Popular essayist, journalist and social critic Barbara Ehrenreich came to the Winona State University campus on Thurs. Nov. 9 to discuss her work and research for two of her books, “Nickel and Dimed” and “Bait and Switch.”
“Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America,” was required reading for many classes at Winona State this semester.
Ehrenreich went to college to study physics and eventually received a Ph.D. in cell biology. However, she decided not to pursue a career in the field. Instead she decided to write about social development, economics, politics and women’s rights.
Ehrenreich is now the author of more than fourteen books and is a frequent contributor to magazines such as New York Times, Harpers, The Nation, The New Republic, The Progressive and Time. She has won the New York Times Bestseller award several times, for both “Nickel and Dimed” and “Bait and Switch” have received.
“Nickel and Dimed” focuses on Ehrenreich’s findings as an undercover working-class citizen trying to support herself on minimum wage.
After holding jobs as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home attendant and Wal-Mart salesperson, Ehrenreich experienced the hardships of working for minimum wage first-hand. Her co-workers were often full-time employees who could only afford to live out of their cars and barely made enough money to eat. She discovered that “you need at least two (jobs) if you intend to live indoors.”
Ehrenreich also discovered how physically and mentally challenging her jobs were. “I had a hard time learning every one of my jobs. Never again will I use the word ‘unskilled’ to describe any job,” Ehrenreich said.
Ehrenreich is an advocate of welfare reform and raising the minimum wage. “20 to 30 percent of Americans work full time and can barely get by,” she said.
She criticizes theories that say people become poor because of bad choices or character flaws. In fact, she receives letters everyday from people who were “doing just fine” until they suffered from some misfortune.such as an illness without proper health insurance, a car break-down or an eviction notice.
Surprisingly, some of the people who work fulltime and still live in poverty have college degrees. This is the topic of her latest book, “Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream.”
In “Bait and Switch,” Ehrenreich again goes undercover, but instead explores the white-collar work force. As her publisher describes, “‘Bait and Switch’ highlights the people who’ve done everything right—gotten college degrees, developed marketable skills and built up impressive résumés—yet have become repeatedly vulnerable to financial disaster, and not simply due to the vagaries of the business cycle.”
During her lecture, Ehrenreich touched upon some of her experience trying to land a middle-class job. During the study, she was subjected to career coaching, image makeovers and personality tests.
She said she was surprised to find that more often than not, employers’ main focus was not on skills and experience, but on personality. She claimed that the more likeable, perky or extroverted a person is, the more likely he or she is to find a job.
Her lecture described how easily and rapidly people can spiral down, criticizing corporations for hiring based on current credit ratings, not hiring people who are currently unemployed and for attaching health care to jobs and not people.
She also criticized corporations for the “shame industry” they have created. Ehrenreich believes that more people haven’t protested their current conditions because they are ashamed of the fact they hold college degrees and are still unemployed or barely making ends meet, and that this shame is a way of social control.
Her lecture and book were generally well received by students at Winona State.
“It was interesting to hear about her experiences with creating fake names and trying to get the white-collar and blue-collar jobs,” said freshman Anna Chesebrough.
Many students could relate to Ehrenreich’s experiences as well. Freshman Brittany Schneider said, “The lowest paying job I had was hosting at Baker Square, starting at $8 an hour. I made enough to pay my phone bill and go out with people, but I know that without my parents helping with things like car insurance, I would have never had enough money to save for college.”
For freshman Kate Corrigan, Ehrenreich’s lecture made her glad she had voted. “I do agree with most of her opinions. Minimum wage should be raised to better the lower-class situation,” she said.
Ehrenreich’s lecture was part of the Lyceum Series at Winona State, whose goal is to present events that provide cultural enrichment and educational opportunities for the Winona and Rochester campus communities, as well as for their respective local and regional communities.
The next guest speaker will be agriculturalist Wes Jackson at 7 p.m. on Jan. 30, in Somsen Auditorium.