Ehrenreich talks about this saying that, “If you work harder you will get ahead.’ No one ever said that you could work harder- and still find yourself sinking ever deeper into poverty and debt.” (Ehrenreich, 220).Įhrenreich’s research had its strengths and weaknesses. It would take years and years of dedicated work to get promoted and even then most companies won’t even consider it. Mobility would come from someone who climbed from the bottom to somewhere slightly higher.
The social mobility cannot happen in the jobs that people get straight out of welfare. Because of these low paying jobs and being on welfare, achieving social mobility is near impossible for these women.
A women coming out of welfare would have a more difficult time finding as many jobs, and they would still be very low-wage. These jobs aren’t practical for people who have been getting assistance from the government, which is why welfare goes up instead of unemployment going down.Įhrenreich found her jobs without a lot struggle. These long hours in the day often leaves their children in the care of others and the amount of fatigue after a shift often leaves a mother detached from her home life. They have to put the needs of their children before their own. When children are a factor, mothers have to worry about way more that their jobs. The amount of mental and physical stress that comes from these jobs aren’t something they are us to and many won’t put up with it. Women, specifically single mothers, coming out of welfare struggle with keeping these jobs. There is no sympathy with a lot of these companies and employees lack passion for their work. When Ehrenreich returned for her second day at “Jerry’s” her co-workers greeted her with “Hardly anyone comes back after the second day.” (Ehrenreich, 31) Low-wage work can be long, tiring, messy, stressful, and unforgiving. These companies are trying to get the most work out of people for less money.Īnd they know they can easily replace you if you can’t or won’t do what needs to be done. Keeping the jobs is what is hard in America. I was interested in seeing what her résumé looked like for this experiment and how that played into her finding these jobs.
Plus she was an older white lady who had a good work ethic. There are plenty of jobs out there and are usually easy to land. Throughout the book I never worried about Ehrenreich finding her jobs. She is doing it to see the physical and mental toll it has on her, and if she can even survive by having these jobs.
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