When one is charged a little bit at a time until the expense grows beyond expectations, that is called being "nickel and dimed." In 2001's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, essayist and social critic Barbara Ehrenreich applies this notion to minimum-wage workers. She argues that their spirit and dignity are chipped away by a culture that allows unjust and unlivable working conditions, which results in their becoming a de facto, or actual without being official, servant class. Spurred on by recent welfare reforms and the growing phenomenon of the working poor in the United States, Ehrenreich poses a hypothetical question of daily concern to many Americans: how difficult is it to live on a minimum-wage job? For the lower class, what does it take to match the income one earns to the expenses one must pay?

Når man bliver opkrævet lidt ad gangen, indtil udgiften vokser over forventning, kaldes det at være "nikkel og dimed". I 2001's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America anvender essayist og socialkritiker Barbara Ehrenreich dette begreb på mindstelønsarbejdere. Hun hævder, at deres ånd og værdighed er skåret væk af en kultur, der tillader uretfærdige og uoverkommelige arbejdsforhold, hvilket resulterer i, at de bliver en de facto, eller faktisk uden at være officiel, tjenerklasse. Ansporet af de seneste velfærdsreformer og det voksende fænomen med de arbejdende fattige i USA, stiller Ehrenreich et hypotetisk spørgsmål af daglig bekymring til mange amerikanere: hvor svært er det at leve på et mindstelønsjob? Hvad skal der til for underklassen for at matche den indkomst, man tjener, med de udgifter, man skal betale?