How did reading this article change any preconceptions about the working poor in our society?

Most middle class Americans will never be able to comprehend the struggle the “working-poor” have to deal with in order to survive. Their are so many perceptions and assumptions about citizens using welfare and government subsidy programs that the middle-class often places these people into narrow boxes with harsh labels, such as : “charity case” or “lazy.” Barbara Ehrenreich's experience during the time she prepared to write Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America is a disturbing inside look at what it takes simply to survive in America. It seems the term “survive,” rather than “live,” is much more suitable to define the situation which Barbara, and many other Americans find themselves struggling with daily in this “great” country.

Barbara developed a new persona in order to join the world of the working-class society. She used this method of undercover investigation so she could observe and experience the trials and tribulations the working-class experiences in everyday life. She underwent her experiment in three different areas of the United States, probably to broaden her perspective and develop a larger picture of how life in the working class is across the United States. During her time as a working-class women Barbara was rewarded for her long days and manual work with disgusting conditions, bad living environments, low pay for her hard labor and nagging, unappreciative customers and bosses alike.

Class is a term that is used to distinguish a group of people within society, who share the same economic status, which determined by their occupation and income. It is used to classify and represent us either as 'poor', such as, a single mothers in receiving state benefit. 'Working class', such as, building labourers, and 'middle class' such as, doctors or owners of small business. These representations of social class can be embraced or rejected by us, which suggests that our occupation and income influences our identity with relation to how we see ourselves and how we perceived by others. (Woodward, 2004, p.80) For example, a survey in early 1990s, where people on state benefit were interviewed, revealed that despite of their low income, they did not see themselves as poor and were reluctant to be labelled as such. They preferred to classify themselves as 'ordinary working class'. The idea of being labelled as 'poor' creates a stigma, ...