and assignments.
Ehrenreich’s speech was facilitated by the Liberal Arts Forum, General Studies and the Office of Cultural Programs.