The first thing that was immediately noticeable in the book was just how hard it was for people on the minimum wage just to achieve the basics of having food and shelter. Ehrenreich started the experiment in Key West and was not planning to live an extravagant life at all. Her plan was to find a job that would pay $7 an hour and a place to rent at a low enough price that she could afford food and gas. Ehrenreich's plan is to live in a trailer home. However, she soon finds that even a trailer home comes at a rent that is too high. Ehrenreich describes this realization saying that "it is a shock to realize that 'trailer trash' has become, for me, a demogra

The book also shows power issues between employers and employers. Ehrenreich suggests that employers are keen to maintain their power over employees, including making it clear that employees should not join unions. During the interview process, Ehrenreich has to answer questions about whether she has children that would interfere with her ability to get to work and whether she thinks safety is the responsibility of management. Ehrenreich also describes trick questions asking about things like the amount of stolen goods purchased per year and the attitude on drugs. It seems clear that the interview process is created with the belief that the person will be a problematic employee. They might injure themselves and expect management to care. They might be late for work because of their children. They might be on drugs or steal from the company. The situation does not get any better when Ehrenreich gets a job, with her boss then constantly watching her for signs of drug abuse, stealing, or any other form of rule breaking. The situation that Ehrenreich describes is one where the employer has complete power. Despite all the laws on equal opportunity, it seems that employers can discriminate and choose not to employ someone who has children. Despite the law protecting the safety of workers, it seems that employers can ignore their duty of protecting employees. Overall, it seems that employees have no rights at all and no power at all. The companies can make demands and the employee's situation gives them no choice but to accept the demands. The power issues also seem to be increased by the view that the employers have of the employees. They seem to expect employees to be drug abusers, to be likely to steal, and to be barely intelligent or capable enough to perform basic duties. It is this attitude that has minimum wage earners like Ehrenreich being looked down on and treated with no respect. As Ehrenreich notes several times, minimum wage earners are seen as nothing more than people who have no choice but to do the jobs that are above everyone else.

Ehrenreich also offers an opinion on the housing problem where she states that the high rent is a problem in all places "where tourists and the wealthy compete for living space with the people who clean their toilets and fry their food" (Ehrenreich 12). This suggests that the minimum wage earners are pushed out of decent accommodation by the people who are better off. The higher wage earners can afford higher rent and so rents go as high as these people can afford. Ehrenreich's reference to the wealthy though, doesn't seem to refer to those that would typically be considered w

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1790
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)