Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

Why did Ehrenreich struggle to survive even when she had an adequate salary?

Even when Ehrenreich has a job with an adequate salary (relative to her rent), she experiences periods in which she can barely surviv, at least temporarily. Why is this the case? What policy initiative to help low wage workers might be suggested by this observation?

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Life is expensive. Although she had enough to barely cover rent, buying nutritious food put her in the negative. She also had no money for incidentals ( bus fare, emergency taxi....) that we all must buy. A fair minimum "living wage" would be a good policy to adopt in order for the working poor to survive.

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