Stories by Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of thirteen books, including the New York Times bestseller Nickel and Dimed. A frequent contributor to the New York Times, Harpers, and the Progressive, she is a contributing writer to Time magazine. She lives in Florida. subscribe to Barbara Ehrenreich's feed

Are Re-Runs Really Such a Bad Thing?

Posted on: Nov 13, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

Sure, a screenwriters' strike is not as emotionally compelling as a strike by janitors or farm-workers, but look at what we're losing.

Gap Kids: New Frontiers in Child Abuse

Posted on: Nov 1, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

It's enough to make you vomit on your new denim jacket: The Gap has been caught using child slave labor in an Indian sweatshop.

The Clinton Campaign: Running on Ambien

Posted on: Oct 2, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

The black and female candidates for president, especially the latter, are suffering from severe lack-of-personality disorders.

Why Does Everyone Bow Down to the Health Insurance Industry?

Posted on: Sep 23, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

After facing down the Third Reich, the Japanese Empire, the U.S.S.R., Saddam Hussein, the United States has met an enemy it dares not confront -- the American private health insurance industry.

College Students, Welcome to a Lifetime of Debt!

Posted on: Sep 10, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

Colleges and universities today are turning teenagers into full-fledged citizens of our economy by introducing them to a lifetime of debt.

It's Not Easy Being Ultra-Rich

Posted on: Sep 2, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

This Labor Day lets not forget those among us who are the most fortunate.

Smashing Capitalism!

Posted on: Aug 22, 2007, Source: Huffington Post

We may be witnessing the first time in history that the downtrodden manage to bring down an unfair economic system without going to the trouble of a revolution.

Children Deserve Veterinary Care Too

Posted on: Aug 11, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

If Bush vetoes the SCHIP bill that would expand state health insurance coverage for children, the fallback demand should be: Open up pet health insurance to all American children now!

What Causes Cancer: Probably Not You

Posted on: Aug 7, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

The perennial temptation to blame disease on sin or at least some grave moral failing just took another hit.

Health Care vs. the Profit Principle

Posted on: Jul 16, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

Our health care system isn't designed to make people healthier: It is designed for extracting money from the vulnerable and putting it into the pockets of the rich.

The Rich Have Priced the Outdoors out of Everyone Else's Hands

Posted on: Jun 29, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

As mansions increasingly eat up the coasts and hillsides, an old saying rings true: "If a place is truly beautiful, you can't afford to be there."

The Rich Are Making the Poor Poorer

Posted on: Jun 12, 2007, Source: The Nation

A bloated overclass can drag down a society as surely as a swelling underclass. A great deal of the wealth at the top is built on the low-wage labor of the poor.

CEOs vs. Slaves

Posted on: May 30, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Recent findings shed new light on the increasingly unequal terrain of American society. The new "top" involves pay in the hundreds of millions, a private jet and a few acres of Nantucket. The new bottom is slavery.

Your Local News -- Dateline New Delhi

Posted on: May 15, 2007, Source: AlterNet

With a local news outlet in California recruiting reporters in India, no one can pretend any longer that we have a global monopoly on intellect and innovation.

Will Chimp Life Get Human Rights?

Posted on: May 10, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Hiasl, a 26-year old Austrian-based chimpanzee, is petitioning the courts for human status, and let me be the first to extend him a warm welcome to our species.

Higher Education Conformity

Posted on: May 1, 2007, Source: Barbaraehrenreich.com

Is a college degree really a sign of competence? Or is it chiefly a signal to employers that you've mastered the ability to obey and conform?

Circuit City Slaughter: Seniority Means a Pink Slip

Posted on: Apr 9, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Not so long ago seniority was rewarded with higher pay and other perks. But that higher pay now carries a lethal risk, as Circuit City has just demonstrated.

Wal-Mart and Target Spy on Their Employees

Posted on: Apr 5, 2007, Source: AlterNet

With Target and Wal-Mart acting as though they are entitled to spy on, stalk and imprison their own employees, we are on the road to a full-scale workplace dictatorship.

Will the Right Plumb New Depths and Go After Elizabeth Edwards' Cancer?

Posted on: Mar 29, 2007, Source: AlterNet

It's bad enough to learn that Elizabeth Edwards' cancer has returned -- now we have to worry about what ugly things the right-wing and mainstream media are saying.

