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Part I.

Minimum wage workers often report feeling invisible. Where do you encounter minimum wage workers? What sorts of services do they provide? Have you ever worked in a low-wage job? If so, what was your experience?

Part II.

After reading the article, answer the following questions:

1. Why do you think low-wage workers are reluctant to form labor organizations as Ehrenreich discovered at Wal-Mart? How do you think employees should lobby to improve working conditions?

2. Ehrenreich found that she could not survive on $7.00 per hour — not if she wanted to live indoors. Consider how her experiment would have played out in your community: Find out what the minimum wage of your state is and limiting yourself to that hourly wage, create a hypothetical monthly budget for your part of the country. Is it possible to live off of that income? What does it mean in our society to “live comfortably”?