Thanks to Brian Page, educator extraordinaire from Reading High School (Ohio), for sharing his recent experiences with a poverty simulation. 

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Kids learn best when they’re up, moving, and doing. It’s not everyday we can create an environment to replicate the real world topic at hand, but the moments we do allow us to connect those experiences to the personal finance topics we teach. A matter of fact, one of the most effective teaching methodologies is the experiential learning method.

Earlier this year we hosted the Ohio Food Bank who led the two hour Community Action Poverty Simulation in our cafeteria. Students from all of my classes participated and loved it! For those interested who do not live in Ohio, United Way hosts a similar simulation.

“The Community Action Poverty Simulation is a unique, interactive experience that helps individuals begin to understand what life is like with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress. It moves people to think about the harsh realities of poverty and to talk about how communities can address the problem collectively. Most importantly, it encourages people to make a difference.

In the simulation, participants assume the roles of up to 26 different families facing a variety of challenging, but typical circumstances. Some are homeless, others have recently become unemployed, and some are suddenly faced with the responsibility of raising grandchildren. In addition, volunteers play the roles of resource providers, such as social workers, loan officers, employers, pawnbrokers, grocers, utility collectors, police officers, and teachers.

The program is conducted in a large room. Participants are seated in family clusters, and community resources are located at tables around the perimeter of the room. To start the simulation, each family is given a card explaining its unique situation, as well as a small amount of “money.” Then, the families must secure food, shelter, and other basic necessities by accessing the various resources during the course of four, 15-minute “weeks.” The activity lasts approximately three hours and includes an introduction and briefing by a facilitator, the simulation exercise itself, and a debriefing in which participants and volunteers share what they have learned about living in poverty. The simulation leaves a lasting impression on participants and communities.”

Pulling this off does take some extra effort. I was fortunate to have students help me setup, which took less than an hour. It took an additional hour the morning of the simulation to finish setting up with the folks from Ohio Food Bank. I didn’t sleep well the night before because the experience was new, and I was worried that it wouldn’t go well. Moving forward I can’t imagine experiencing any kind of stress leading up to this again.

For the sake of comparison, I also take my students on a field trip to the payday lenders. My full year class will experience both. On the other hand I needed to choose between the two for my semester class students. Although both experiences are valuable, the poverty simulation was better. It included a payday lender, and the immersion was more enriching across numerous topic areas. In other words, contact your local Food Bank or United Way and go for it… you won’t regret it!

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Here's another poverty simulation where students will learn what it means to "live paycheck to paycheck" in a visceral, gut-wrenching game called Spent. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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