For the past few years, the economy in the United States (and around the world) has been challenging to say the least. You recently read an article about minimum wage in Australia and how some workers are underpaid. Even though the minimum wage in Australia is much higher than it is here, it still has an impact on the lifestyle of the people who live there.
Be sure to check Edmodo for the necessary videos to watch, articles to read , and games to play before responding here.
What does that mean in the US? Did you know that 1 in 3 working families are considered Low Income Families? So, what if you were stuck with a low paying job? How would that affect you and your family? Could you survive? How would you feel about that? What were the most surprising statistics that you read or stories that you heard? Why?
If I were stuck with a low paying job I would probably not eat and I would probably spend the majority of the money on my child. I could not even fathom surviving on low income. I would feel very very depressed and fearful all the time. The most surprising statistics I read were that more than 10,000,000 people fell to homeless or low income in 2007-2009! I feel very fortunate for all of the things that I have.
ReplyDeleteLow paying jobs causes you to have to make bad choices or poor choices. Do you focus more on your child or yourself? I found it interesting some of the choices people have to make or the obesity problems. I feel fortunate that my dad has the job he has even though it's horrible.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed when I just saw the bulk of the statistics. Like Caylie said, I was surprised when I heard about some facing obesity problems, but what surprises me even more were those who had a Master's degree begging in the streets.
ReplyDeleteSurviving on such a low pay for myself would be difficult, but for 10 million low-income families, I couldn't even make it through the day... I feel lucky to have the life I have.
One of the guys in the video has one Master's and two Bachelor's degrees. Right now I couldn't even dream of having those. In these situations it could be a please, or a minus to a wife or husband to help pay. There is something like 14 million homeless kids, I couldn't even begin to imagine the things they have gone through and seen. I'd much rather be where I'm at than wear I could be.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to learn that some people on begging on the streets have masters degrees.low paying jobs probably force you to make some choices you normally wouldn't have to like go see that new movie or eat that week. Mostly reading this made me much more appreciative of the life I have.
ReplyDeleteHow does someone with a Master's Degree and two Bachelor's Degrees not have a job. That so upsetting, that people spend so much time working in school to get degrees and then they don't help them when they get out in the world. This also made me very thankful to have what I have.
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot more about being poor from these games/activities. My favorite part of this was the game. It really shows you what life would be like and what decisions you would have to make if you were to be in this situation. Although I don't think you could ever really duplicate the feelings and risks involved in poverty.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised at the poorness in the states. Although I did have some prior knowledge of this subject from a book called: Under The Overpass (Which gives a good description of what homeless people suffer through and some of the poverty throughout the US. It's even written from the homeless point of view). If my family were stuck with low income that would limit the amount of traveling we do (Not that I would mind). I probably wouldn't be at this school or have any music lessons. I know my dreams would be even farther away but then again who knows, It might push me harder in order to pursue them. It would be very different, for better and for worse. As for the most surprising fact? I couldn't believe, like Brady said, that someone with a master's degree and two Bachelor's degree's was sitting outside, homeless and begging? That blew me away. I had always thought that EVERYONE who went to collage came out with a decent life and had a well paying job. Now I guess the reality hits us… Although there's probably more to it then meets the eye.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you've all found it helpful to put yourselves in another person's shoes (particularly when you wouldn't expect to find yourselves in those shoes). I think it's valuable for all of us to try to imagine what the lives of others are like. It's healthy to know why some people come off they way that they do.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to see that people with a bachelor's degree is on the streets and homeless. We have to wonder "how can we make more high paying jobs?" Though this problem is very hard to solve cause its really hard to help these kind of people out with the government cause we still have that trillion dollar debt hanging over our heads. So I think that people could donate stuff instead of being forced to.
ReplyDeleteI really learned a lot about poverty in these activities. I like the game the most. I thought that the game really showed you the struggles involved in being poor. Although I don't think that anything can simulate the emotions and feeling involved in being poor.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the game and some of the the other activities were informative. It is hard to recreate the exact situation of being poor because every thing happens differently. But i am amazed at the majority of people who are poor and face situations like such that were in the game. I know that i have relatives who are good hard workers but have to be let go because of the economy. Even if you are smart and have a degree from college it is hard to get a job. It is not always the peoples fault for being poor but some times they give up. Over all i think that economy is what is causing the job crisis. Just because you are qualafied to get a job doesn't mean you can get it. It is a very sad truth but there isnt much we can do about it. What we can try to do is learn as much about the economy and REAL LIFE as we can before we are thrown into the world.
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ReplyDeleteI thought, that the Report was really Informative with Statistics about poverty. But the game; I think it is really impossible to imitate poverty, But the game was fun and Informative. It also proved that a little money can go a long way. But it is also; amazing that people with a bachelors degree or Higher can be homeless or in poverty. I've actually heard of some people with a Ph.D that are homeless. So really in my mind I think that the government should do more to protect; People from being homeless or in poverty, it would definitely help the economy a lot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with reber500, nothing can imitate poverty. The game gives us a good idea about responsibilities and everything that needs to be taken into account, but there are many other struggles left unmentioned. I'm not sure how it would feel to be in poverty or homeless. There really isn't anything shameful about it but I'm sure it could be embarrassing at times. The statistics are very shocking, I didn't know that many families were considered "low income". While that doesn't necessarily mean they are homeless, I still didn't know there was such a large number just getting by.
ReplyDeleteIf I stuck with a low paying job, I could probably survive. My family has never really had high paying jobs, and I understand how it feels to be in a family with small amounts of money. My family and I would just have to try to find a way to survive. I would not be very happy about it, but I know it is hard to come across a job. The craziest thing for me was that over 49 million americans have trouble getting food. I thought that was crazy, because I never realized how many people are having these tough money problems.
ReplyDeleteI think poverty can have many different meanings depending on where you grew up as a kid. Poverty is a big problem in the US, and it is even harder now with the natural disasters everywhere. The Spent game is really fun, and gives us a good feel for poverty. I always finish with over $1K! :)
ReplyDeleteIf I had a low paying job, I'd do great. I'd do exactly the same as I am now, because thats the way I've always had it. Unless you are some kind of spoiled rotten brat who's never had to fend for himself, its not that hard a thing to survive if you know how to finance properly
ReplyDeleteI think in the U.S. the definition of "poor" is making less than $ $200-350 a week is considered poor. I really didn't know either that 1 in 3 working families is considered "Low-Income" in the U.S.; in my opinion "Low-Income" families really aren't "poor" compared to other countries like Morocco. But besides that it's all the Low-Income people that are making the "rich" people the money with there multi-billion dollar companies. If I were stuck with a Low-Income paying job I would try to be really frugal with my money and only spend it when I need to spend it and put what ever money I have left ever month in an Emergency type account; for situations when Im out of money and really need it. But also another thing is I find it astonishing that someone with a masters degree (or higher) can't get a good paying job. I haven't really heard that many stories about people in poverty, and don't really have an opinion on it.
ReplyDeleteIf I were poor I would be eally frugal with my money and only spend it when I need to spend it. I would also grow a lot of my own food and make most of my stuff myself that way when I do need to buy something I have money for it. I would also buy a small house and a motorized bicycle. If I kept on that plan then I would get by.
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