The Minimum Wage: a Reference Handbook by
This unbiased look at the minimum wage debate in America traces the history of minimum wage policy at both the federal and state levels, discusses the controversies swirling around the issue, and examines the veracity of claims made by people on both sides of the debate. * Presents data not typically found in many of the standard works * Reviews the impact of previous increases in the minimum wage at both the federal and state levels * Identifies the leading critics and proponents of minimum wage increases from the early 20th century to the present * Surveys the impact of compensation laws around the world * Pays attention to impact of minimum wage policy on the middle class as well as the poor and working class * Provides an impartial and unbiased look at the issue, acknowledging the validity of points and concerns raised by both sides
The Minimum Wage by
Each title in the highly acclaimed Opposing Viewpoints series explores a specific issue by placing expert opinions in a unique pro/con format; the viewpoints are selected from a wide range of highly respected and often hard-to-find publications.; Articles collected in this edition of the popular Opposing Viewpoints series discuss the minimum wage. The title includes a balanced selection of articles that address the impact of the minimum wage on workers, businesses, and the overall economy. Include; "Each volume in the Opposing Viewpoints Series could serve as a model not only providing access to a wide diversity of opinions, but also stimulating readers to do further research for group discussion and individual interest. Both shrill and moderate, th"
Nickel and Dimed by
Our sharpest and most original social critic goes "undercover" as an unskilled worker to reveal the dark side of American prosperity. Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job -- any job -- can be the ticket to a better life. But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered. Moving from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. She lived in trailer parks and crumbling residential motels. Very quickly, she discovered that no job is truly "unskilled," that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort. She also learned that one job is not enough; you need at least two if you int to live indoors. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-rent America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity -- a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich's perspective and for a rare view of how "prosperity" looks from the bottom. You will never see anything -- from a motel bathroom to a restaurant meal -- in quite the same way again.
