Preview

Economic Inequality and the Division of Labor

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
788 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Economic Inequality and the Division of Labor
Ning Yang
Professor Zimmerman
ENG 049
06 March 2013 Working Purposes Although the low-wage jobs are not required a high education background, in the real situation is you have to work more in order to make enough money to survive. We all want to have a “good job” that can pay you well and also enjoyable at work, but what job is the best option you want to have? In the book “Nickel and Dimed”, the writer Barbara Ehrenreich argued that a minimum-wage worker trying to survive with minimum wage jobs, but the paycheck is not enough for them to balance the expense in the U.S. But with a degree you can to find a job with better financial stability and working more meaningful and sustainable. You definitely need money, there’s no question about it. But if you have to spend 40 – 60 hours every weeks on your job, why not have a degree then get a better job? You could be struggle in your life when you having not enough income. By read the book, Ehrenreich wants to show her experience as a waitress that with minimum wage and tips is not enough for her to survive. “But as the tourist business slows in the summer heat, I sometimes leave work with only $20 in tips...With wages included; this amounts to about the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.”(P28) Depends on the information on research (in 2010) the living wage is$11.32 and the minimum wage is $8, which means in each hour you are working has average differences of $3.32 that you actually needed. For example, each day you normally work 8 hours then you have to make $26 more to balance your expense. Even you work like the others, but your income cannot cover your expense. As a result that will become a big problem for you to having a better life. What if you do not having money to buy new clothes for your children or cannot afford apartment then you have to move to a father place.
There are jobs that are not requires a secondary education or college education when you work on it. By read the article “blue-collar

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Income Inequality

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Over the years America’s inequality income gap has been growing, between the rich and the poor. There are many reasons why this is happening. Andrew Carnegie, John Kenneth Galbraith and Joseph Stiglitz may agree with me, but believe there are different reasons why and how it should be dealt with. I would have to say that I agree that Galbraith’s idea is what is better for America now.…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ehrenreich worked at a restaurant as a housekeeper/ server and experienced what it was like working paycheck to paycheck. She constantly struggled on making her rent payments on time and finding cheap motels or apartments that she could pay for monthly. She found it very difficult to keep extra money for food or emergencies. Under these circumstances many sociologist would classify her as the working poor which is defined as, “poor to the extent that their economic status is extremely precarious. They literally live from paycheck to paycheck… Their wages are usually low, if they do work regularly, they have difficulty making financial ends meet”(Marger,152). One of the times Ehrenreich experienced this struggle was when she was living in Minneapolis and was looking for a good place to live in and she realized that the vacancy rent was less than 1 percent but she could not afford it unless it was one tenth of that. It became really difficult for her to balance her wages with her living expenses. Ehreireich illustrated, “you don’t need a degree in economics to see that wages are too low and rents too high” (Ehreireich,199).…

    • 3042 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Outline College Paper

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For those who decide not to attend college they may start working at a job that can eventually build up to career. One may work at a fast food joint or they can do sales at a local retailer for minimum wage but having that first step can lead to several outcomes. It can open up management, raises and…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In her narrative, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explores the world of the low-wage working class. An upper-middle class biology Ph.D. and journalist, Ehrenreich temporarily uproots her life in a two year social and economic experiment to join the laborers of America. Her purpose is to get firsthand knowledge and answer the question, “How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled?” (Ehrenreich 1)…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Industrial Revolution, which took place from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s, caused the transition between the grueling manual labor we now consider archaic to machines still used in factories to this day. With this newfound efficiency, however, came a whole slew of unforeseen problems, many of which related to the bad conditions in which the working class was placed. Although many of these problems were unique in their solutions, many others could be solved with the application of socialist values within the capitalism that was eventually chosen.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the recession between December 2007 and January 2010 , jobs requiring degrees grew by 187,000 (ProCon.org-college education). Some jobs are requiring some college or an associates degrees fell by 1.75 million and jobs requiring a high school degrees or less fell by 5.6 million (Procon.org- college education). In 2018 approximately 63% of jobs will require some college education or a degree. People just think they can just get any job don't realize that you need some type of school because it is a requirement depending on what type of job you're looking…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is College Worth It Essay

