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Why The Poverty Rate Is So High Essay

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Over forty-five million people, 14.5 percent of all Americans, lived below the poverty line last year, that’s about one out of every seven Americans living in poverty! The simulation experience we conducted in class gave a healthy indication as to why the poverty rate is so high in the United States. The simulation provided the group and myself with a hypothetical situation in which random events occurred to us throughout a single month. We were then given the task to see if we could survive the financial obligations which were thrown at us during that month. My group and I soon discovered the various opportunities we would have to take advantage of (legal or illegal), the kinds of decisions that were necessary to make, and the potential problems that could result from such decisions so that we may have a better understanding as to why so many families live in poverty in our country.
As a family of five with a budget of only $2,300 per month, the initial obstacle we faced was the option as to whether or not we wished to invest in healthcare. However, one factor that did aid us in this area, was that the father’s healthcare expenses were covered through his occupation. Consequently, this left my group and I with the choice to cover only the remaining four family members. We decided to try to save our money by only covering the children, not the mother. Our thinking behind this difficult decision was that with a budget of a mere $2,300 for the month, we were desperate for any

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