Poverty simulation workshop at Ohio State

Another way for poverty pimps to earn a living--put on workshops for churches, non-profits, and academe. OSU is promoting yet another one. Participants get to feel virtuous by planning a budget using government programs guaranteed to keep people in their place--including the ones who sign up. It's an industry supporting the middle class.

There's nothing like a job to pull someone out of poverty, but consciousness raising never reduced single motherhood, or a poor education, or a prison record, or mental health challenges. Unmarried parents is the primary cause of childhood poverty. Back in the day (early 80s) when I worked for the state of Ohio and either attended or planned these gatherings (we didn't call it simulation then, just information on state and federal resources) we were told by those above us, our experts and leaders who lived on government grants, that one needed to earn at least $10/hour to go beyond what the state/federal programs could offer. For 1983 that was unheard of! Those of us earning our living doing this didn't make that unattainable salary. I don't know what the figure is today, but the 2019 median income for middle class was $68,703. The government, btw, has no official definition for middle class.

Leanne Brown is not a poverty pimp, but she wrote a hugely successful cookbook on eating well on $4/day SNAP budget. And she made it free. She's a Canadian. https://www.leannebrown.com/cookbooks/... I don't know if the OSU poverty simulation teachers will tell you, but I'm telling you, these are really great, nutritious and cheap.

How the Census over counts poverty

Are you surprised if our borders are flooded with illegals who ignore our laws? They know the Democrats will protect them, pay for college, let them vote, not require citizenship, and even supply pro-bono lawyers for crimes, and it must look like the streets are paved with gold for the poor.

In the United States, in 2015, there were 43.1 million people the Census said were living in poverty (a very misleading figure).

Poor households routinely report spending $2.40 for every $1 of income the Census says they have. (Some figures are from 2009 even though article is 2016) https://www.dailysignal.com/2016/09/13/15-facts-about-poverty-in-us-government-buries/

"The average poor American lives in a house or apartment that is in good repair and has more living space than the average nonpoor person in France, Germany, or England.

Eighty-five percent of poor households have air conditioning.

Nearly three-fourths of poor households have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more cars or trucks.

Nearly two-thirds of poor households have cable or satellite TV.

Half have a personal computer; 43 percent have internet access.

Two-thirds have at least one DVD player.

More than half of poor families with children have a video game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation.

One-third have a wide-screen plasma or LCD TV." . . .

"In 2014, government spent over $1 trillion on means-tested welfare for poor and low income people. (This figure does not include Social Security or Medicare.) Welfare spending on cash, food, and housing was $342 billion.

The cash, food, and housing spending alone was 150 percent of the amount needed to eliminate all poverty in the U.S. But the Census ignored more than four-fifths of these benefits for purposes of measuring poverty. Effectively, the Census counts poverty in the U.S. by ignoring almost the entire welfare state."

Is a college degree a good ROI?

One of the reasons Columbia University can claim that poverty among young children was at 45% during the Obama years is that pesky threshold the academics and bureaucrats say is needed to support a family. Let's say you've dumped the kids' deadbeat dad, finished college and gone on for your dream degree--a Master's in Library Science (today the degree title may use the word information or technology, but you know what I mean). You've got debt, but everyone says a college degree is the ticket to the middle class. $32-$35,000 isn't terrific, but not unusual for a beginning MLS degree in a small city, and it varies state to state, but so does the poverty threshold. Probably the para-professionals in the library who've been working 20 years earn more, but you'll have that pride of possession and benefits that far exceed the private sector. According to our government, that salary is low income, and you'll need at least $50,000 in a medium sized Ohio city to climb out of that category. 

The largest number of children in low income households are white, but the highest percentage are minority (36% white; 29% Asian; 69% black). The fact sheet I'm reading (Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children under 3 Years, 2015) does mention education and jobs to climb out of the low income category, but ignores marriage.

If you try to work the internet on ROI for a college degree, you get--guess what--articles written by academics urging you to take on a 4 year college cost of $140,000.  And why not?  They need to keep those seats filled in college xyz.