Review: Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Undercover journalism among destitute people and the so-called "working poor" is not a new phenomenon. George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) mainly reported on the male population in his groundbreaking Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), as did German journalist Günter Wallraff, who disguised himself by darkening his features to investigate the plight of Turkish "guest workers" in Germany in Ganz unten ("The Lowest of the Low"; 1985). Orwell's decision to "rough it" for a lengthy period so as to investigate the conditions of the underprivileged was commendable, although his upper-middle-class accent betrayed him, arousing suspicion as to his purpose, and Wallraff, who announced that he was going to establish projects to assist the families of the poor and unemployed, was accused of paying lip service to these schemes and of keeping the proceeds of his tremendously successful book to himself. Whereas Orwell's account is a fascinating insight into a world that in the 1930s was hardly reported on, Wallraff's stories are at times unrealistic, particularly when he tries to convince us that McDonald's restaurants are unhygienic. Perhaps the food is unhealthy, but as far as cleanliness is concerned, the eaters are as sterile as a moon capsule. These books were significant, but women hardly feature in them. Then, at last, came Nickel and Dimed (2002), Barbara Ehrenreich's feminist take on the situation of underpaid women. A British equivalent, Polly Toynbee's Hard Work (2003), followed in short succession.

Ehrenreich is one of the leading socialist feminist thinkers around today. A movement rooted in Marxist feminism, socialist feminism can be seen as a modern version of the older concept's emphasis on "the need to end the "patriarchal capitalist system" which was "oppressing" women. Socialist feminists have widened the scope to embrace diversity and to not view women as the only victims, although they firmly believe that it is usually women who "fall by the wayside". In fact, there is a lot of criticism of "faux liberal feminism", claiming that the empowerment of a small circle of people, including successful female Hillary Clinton campaigners, has led to a sell-out of feminist ideals, with a small group of capitalist women joining forces with men to oppress large segments of society, hand-in-hand with the large corporations, who issue glossed-over corporate social responsibility statements whilst indirectly exploiting the poor, and even claim that in this "enlightened age", feminism is no longer relevant.

Ehrenreich first goes to Florida to try her luck as a hotel housekeeper and waitress, then switches to Maine to work in a nursing home before being hired by a housecleaning firm she calls The Maids. Her final port of call is a Menards hardware store in Minnesota, which she soon leaves to join the staff of Wal-Mart.

Far from being a depressing read, Nickel and Dimed is electrifying because of the case studies Ehrenreich has picked out, and because she uses humour and sarcasm to make the subject matter bearable. These are not dry, boring statistics, but stories of real people, even if, as one might expect, the storylines are altered slightly for effect, and to protect the identity of certain workers. Naturally, we may criticise the fact that, unlike the case studies, Ehrenreich's brief sojourn below the breadline cannot truthfully reflect what these people go through, but what counts is that these cases are brought to the fore. It is often necessary for middle-class professionals to function as a spokesperson for those who are too inarticulate to fight effectively for their rights. This is something the British socialist and film director Ken Loach is good at, as proven by his movie Bread & Roses (2000), about migrant Latino women who slave away as cleaners in California and are represented by a zany lawyer who encourages them to stage dramatic protests. In the 1960s, Loach even managed to get the law changed by way of his TV docudrama Cathy Come Home (1966), in which a happy young couple is catapulted into poverty due to a work accident, and the family is split up and institutionalised separately, as was then the practice. Because many working-class people are not able to express themselves well, Loach used professional key actors as role models alongside real workers who only occasionally voice their opinions, but the overall effect is breathtaking. Ehrenreich's method is to describe a few days in the life of her case studies and then publishing her findings for middle-class readers with a social conscience in the hope that they will "organise" and campaign to help these fellow Americans, of whom many are abandoned and/or mistreated Latinas or black women, often with small children. As a feminist, she is concerned about the women, but not exclusively, like when she helps a young male foreigner with his English.

It is not enough to merely explain what the work is like. The periphery is equally important. Some require up to three or four jobs to make ends meet, and in between shifts they must try and accommodate underage children, and seek new (affordable) lodgings, often having to make do with a trailer park (euphemism: "mobile home") miles out of the city and barely reachable with public transport(-ation), or needing to move in and out of not-so-cheap motels whose manager insists the rooms are vacated regularly. They must buy amenities (at distant supermarkets) and cook food, scrimp and save (the latter is practically impossible), attend job interviews in spare time they don't have, provide for relatives, or wade their way through miles of red tape. Once they are ill or their work performance slows down, their earnings drop dramatically. If they complain to a union, or try and form one, they may be dismissed without a reference.

It is hard to believe that it is almost twenty years now since Nickel and Dimed was published, but the main message of this gripping report is seemingly timeless. In the aftermath of the Trump administration, the USA remains polarised, and the Covid-19 pandemic continues to threaten the livelihoods of millions. The "Land of Opportunities" is suspicious of anything that "reeks" of socialism, but the liberal alternative to conservatism seems to shirk from improving the conditions of those on the margin of society for fear of being branded as "filthy communists". Feminists are aware that it is usually women who are saddled with the heaviest burden. It remains to be seen whether the AOC "Squad" turns out to be a corrective in a system that only gives space to two catch-all parties.

I greedily lapped up this book when it was published, and keep coming back to it. Ehrenreich continues to be a force in US socialist feminism, and whether or not you fully agree with what she advocates, she writes straight, no-nonsense common sense.

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