Response Paper to “The Real Cost of Living in 2008”

Truthfully, I never thought much about the living costs in New Jersey. Before reading the report, I had been aware that the houses in my town, vary in sizes. The houses range from lake houses to mansions. Furthermore, children from these different houses often are in the same classes and schools together. While I recognized that there are differences in my peers’ house sizes and the things they would bring or wear to school, I never looked at the cost of living beyond my town.

            After reading “The Real Cost of Living in 2008,” I learned how some families could face such hard living burdens. Naively, I had always thought that if a household’s income was below a certain amount, it would need to have assistance in order to have sufficient funds to pay for necessities. And, incomes that were above a certain amount could not qualify for assistance, but are able to afford basic necessities. This idea or belief came from seeing my own household, where there were times when we could not qualify for loans from the state simply because my parents’ incomes were not low enough. But, I did not experience any hardships in eating three meals daily, having clothes to wear, etc. The report opened my eyes to not only the varying amounts of living costs in New Jersey, but also the reality that while not everyone qualifies for assistance from the government and/or state, it doesn’t mean that they are well off.

            In the report, the amount of income that qualifies for most assistance programs is around 30% below the federal poverty line. Furthermore, if the standard living costs are much higher, this means that household incomes in between these amounts suffer the most. With money tight at home, there is little to afford additional resources, such as higher education. While my high school consisted of various house sizes, the range in household incomes may not be very wide. However, if one were to visit a regional high school, one may find that there is a big diversity in household incomes. With so many students from different counties and towns coming to one school, there will be a wide range in students’ household backgrounds. This diversity affects not only the resources that schools will receive, but also the resources that students have, which will have an impact on students’ learning.

This knowledge teaches me that I need to be aware of and consider the differences that students can have so that I can address and connect with each student equally. It’s not just about ethnicity or level in learning. Being aware of various households and experiences will help me in coming up with projects that every student can benefit and learn from.