I've reached at least some equilibrium looking at the lives of my students. I've had a rough time lately dealing with students who receive benefits who complain that they can't survive on what they receive...and that the government should give them more. There's this prevailing belief that they aren't getting enough from everybody, and that is causing them to fail.
Keep in mind I've been to places like India and Iraq where I have seen true poverty. Poverty does not include On Demand TV or free groceries. Except, maybe it does. Maybe if you are living in our society, you've been trained to live like an industrial consumer.
I've never clearly calculated how much a person on benefits gets before, but it turns out that at least one student gets $478 per month. In addition this student gets food stamps of $500 per month, and receives housing from the state. She has 2 children, both under the age of 4.
After this student said that she didn't have money to go to school (which is free of cost) I made her prove it to me. Here's what she showed me...
$138 monthly rent (2 bedroom apartment in Boston housing)
$60 bus pass (which she doesn't get because she can't afford it)
$60 cell phone (MetroPCS with unlimited talk/text/data)
$56 On Demand cable
$90 Diapers
$30 Laundry
Remaining $44 for household items such as paper towels, soap, clothes, toys, etc.
She also said the $500 food stamps were not enough for her family (of 3-4, depending on whether or not her children's father is in the household), but that she'll occasionally trade her food stamps for additional money to cover bills (since she can't build up any savings).
I would argue that school comes before a big cell phone plan or cable, which would save nearly $120/month right away. I will admit, however, that a phone is a necessity. I wish I'd known earlier while speaking to her that there's something called Carelink that provides free 50, 100, and 250 minute phone plans to people who can't afford a regular plan. Somehow I doubt she would have gone for it...smartphones are hard to give up...
And I got to thinking. I would probably go with cloth diapers if I only had that much money, the cheap pin kind, and I'd try to use cloth towels instead of paper towels...I could make and sell crafts or food to earn some extra money...I'd get DVD's from the library instead of watching TV...I'd make and freeze large portions of healthy foods...
But I've got a few things going for me. First, I've been interested in sustainable, environmentally friendly living for a while, so I know ways to live on a budget (even if I don't always succeed in my budget). Second, I'm older, and while I don't have my money balanced to a T, I've had enough experience to know how to use money. And frankly, it's hard to change your way of being. I doubt most under 21 year olds have truly developed a good sense of finance.
So the question isn't could YOU do it. The question is, if you were a young, uneducated person without any positive role models to show you how to make stuff from scratch or help you find alternatives to a life of poverty, could you budget yourself so that you could survive?
I still hope that this student, and all the other students like her, figure out how to prioritize. I think though, that the issue isn't easy to fix, especially considering that our current world isn't designed around cloth diapers or canned tomatoes. To change this one student's priorities we would need to change the look of poverty in America. I'm guessing disposable diaper companies, cell phone companies, and food manufacturers (and their stockholders) don't want to see that happen.
So once again, I've reached an equilibrium. I don't blame my students for becoming somewhat entitled, but I also don't know where I should place the blame.
Anyway, those are today's thoughts on poverty. I guess if it were an easy problem to solve it'd be fixed by now. Perhaps speaking about the problems, however, will help answers bubble to the top. If not, at least I've had my say.