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    It is necessary, then, to find a certain job that is well paid and is something that you may be pleased and fond of. People should understand how much money they are going to get out of a job before working at that job. In the article, “Experts disagree whether earning a college degree is worth the expense” by Larry Gordon, a woman by the name of Mary C. Daly, senior vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, explained that, “There is overwhelming evidence that a bachelor’s degree gives people a finical leg up”. “It’s an irrefutable fact” Daly stated, “that college gives you a significant and persistent advantage decade after decade”. In other words, Mary C. Daly is trying to explain is that a college degree finically aids you in life, which has been interpreted many times, that a good salary is going to keep you alive in today’s…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Is college For Everyone

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Those whom choose not to go to college have much fewer employment options. Robert makes a strong point when he says that American companies are looking for new ways to compete, and because of this without some sort of secondary degree you will have consistent struggle to pay for just the basic to live.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author’s argument states that people cannot survive in today’s society on low or minimum wage pay. Only career people make it in this sort of society. In her book, she writes, “And that is how we should see the state of poverty of so many millions of low-wage Americans – as a state of emergency.” (Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Pg. 214. Published 01/01/01.) This “emergency” is a nation-wide epidemic, and has been known to be accompanied by many other social issues. Her argument’s focal point preaches on the injustice of low-wage workers in terrible situations being treated unfairly with no option to do better for themselves. This is a point I am 100% in agreement with. Commonly, those who work jobs of low income, have little to no accommodations, and have their life situations out in the open are not treated with respect. A man or woman can have all of the traits of an excellent worker with impeccable character and still be disrespected as a person due to their circumstances. This circulating issue makes poverty so much more of a problematic struggle,…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    America is supposed to be all about equality, but if you take a serious look around, you will see that there is human rights issue going on all over America; this is just one of them. Things need to be reevaluated and adjusted as things change and growth happens, America do not seem to roll with the changes very well and are stuck in a moralistic, religious, patriarchal system. In recent years, the major concerns of economic development is the study of poverty, the income distribution and growth in the less developed countries or from all over the world have been doing researches and studies on how to induce a growth in those under developed countries.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people agree to disagree on college. There are plenty of people who do not attend college, and they find their way to the top. College gives you the extended learning skills that employers will look for when you're finding a job. The authors repeatedly express several statistics, including, “14 percent of people with a high school diploma make at least as much as those with a bachelor’s degree, and 17 percent of people with a bachelor’s degree make more than those with a professional degree.” This statistic also all depends on the major you want to pursue your career in. The choices a student makes about his or her field of study and later in a job can have a substantial impact on what he or she gets out of her degree…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Case Against College

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The argument is also true that going to college is not for everyone as some students are better off in a technical field or trade school. According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 of the 10 fastest growing jobs don’t require college degrees. Linda Lee in her article also…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nickel and Dimed

    • 1820 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich delves into the `third world' of America while attempting to make a living. She undertakes many noble trades, working in low wage and underappreciated jobs while trying to figure out how the people of this country do it every day. She works at Hearthside and Jerry's in Florida waitressing, with The Maids in Maine cleaning houses, and with Wal-Mart in Minnesota, serving their `guests', all while earning the minimum wage. She also looks to examine the functional and conflict theories of stratification as they relate to the low wage jobs she pursues.…

    • 1820 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nickel and Dimed Summary

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ehrenreich pondered how unskilled, uneducated, and untrained workers can survive and thrive in the American workforce with minimum wage incomes. She was particularly interested in the staggering four million single mothers trying to live off between $6 and $7 an hour. She has witnessed firsthand her friends and family struggle immensely in the minimum wage work force, some came out on top, while others were swallowed by the system. Is it possible for a single mother to provide enough money for her family while still having enough money to pay for rent?…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People will say all day long that there are plenty of relatively good paying jobs available that don’t require a college degree, and its true. According to US Labor Department projections, 63% of all new jobs that will be created between now and 2020 won’t require a college degree. Many jobs require just a high…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays