Last Friday I experienced a poverty simulation for the first time. It was, in a word, eye-opening.
Growing up my family and I were considered comfortable middle class. This isn't to say we never struggled with our income, but my parents worked as hard as they could to get food on the table every night for us. I am incredibly grateful for that.
However, when I walked into the big room that housed the poverty simulation last Friday at 1:00, I had no idea how much that gratitude would grow in just a few hours. I sat down at a grouping of four folding chairs labeled the Knowles family, the family which I would be a part of for this simulation. I was playing the role of Kate, the mother-in-law in the household. Immediately when the leader of the simulation began to explain rules (all very vaguely, of course), I knew I was in way over my head.
Groups had thirteen minutes to simulate one week. There were four weeks, and families had to try and get all of their bills paid by the end of the four weeks. There were many expenses, including utilities, mortgage, food, car loans, and medicine, depending on your family's current financial situation. Some families were allotted food stamps and disability checks. Circumstances were different everywhere, but all families had a few luxury items they could pawn. There was also a school for children to go to each week, a jail, a casino, and a workplace for eligible family members to work at. Each place we went to required a certain amount of transportation passes, which represented public transportation or the family car. These were especially important to keep track of, and running low was an inevitability.
Helpers were handing out casino tickets almost immediately into the first week. That being said, my granddaughter also almost immediately went to jail because she tried to gamble while underage. Bailing her out was expensive, and it didn't help that some of the disability check I attempted to cash was taken because my family owed money to the bank. I got part of the mortgage paid and was feeling good at the end of week one. The father of the family went to work so that we could get more income to help pay for everything.
However, as the week went on, things got tougher. The pawn shop was notorious for not giving the amount of money you bargained for, and I even caught them in the act of not paying me correctly. We lost our house because of our inability to pay the mortgage on time and our food stamps application was denied because I, the mother-in-law, lived with the family. My granddaughter was accused of stealing from the workplace after she got hired in part-time, and that potential income was lost when she once again went to jail. We couldn't afford to bail her out for quite some time. On top of all this, we still hadn't managed to buy food for our family.
On the last week, we managed to get our house back. We also purchased food for the month, after struggling to cash our checks while juggling an uncertain bank schedule. Everyone around us was very stressed and a lot of yelling ensued. Many families had resorted to illegal activities, and a card detailing more expensive misfortunes that we couldn't afford to pay was hidden in my granddaughter's boot. When the simulation was finally over and we all took a deep breath, we realized just how bad things had gotten in just two hours.
Looking back on the stress of the poverty simulation now, a week later, I still cannot even begin to imagine how daily life is for impoverished people. I experienced a tiny portion of the stress that they must live with every day. This eye-opening experience is one that everyone comfortable in their life should experience, and I am now even more grateful than before that I grew up in a household where money wasn't a terrible stressor. The simulation made me realize just what a problem poverty in the world today is, particularly in America. Something needs to be done, and this simulation is certainly a step in the right direction of education comfortable Americans about what needs to change.
