Still Getting Nickel and Dimed
Barbara Ehrenreich, author of the New York Times best-seller Nickel and Dimed, recently visited a few of the families she profiled in her book to check in on how the recession was affecting their lives.
"In good times and grim ones, the misery at the bottom just keeps piling up, like a bad debt that will eventually come due."
The economic crisis hasn't changed the situation for many of the poor families Ehrenreich profiled because things were already pretty bad before the economy started tanking. They still face the same daily struggles of low wages, little job security, and limited safety nets like savings and family members to fall back on.
These families aren't coping with the economic crisis by canceling vacations and shopping at the Dollar Tree instead of Pier One Imports, for them the impacts of a poor economy are less obvious. Maybe this is why their story isn't often covered by ABC's the View and the local evening news.
Even after the recession ends and the economy begins to rebuild, many Americans will still be living paycheck to paycheck. The Wal-Mart clerk. Your corner grocery owner. Your office-building janitor. In her recent Op-Ed for the New York Times Ehrenreich again gives a voice to today's overlooked citizens.
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Printer-friendly version
Comments
Post new comment