SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Writer and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich is awarded the Erasmus Prize on November 27, 2018 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo: Patrick van Katwijk/WireImage)
Barbara Ehrenreich, whose books about economic inequality include Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch, and Fear of Falling, died on Thursday, September 1 at the age of 81.
Her death was announced on Twitter by her son, Ben Ehrenreich, and daughter, Rosa Brooks.
\u201cFriends, many of you knew our mother, Barbara Ehrenreich. She passed away yesterday, surrounded by family. We miss her already, and hope you will fight on in her spirit.\u201d— Rosa Brooks (@Rosa Brooks) 1662139943
"She was never much for thoughts and prayers, but you can honor her memory by loving one another, and by fighting like hell," Ben Ehrenreich wrote.
Ehrenreich wrote on her personal website that she went through a "political, as well as a personal, transformation" in 1970 when she gave birth to her first child in a public health clinic in New York where she was "the only white patient at the clinic" and learned how many poor women are treated when seeking healthcare.
"They induced my labor because it was late in the evening and the doctor wanted to go home," she later said. "I was enraged. The experience made me a feminist."
"I have never seen a conflict between journalism and activism. As a journalist, I search for the truth. But as a moral person, I am also obliged to do something about it."
She wrote columns for Ms. and Mother Jones and published several books about the healthcare industry, feminism, and the economy before writing one of her best-known works, Nickel and Dimed, an examination of the working poor in the United States.
Ehrenreich took low-wage jobs at a restaurant, a cleaning service, and Walmart between 1998 and 2000 and experienced firsthand the struggles faced by millions of Americans attempting to afford housing, groceries, and other necessities while earning minimum wage at corporations headed by wealthy executives.
"The 'working poor,' as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society," Ehrenreich wrote in the book.
\u201cVery sad day to hear that Barbara Ehrenreich best known for her wit and writing and her paradigm shifting book on work and workers Nickeled and Dimed has died. She will be missed. #IPS\u201d— Anas (Andy) Shallal (@Anas (Andy) Shallal) 1662138309
In a review of the book, The New York Times said Nickel and Dimed helped solidify Ehrenreich as "our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism."
"We have Barbara Ehrenreich to thank for bringing us the news of America's working poor so clearly and directly, and conveying with it a deep moral outrage and a finely textured sense of lives as lived," Dorothy Gallagher wrote for the Times.
In some of her other books Ehrenreich delved into the shrinking of the U.S. middle class, the history of communal celebrations, and Americans' "obsession with wellness" and the prolonging of life.
"We've lost a gifted writer and a relentless fighter for the working class," said progressive organizer Aaron Huertas.
Ehrenreich also established the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, which supports independent journalists editorially and financially.
"I have never seen a conflict between journalism and activism," she wrote at her personal website. "As a journalist, I search for the truth. But as a moral person, I am also obliged to do something about it."
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Barbara Ehrenreich, whose books about economic inequality include Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch, and Fear of Falling, died on Thursday, September 1 at the age of 81.
Her death was announced on Twitter by her son, Ben Ehrenreich, and daughter, Rosa Brooks.
\u201cFriends, many of you knew our mother, Barbara Ehrenreich. She passed away yesterday, surrounded by family. We miss her already, and hope you will fight on in her spirit.\u201d— Rosa Brooks (@Rosa Brooks) 1662139943
"She was never much for thoughts and prayers, but you can honor her memory by loving one another, and by fighting like hell," Ben Ehrenreich wrote.
Ehrenreich wrote on her personal website that she went through a "political, as well as a personal, transformation" in 1970 when she gave birth to her first child in a public health clinic in New York where she was "the only white patient at the clinic" and learned how many poor women are treated when seeking healthcare.
"They induced my labor because it was late in the evening and the doctor wanted to go home," she later said. "I was enraged. The experience made me a feminist."
"I have never seen a conflict between journalism and activism. As a journalist, I search for the truth. But as a moral person, I am also obliged to do something about it."
She wrote columns for Ms. and Mother Jones and published several books about the healthcare industry, feminism, and the economy before writing one of her best-known works, Nickel and Dimed, an examination of the working poor in the United States.
