There's a great book by Barbara Ehrenreich called "Nickel and Dimed." The author sets out on an experiment to see if it's logistically possible to be self-supporting and healthy working minimum-wage Joe jobs. -ingenue "Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor." - James Baldwin (1924 - 1987)
Haven't had the pleasure of reading the whole book, but I did read an excerpt in Harper's a while back. As you would expect, the answer to the question in her experiment--whether or not it was possible to live on min. wage--was a big fat resounding "NO" (or at least a firm "NOT REALLY"). Seriously, though, even though I'm not in a union, I think they're still as crucial now as they were back in the '30s, imho. wajaba
I saw that author on Oprah, as she discussed how tough it was for her - a single woman with no dependents - to make it on minimum wage. It seems like a great book. The Baldwin quote is on point!
