TEACHING INCLUSIVENESSAN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE ON POVERTY

The human brain is a wonderful thing; it works from the moment you are born…….even when you

are poor ~Adapted from Anonymous

Ranjini Thaver, PhDEconomics Stetson University

OUR CENSUS DATAHow many teach a course on Poverty?

How many teach a chapter on Poverty in Intro classes?

Do all Principles Texts cover Poverty?

How many cover Poverty in their classes at all?

What is the rationale behind such coverage? Answer later…

CENSUS

How many in this audience consider yourselves rich?

Middle class?

Poor?

What does the Census Bureau show?

Facts About Income Inequality -2008: M&B, 19th ed.(1)

PersonalIncome Category

(2)Percentage of All

Households in this Category

Under $10,000 7.1

$10,000-$14,999 5.8

$15,000-$24,999 11.8

$25,000-$34,999 10.9

$35,000-$49,999 14.0

$50,000-$74,999 17.9

$75,000-$99,999 11.9

$100,000 and above 20.5

100.0

Source: Bureau of the Census, www.census.gov. Numbers do not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.

LO1

Income Inequality Over-2008: M&B, 19th ed.

LO4

The top 5%

TAX FOUNDATION.ORG ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME RETURNS -2009

Top 5% : > $155kTop 1%: > $355Top .1%: > $1.4m

So, who are the poor?

Incidence of Poverty-2008: M&B, 19th ed

LO5

RATIONALE BEHIND SUCH A MODULE“Big think” questions for undergraduates –

Educating Economists

Econ force for the good of society

Poverty is a real economic force in our society

Many students come from “working class”

Engaged learning – vs. alienation

GALLUP POLL – 55% of Americans oppose decreasing government budget on poverty

World leaders and institutions focus on povertyAcademia has been lagging –ivory tower;

Behavioural Economics

DEMOGRAPHICSWhat words/ images/phrases do you

associate with the poor?

The rich…

ASSOCIATIONS

Hard workinglazyFood stampsCheatersInner citySuburbsambitiousMcDonalds - Junk food -Subprime mortgagesHousing CrisisTakes a large share of government budgetWelfare

POVERTY EXERCISES

Poverty exercise 1: decide to commit to a life of poverty

BUDGETING FOR POVERTYThanksgiving exerciseIn-class exercise**** here too

PRIVILEGE EXERCISE – class based. Several on the Internet.

POVERTY LINE-2011: choose one household size that you represent and record your income level. One person .... 11,484 Two people........................... ........14,657 Three people.................................. 17,916 Four people.................................... 23,021 Five people..................................... 27,251 Six people................................... .. 30,847 Seven people.................................. 35,085

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/measure.html

Create a monthly budget with that income level. Basic categories:

FoodClothingShelterUtilitiesTransportationChild careEducationHealth careAnything else?

What’s missing? emergencies; Econonomic security other factors contributing to success…

http://vimeo.com/35903896

Is Quality of life important for the poor? self-esteem; image; See: http://www.utoronto.ca/qol/profile/adultVersion.html

SUCCESS IS A FUNCTION OF:Individual ability and motivation

Structural forces- social structure and infrastructure

Political representation –democracy

Opportunity - Bill Gates, Steve Jobs

Luck –Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jay Leno, Einstein, Darwin, Mandela, etc…

IQ; EQ; SQ; PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE

BUT HOW IS POVERTY COVERED IN OUR TEXTBOOKS?

TRADITIONAL TEXTBOOK coverage of poverty

TWO QUESTIONS: How unequal is our society?Rationally decide on how much equality

society wantsWhat appropriate policy

ISSUE IS TRADE-OFFS: equity vs. efficiency

OKUNS’S LEAKING BUCKET - relevant?

DEFINITION OF POVERTY?DEFINITION OF POVERTY

Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/measure.html

Sen and others: capabilities deprivation

A typical moduleAllow participants to take a “quality of

life” survey. Ask them how important image is to self-esteem and to success? Will not immediately relate this to our discussion on poverty.

Ask participants to define poverty and share with the class. Will not immediately discuss this.

suggest words/ phrases commonly used to describe poor people. Will not respond immediately.

suggest a few policies directed towards the poor.

Have participants in groups to create a budget on the basis of the minimum wage, or the poverty line for a family of 4. Discuss this budget in class. What have they forgotten? At this point, we also discuss the answers that participants provided in the above questions.

How have participants’ definition of poverty changed after the budgeting exercise, if at all?

Any changes to the policies mentioned above?

What kinds of poverty exist?

Show a short video on poverty around the world

Show how economics textbook cover the topic of poverty and inequality

Addressing the myths about poverty and poor people:

Show stats on the demographics of the poor nationally and in local area

If time permits: show the video on “we can do something.” What does Stetson Unervsity do? Our

microcredit VITA, AND MONEY SMART CLASSES

Discuss means of assessing the learning outcomes of such an inclusive learning module. I hope to develop my own ideas through interaction with participants.

We are the first generation that can look poverty in the

eye and say this and mean it - We have the cash, we have

the drugs, we have the science. Do we have the will to

make poverty history?”-Bono lead singer of U2