--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When someone works for less pay than she…" description: "\"When someone works for less pay than she can live on - when, for example, she goes hungry so that you can eat more cheaply and conveniently - then she ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/217/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_ability_when-someone-works-for-less-pay-than-she_2533922.png" --- # When someone works for less pay than she can live on… ![“When someone works for less pay than she can live on - when, for example, she goes hungry so that you can eat more cheaply and conveniently - then she has made a great sacrifice for you, she has made you a gift of some part of her abilities, her health, and her life.” quote by Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/217/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_ability_when-someone-works-for-less-pay-than-she_2533922.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/217/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_ability_when-someone-works-for-less-pay-than-she_2533922.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/217/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_ability_when-someone-works-for-less-pay-than-she_2533922.png) > “When someone works for less pay than she can live on - when, for example, she goes hungry so that you can eat more cheaply and conveniently - then she has made a great sacrifice for you, she has made you a gift of some part of her abilities, her health, and her life.” [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Exploiting low-paid workers forces them into hardship, treating their health and life as a cheap gift to others. **In simple terms:** Cheap labor harms workers' wellbeing. Key Takeaway Recognize and value fair compensation. Themes exploitation economics health ethics Mood concerned reflective Type social ethical When to use this quote - workplace policies - consumer choices - government regulation - activism Key Concepts labor rights social justice human dignity Questions to Reflect On - How does your consumption depend on others' sacrifices? - What can you do to support fair wages? A Different Perspective Systemic inequality often masks true costs to society. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Great sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-sacrifice/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacrifice/) ## Related quotes > [Do not give a sacrifice/gift to the gods/ men who don't know the worth/ value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/innocent/do-not-give-a-sacrifice-gift-to-the-gods-men-who-don-t-know-the-worth/) Innocent > [To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-prefontaine/to-give-anything-less-than-your-best-is-to-sacrifice-the-gift/) [Steve Prefontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-prefontaine/) > [“Even as it sends missions to the moon and boasts of being a nuclear power, India has so far failed to ensure that nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahul-pandita/even-as-it-sends-missions-to-the-moon-and-boasts-of-being-a-nuclear-2/) Rahul Pandita > [I will not rest until no child goes hungry. 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I think the anti-Wal-Mart is Costco, which pays much better and has much better health benefits and which is profitable and offers low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/yes-i-think-the-anti-wal-mart-is-costco-which-pays-much-better-and/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Jesus: a wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/jesus-a-wine-guzzling-vagrant-and-precocious-socialist/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ What would it mean in practice to eliminate all the 'negative people' from one's life \[as demanded by motivational speaker J.P. Maroney\]? 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