What is the author's tone in Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America?

The author’s tone in Nickel and Dimed - On (Not)
Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich is that of an investigative
reporter. She sees the struggles of the underemployed and underpaid, and she reports in
a straight forward and factual manner about their lives and those of their children.
That is until she experiences working at low paying, highly labor intensive jobs. In
those instances, her anger and exasperation are evident. She
says.

I grew
up hearing over and over, to the point of tedium, that "hard work" was the secret of
success: "Work hard and you'll get ahead" or "It's hard work that got us where we are."
No one ever said that you could work hard - harder even than you ever thought possible -
and still find yourself sinking ever deeper into poverty and
debt.

At times, the author's
tone is cynical. Ehrenreich says, “What you don't necessarily realize when you start
selling your time by the hour is that what you're actually selling is your
life.” She expounds upon how the working poor have become invisible
in society. So much so that when watching television at night, the plight of the working
poor is not evident. Even sitcoms and reality shows are about people who are gainfully
employed, and not by the hour, they are salaried workers or entrepreneurs who depend on
the working poor over and over again to maintain their
lifestyles.