sociology
(assignment adapted from Nemmm. David M. 2008. Siu‘iologr; Exploring the Architecturc u/ vajvdqr
Lilia ”m Edition. Thousand Oaks. (7A: Pine Forge Press.)
Ynu will lum in a 3-pagc essay addressing all of the aspects detailed below. Your paper must be
typed. singlebspaced. l2 font, Times New Roman, with I-incb margins. Also, you must document
where you gathered yuur int’onnation -you must include your sources. You will upload your document
to the course Dropbox. You must submit the purer by the deadline in order to receive credit.
Even people whose income is well above the poverty line can sometimes find it diftieult to make
ends meets. Imagine a family of four living in your hometown. Suppose that both parents work. and
that one child is 7 years old and in elementary school. and that the other child is 3 years old and must be
cared for during the day.
First. make a list of all the goods and services this family will spend money on each month. Be
as complete as possible. Consider food (groceries. dining out. schoolfdaycare lunches). clothing.
housing. transportation (car payment. registration. insurance. bus tickets. etc). medical care. child care.
entertainment. vacation. and so on. For (his initial list. you are not trying Io work within u budget or
ermine-estimate the/omily income. Rather. you are simply thinking ol‘everything you possibly can that
the family would speml money on each month and adding up these expenses.
Estimate the minimum monthly cost ot‘eaeh item. If you currently live on your own and must
pay these expenses yourself. use those figures as a starting point (but remember that you must estimate
t’or a family ot’ t’ourt lt’ you live in a dorm or at home. ask one of your parents tor anyone else who pays
bills) what the expenses are tor such goods and services. (.‘all a local daycare center to see what it
charges t’or child care or look on the intemet for local day care facilities and fees. Go to the local
supermarket and compute the family food budget. For those expenses that aren‘t divided on a monthly
basis (cg. clothing. household appliances). estimate the yearly cost and divide by l2. l’ou .lIILS‘Tc’reale
a thorough (is! ofeverylhing you can think oftlmt Ilu’flimily will spend money on each month.
Once you have estimated the total monthly expenses. multiply by 12 to get the subsistence
budget for the family of four. Nest. compare your total to that ofthe govemment‘s oflicial poverty line
for a family of four. which is 5243.50.00. If your estimate is higher than the govemmcnt’s otlicial
poverty line. what sons of items could you cut out of the budget to get it as close as possible to S24.
2501’ By looking for ways to cut expenses from your minimal subsistence budget. you will get a good
sense ol’what everyday life in poverty is like. Try very hard to make cuts to your total budget so that
you get as close as possible in the end to $24,250.00. You will attach the initial list and the final list to
the end of your paper.
In the matter. itself. you should discuss what youiitgeludeiinygurjnitial list. and then Q9968
whatcuts youmad; to gettbe budget as close as possible to $24. 250.00. In your paper. beams 1o
describethequalityjf life ofthishypothetical family iftheir budget must be limited to 324250.00. You
should assume that the family does NO’I‘ qualify for government aid (that they make just enough money