University of Wisconsin - Extension

Participants learn the realities of low-income living through a poverty-simulation workshop

By Kadi Row with Jo Futrell

¿It was a real eye-opener. You can envision some of the steps people have to go through, but until you walk through it yourself you don¿t realize some of the obstacles and attitudes.¿

- Poverty Simulation participant

According to 2000 U.S. Census data, 8.7 percent of Wisconsin citizens and 10.8 percent of Wisconsin children live in poverty. Many more families have incomes above the poverty line, but their incomes are still low enough to qualify for government assistance such as food stamps and BadgerCare health insurance. The economic downturn is contributing even more stress, as unemployment rates and use of emergency food pantries increase.

Nutrition Education Program addresses poverty issues

County-based Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program (WNEP) coordinators and Extension educators develop and facilitate education programs in local communities to meet a variety of needs, and are therefore well prepared to help communities address poverty issues.

Understanding the low-income experience

In the last two years UW-Extension has facilitated 13 local awareness-raising programs throughout Wisconsin. More than 800 people have participated in the Poverty Simulation program created by the Reform Organization of Welfare (ROWEL) Education Association of Missouri. The simulation helps participants begin to understand the experience of a typical low-income family trying to survive from month to month.

Participants role-play as low-income family members with various resources and barriers scripted for them. For example, a participant may play a single mom with two kids, no cash and very few assets. The ¿single mom¿ moves through a condensed ¿month¿ of poverty consisting of four, 15-minute weeks. Participants are generally staff or volunteers who work with low-income people. Sensitizing them to issues faced in poverty may result in better understanding, and changes in programming, that can benefit low-income families.

Increasing poverty awareness

The program clearly benefits local communities, playing an important role in increasing poverty awareness. Survey results show striking increases in understanding the difficulties and stresses faced by individuals in poverty. More than 90 percent of participants say they would strongly recommend the training to others.

Not only did the poverty simulation increase participants¿ awareness and understanding, it also changed how they relate to low-income families. Participants are also motivated to do more, as the experience provides a wide range of ideas for ¿next steps¿ for community action to address poverty issues. One community formed a network to discuss resources and needs of people in poverty. Another community conducted skill- development training to help staff work more effectively with low-income people.

For more information: Kadi Row, UW-Extension food security specialist, kadi.row@ces.uwex.edu and http://www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/success/poverty.pdf