A $210 Million Tip? Nice Work If You Can Get It

Posted on: Mar 22, 2007, Source: The Progressive

Home Depot salesclerks get about $8-$10 an hour for lifting heavy objects and running around the floor all day with no tips while its departed CEO got $210 million bonus for sinking the value of the company's stock.

Challenging the Workplace Dictatorship

Posted on: Mar 11, 2007, Source: AlterNet

George Orwell's "1984" is already here and it's called the American workplace, but finally there's a law in the works that might make jobs livable.

The Jet Blue Blues

Posted on: Feb 23, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Let’s face it, JetBlue and the rest of you: Anything more than three hours on the ground isn’t an airline delay, it’s a hostage situation.

Get Promoted with a YES! Attitude? Yuck.

Posted on: Feb 9, 2007, Source: AlterNet

It's not enough these days for employees to slave to the bone -- workplace motivators are pushing us to squeeze a smile out of our hefty workloads.

Minimum Wage Rises, Sky Does Not Fall

Posted on: Jan 22, 2007, Source: AlterNet

A visit to Washington state, which has the highest minimum wage in the country, reveals a booming economy with none of the problems Big Business had been warning about.

An Exit Strategy for the War on Christmas

Posted on: Dec 8, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Let's face it: Christmas is not the exclusive property of those who think God came to earth 2000 years ago as a baby in Bethlehem.

We Need a "Can-Do" Attitude on Health Care

Posted on: Nov 14, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Most Democrats say their hands are tied when it comes to fixing health care. But they've also said that about the minimum wage, and this election voters proved them wrong.

Voters Make Work More Rewarding

Posted on: Nov 8, 2006, Source: AlterNet

In the 24 states that voted to raise their minimum wages, it just got a bit more worthwhile to get up for work each morning.

Workers' Rights Are About Dignity As Much As Wages

Posted on: Oct 26, 2006, Source: The Progressive

CEOs use shame and intimidation to keep workers "productive," but the real shame is on executives who make eight-figure incomes while their lowest-paid employees trudge between food banks.

It's the (Tanking) Economy, Stupid

Posted on: Sep 12, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Conservatives say struggling Americans are just too dumb to grasp the wonders of our 'knowledge-based economy.'

Wal-Mart Licks Its Wounds

Posted on: Aug 24, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Who's really to blame for Wal-Mart's sagging sales -- Democrats, Korean fruit vendors or unions?

'Miami Vice': The Class Analysis

Posted on: Aug 10, 2006, Source: AlterNet

The film's bleak vision of a world divided between shanty-towns and trailer parks at one end, and unimaginable luxury at the other, is not far off the mark.

Oh, Those Bad Bosses

Posted on: Aug 4, 2006, Source: The Progressive

Giving one person power over others is like a giving a 3-year-old a hose: not everyone will get soaked, but the chances of coming out dry are slender.

The High Cost of Being Poor

Posted on: Jul 20, 2006, Source: AlterNet

From food prices to auto insurance, when did poverty get so expensive?

Give Me That Old-Time Feminism

Posted on: Jul 9, 2006, Source: Huffington Post

While Muslim women are being stuffed into burkas, American post-feminists are trying to stuff their feet into stilettos.

Can Marriage Fix Poverty?

Posted on: Jun 6, 2006, Source: AlterNet

There are quite a few surprising -- and surprisingly viable -- alternatives to Bush's marriage-minded anti-poverty program.

Those Corporate Homewreckers

Posted on: Mar 20, 2006, Source: The Progressive

It's just not possible to be a responsible parent or spouse if your work leaves you with barely enough time to shower.

Are Coaches the Answer to White-Collar Unemployment?

Posted on: Sep 26, 2005, Source: AlterNet

In an excerpt from her new book 'Bait and Switch,' the author of 'Nickel and Dimed' explores the dubious industry of career coaches, intended to help frustrated job-seekers find their true callings.

A New Counterterrorism Strategy: Feminism

Posted on: May 9, 2005, Source: AlterNet

A sustained and serious effort to gain human rights for women worldwide could be the start of a brand new approach to fighting terrorism.

Excerpt: The Faith Factor

Posted on: Apr 20, 2005, Source: AlterNet

An excerpt from the <i><a href="http://www.alternet.org/sms/">Start Making Sense</a></i> section The Culture War.

FleeAmerica.com

Posted on: Jan 3, 2005, Source: The Progressive

There's no reason to be stuck with a nationality that doesn't reflect the real you! Apply now for a country appropriate to your personal tastes and values!

Pages