Nickel And Dimed Analysis

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What does it truly mean to be in poverty? Kornblum & Julian (2009) define poverty as: “money to buy things that are considered necessary and desirable” (pg.193) Living in impoverished conditions not only can have a negative effect on hygiene and education but it can also take a toll on mental health and relationships between family members and others in the community. I do not think that one can truly understand living in this life-altering situation until they are actually put in it. Barbara Ehrenreich tried living on the salary she would make working several minimum wage jobs around the country. She reported about her findings in the book “Nickel and Dimed.” In the “Introduction” of the book Barbara wrote: “My aim here was much more straightforward and objective-just to see whether I could match income to expenses, as the truly poor attempt to do every day.” Trying to live on $5 a day for 5 days was something that many class members decided to do in order to challenge themselves. I found this challenge very difficult as I am addicted to Starbucks and spend at least $5 a…show more content…
These kids work hard in order to ensure that none of their peers find out what their living conditions are. In the HBO documentary “American Winter” the idea of being judged by others is very prevalent, to my surprise some of the adults in the film were ashamed to be shopping at food pantries and they often said that they never thought this lifestyle would happen to them. Some of the children in the movie would never have people over at their house because of being embarrassed about their living conditions or simply because they did not have any electricity. Becoming impoverished is quickly becoming the reality for many families in the United States and around the

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