Project 2: Living at the Poverty Line, Due Sunday, July 21, by 11:59 PM. (25 points)
Project Objectives:
Getting Started:
The scenario:
For 2011, the federal government's (Health and Human Services) poverty guideline was approximately $22,811 for an urban family of four, and is determined by multiplying the cost of a "nutritious" diet for this family by three. Working backwards, we can dissect this number to reveal that the government believes that any family that has more than $1.74 to spend per person, per meal, per day for food is not living in poverty ($22,811/3= $7,604 for food. $7604/365 days= $20.83 per day for food. $20.83/3 meals per day= $6.94 per meal. $6.94/4 people= $1.74 per person per meal). Check out this NPR report: "Eating Nutritiously A Struggle When Money Is Scarce" by Pam Fessler (2010).
The Waymon's: The Waymon’s live in the City of St. Louis. The father in this family is Carl; he is twenty-eight and European American. Teresa is the mother; she is thirty-two and is African American. They have two daughters, Molly, who is two, and Nina, who is five years of age.
Until a year ago Carl was employed at a trash company and earned enough to allow Teresa to stay at home with their daughters. Thinking that his employment was secure, Carl and Margaret did not pursue post-secondary education. Unfortunately, a year ago the business was sold to an out of state company and Carl became unemployed. Also, Carl had signed a “No-Compete” contract which legally kept him from gaining employment in the one industry he knew well, the trash business. Since that time Carl has attempted various jobs, but is currently working as a part-time prep cook at a local eating establishment during the day. Teresa, with no education beyond high school, has been hired on as a janitor through a temp agency and works during the evenings cleaning office buildings, again, part-time work. Together, they earn $22,811 per year. Though Teresa’s evening shifts allow for her to watch the children during the day and therefore eliminate the need for childcare, it also keeps him from working more shifts at his work and increasing the family’s income.
The Waymon’s receive the medical care for their children through Missouri Medicaid, or Mo HealthNet. However, as their income exceeds the limits, the parents are not eligible for this program. Molly was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when she was only a few months old. Apart from the significant amount of time and care that Carl and Teresa must devote to Molly due to her condition, they must also spend a substantial amount of time going to appointments. Moreover, as their car is unsuitable for transporting the specific type of wheelchair necessary for Molly’s mobility, they must take public transportation to appointments, of which many are as far away as Earth City located in St. Louis County.
For recreation the Waymon’s rely on many of the free attractions in St. Louis, such as the Art Museum, Forest Park, and the St. Louis Zoo.
Unfortunately, the parents of Carl and Teresa are rarely able to provide any form of support as they work full-time and live paycheck-to-paycheck. The Muscular Dystrophy Association in St. Louis has been extremely helpful to the Waymon’s as they not only provide the family with advice regarding which clinics and doctors to go to, but have also connected the family with support groups which have helped Carl and Teresa with networking opportunities. For example, a friend in their support group recommended Kelly Services to Teresa which helped her to secure her employment as a janitor.
The Budget:Your family has $292.32 a week to cover everything besides food. Rent, Utilities (gas and electric), Phone, Taxes, Nutritional Needs, Social Support, Recreation, Health Care, Savings, Emergencies, Transportation (gas, repairs, maintenance), Clothing, Cleaning, Toiletries, Celebrations/holidays/birthdays, and then there is always Next Month and the Future (how long can you keep it going?). Since your family cannot have an income greater than $22,113 (poverty line)--NO MATTER what the source (work, food stamps [EBT card], housing supplements, WIC, and or any other source [even illicit], they are barely getting by--not able to save much at all, and hoping that an emergency or major catastrophe does not occur.
Now, let's see if you can provide a nutrious diet to your family, and figure out what living at the poverty line might be like.
Your Family's Menu: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/Sample_Menus-2000Cals-DG2010.pdf
Go shopping. You need to see if you can feed your family a nutrious diet. Use the data collection sheet. Go to two different types of stores, one in a more impoverished neighborhood and one in a wealthy neighborhood. Does $146.16 (21 meals per week X 4 people @ $1.74 per meal) cover the costs of the menu? Make sure to include the following: description of store interior and exterior, employees, customers, neighborhood, Price totals, Price comparisons on selected items. Do not attach Word documents and the like--do your work on the wiki page, use the wiki to display your ideas and your research work--write your essays as wiki pages. (250 words)
Applying the Three Sociological Perspectives (Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Interactionism):
Be sure to correctly cite all information used from research resources (in-text citations and a list of references for each page) using the ASA manuscript submission guide (local copy with web citation guidelines or a full version of the ASA Style Guide). Additional assistance with referencing online resources can be found here. Also, remember we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain from using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism, and other non-academic practices. See academic integrity statement and Turnitin information.
Grading
Rubric and Scoring for this part of the project (40 points possible):
|
|
Project 2: Living at the Poverty Line |
| +7 |
Detailed description of the shopping experience:
|
| +4 |
Discussion of the significance of the shopping experience
|
| +9 |
Theoretical Analysis
|
+3 |
Presentation: 1-2 pages (250-500 words), style, neatness, no more than 2 spelling/grammar errors, introduction/body/conclusion format |
| +2 | Use of wiki features: hyperlinks, images, etc. |
| 25 pts | Total |
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