SW 358 - Poverty Simulation PDF

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Dr. Amos...

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Melissa Tran Professor Amos SW 358 23 February 2021 Poverty Simulation I did the simulation quite a few times to get the hang of it and to see how each character had different living conditions and circumstances that they had to prepare for based on their annual income. I originally thought that the simulation would be a story-line type of situation and that I would have to choose difficult options to get by and see how hard life would be until I died in the simulation. My first choice was Emily Yang because I felt connected to her as a single Asian woman trying to follow her dreams in a large city. Her annual income was only $22,000 and the bar at the bottom that indicated the character’s difficulty, was in the red which meant that her monthly income would barely be enough to cover her living expenses. I completed the simulation with Emily, three times to see if it would get easier the more I got used to it and I kept going into debt faster and faster each time. I also played as Karen Jones who is married with three children and her annual income was $67,000. Her difficulty level was in the green which meant that her income was more sustainable than survival. There were a few times where I had to miss a bill payment to cover for child care, but Karen was making enough money to have very large savings account in the end. She aspired to take her family on a memorable trip for $1,800 and I was able to take the family out 4 times on this trip. I continued the simulation for 1579 days with a total of $13,708 in my bank account which was more than enough to cover any emergencies expenses such as Karen’s husband needed to take time off work because of his back, car maintenance, cholesterol

medication, the childrens’ school trips, or going over the allocated budget for the month. An example of a micro issue that I saw in the simulation was how Karen’s husband had to go seek medical services after he injured his back while working. This was an issue because it meant that Karen had to pay the hospital bills to make sure that he got adequate treatment and that meant they would be losing additional income from her husband until he could go back to work. He also could have felt guilty for being injured and felt like a burden upon his wife. This injury could have affected both of their mental health just because since he is older, the damage could have been a lot worse. In a way, I think the simulation could have accounted for the difficult choices that we had to make. For example, if Karen’s husband is at home and not at work, that should have lower Karen’s child care cost for her 2-year-old daughter since her husband could take care of her. I think this would have made the simulation more realistic because Karen could have saved that child care money and spent it on groceries instead. Another micro issue that I was faced with was choosing if my daughter could go to a dance in a dress that we borrowed or spending $200 for a new dress. This put Karen in a situation where she would have to discuss with her teenage daughter what was best for the family. The other choice that I chose was to borrow a dress from a friend, do her hair and makeup at home, and pay $50 for a ticket. This choice could have affected her daughter at school if she were to be bullied or lose a friend. Something along those lines would have made it a micro issue since that decision was between Karen and her daughter. An example of a mezzo issue would be how Karen had more friend groups and resources that she could have asked for help from. Since she lived in a better area with families similar to hers, they are more likely to be comfortable when asking for assistance with certain things such as child care and groceries. Emily lived by herself and not near any family members that she

could spend time with. She had two aunts that she was very close to but they both passed away and they lived very far from Philadelphia. Since Emily was on her own, she did not know about many resources and places that offer assistance which ultimately led her to go into debt within a few months. An example of a macro issue that I saw in the simulation was that Emily Yang was endangered with unemployment because of transportation issues and her boss wanted her to work late at night. The issue was if she wanted to get more hours in and stay longer than her shift, she would miss the bus and have to spend money to call a cab home. I learned that there are some circumstances where you need to have extra money saved up or else you could go into debt. I recently got my first credit card at the beginning of my Junior year and I was doing well at paying off my card each month, but after I got my hours cut at work and I had to pay higher bills due to the cold weather, I had to put a ton of money on my card. It’s been a few months and I am still working to pay off my credit card debt. I never learned about the topic of debt and how dangerous it was until a few years ago and now I am living in a situation where it is all I can think about when I get paid. I understand that it is a slippery slope to climb out of because if you fall behind on one bill, you will start to fall behind on other things trying to pay off multiple debts at once. I also realized that every family unit will have to prepare for any financial burdens to arise at any point in time based on what their situation is. They should also find time to set down and figure out where most of their money should be allocated to that would benefit the family the most and allow them to keep the basic necessities....