Write about minimum wage living reflection journal, now that we have learned about the culture of poverty and social classes; let's have fun with some math to see what kind of lifestyle someone could realistically have on minimum wage. Keep a running log of your dollar amount as you work through this task. A woman working full time at $7.25 an hour would make ________ per month. So that's our monthly income. Let's subtract our expenses. Subtract taxes and social security deductions, which will probably be about $200/month. ______ subtract housing costs, and let's assume they live in the cheapest housing they could find in atlanta. _________ subtract food costs (usually 1/6 of your income): _________ subtract electricity and water (this person probably can't afford cable): _______ if they are trying to go to school, they are going to need the internet...or a car to get to and from a library quickly. Taking the bus to and from work and school would be challenging if you want to be everywhere on time. So subtract this cost (if you choose a car, consider gas, insurance, and monthly payments):

_______ what if this person have a child in daycare? That's at least $120/week. Subtract those costs: ____________ what about a cell phone? If they have a child, won't the school need a way to reach them? Subtract that cost: _________ at this point, you can already see that this person would have a deficit in their budget - they are spending more than they earn.

We have not included things like clothes, school supply lists, entertainment, health insurance, and many others.

For this task you will write a minimum of three paragraphs reflecting on the numbers above. Use your knowledge of social classes, and include what you think should be done to solve this problem, if you think it needs to be solved at all.