Ehrenreich took low-wage jobs at a restaurant, a cleaning service, and Walmart between 1998 and 2000 and experienced firsthand the struggles faced by millions of Americans attempting to afford housing, groceries, and other necessities while earning minimum wage at corporations headed by wealthy executives.
"The 'working poor,' as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society," Ehrenreich wrote in the book.
\u201cVery sad day to hear that Barbara Ehrenreich best known for her wit and writing and her paradigm shifting book on work and workers Nickeled and Dimed has died. She will be missed. #IPS\u201d— Anas (Andy) Shallal (@Anas (Andy) Shallal) 1662138309
In a review of the book, The New York Times said Nickel and Dimed helped solidify Ehrenreich as "our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism."
"We have Barbara Ehrenreich to thank for bringing us the news of America's working poor so clearly and directly, and conveying with it a deep moral outrage and a finely textured sense of lives as lived," Dorothy Gallagher wrote for the Times.
In some of her other books Ehrenreich delved into the shrinking of the U.S. middle class, the history of communal celebrations, and Americans' "obsession with wellness" and the prolonging of life.
"We've lost a gifted writer and a relentless fighter for the working class," said progressive organizer Aaron Huertas.
Ehrenreich also established the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, which supports independent journalists editorially and financially.
"I have never seen a conflict between journalism and activism," she wrote at her personal website. "As a journalist, I search for the truth. But as a moral person, I am also obliged to do something about it."
Barbara Ehrenreich, whose books about economic inequality include Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch, and Fear of Falling, died on Thursday, September 1 at the age of 81.
Her death was announced on Twitter by her son, Ben Ehrenreich, and daughter, Rosa Brooks.
\u201cFriends, many of you knew our mother, Barbara Ehrenreich. She passed away yesterday, surrounded by family. We miss her already, and hope you will fight on in her spirit.\u201d— Rosa Brooks (@Rosa Brooks) 1662139943
"She was never much for thoughts and prayers, but you can honor her memory by loving one another, and by fighting like hell," Ben Ehrenreich wrote.
Ehrenreich wrote on her personal website that she went through a "political, as well as a personal, transformation" in 1970 when she gave birth to her first child in a public health clinic in New York where she was "the only white patient at the clinic" and learned how many poor women are treated when seeking healthcare.
"They induced my labor because it was late in the evening and the doctor wanted to go home," she later said. "I was enraged. The experience made me a feminist."
"I have never seen a conflict between journalism and activism. As a journalist, I search for the truth. But as a moral person, I am also obliged to do something about it."
She wrote columns for Ms. and Mother Jones and published several books about the healthcare industry, feminism, and the economy before writing one of her best-known works, Nickel and Dimed, an examination of the working poor in the United States.
Ehrenreich took low-wage jobs at a restaurant, a cleaning service, and Walmart between 1998 and 2000 and experienced firsthand the struggles faced by millions of Americans attempting to afford housing, groceries, and other necessities while earning minimum wage at corporations headed by wealthy executives.
"The 'working poor,' as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society," Ehrenreich wrote in the book.
\u201cVery sad day to hear that Barbara Ehrenreich best known for her wit and writing and her paradigm shifting book on work and workers Nickeled and Dimed has died. She will be missed. #IPS\u201d— Anas (Andy) Shallal (@Anas (Andy) Shallal) 1662138309
In a review of the book, The New York Times said Nickel and Dimed helped solidify Ehrenreich as "our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism."
"We have Barbara Ehrenreich to thank for bringing us the news of America's working poor so clearly and directly, and conveying with it a deep moral outrage and a finely textured sense of lives as lived," Dorothy Gallagher wrote for the Times.
In some of her other books Ehrenreich delved into the shrinking of the U.S. middle class, the history of communal celebrations, and Americans' "obsession with wellness" and the prolonging of life.
"We've lost a gifted writer and a relentless fighter for the working class," said progressive organizer Aaron Huertas.
Ehrenreich also established the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, which supports independent journalists editorially and financially.
"I have never seen a conflict between journalism and activism," she wrote at her personal website. "As a journalist, I search for the truth. But as a moral person, I am also obliged to do something about it."