A Christmas Carol 2007 Study Guide - Goodman Theatre

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P overty in America Over 36 million in need “ of violence. ” Poverty is the worst form - Mohandas Gandhi Did you know that…? Children: Our Largest Poor Population The following statistics are from the U.S. Census 2006 Report on Poverty and the UNICEF 2000 report of Children in Poverty. The poverty rate represents an average over the entire population, and does not really tell us who, in particular, is well off, who is worse off. For that, it is necessary to examine poverty levels for particular groups. Most notably, blacks and Hispanics have poverty rates that greatly exceed the average. The poverty rate for all blacks and Hispanics remained near 30 percent during the 1980s and mid- 1990s. Thereafter it began to fall. In 2000, the rate for blacks dropped to 22.1 percent and for Hispanics to 21.2 percent—the lowest rate for both groups since the United States began measuring poverty. According to official statistics, 36.5 million people, 12.3 percent of the total U.S. population, lived in poverty last year. That equates to one in 11 families. The total United States population was 301,139,947. Children make up the largest poor population in the United States, with more than 12 million. According to UNICEF, that ranks the U.S. as the country with the second highest child poverty rate of all industrialized nations. By comparison, Sweden is less than 3 percent, the Czech Republic is less than 8 percent; France is just under 8 percent and Germany is just over 10 percent. About 7.2 million people living in poverty are among the working poor. Most of them live in families with children. They are the fastest-growing segment of the poverty population. A study by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that children under the age of 18 accounted for 25 percent of the urban homeless. Families comprised 37 percent of the homeless population; single men and women comprised 45 percent and 14 percent respectively. ♦ Poverty is often a transient situation. The number of people in chronic poverty (for at least two years) is less than the overall annual poverty rate. Over a two-year period, nearly a third of Americans dipped briefly into poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. ♦ Just 10.8 percent of poor people live in central cities. The vast majority of people in poverty live outside of metropolitan areas. ♦ Eight million Americans need two or more jobs to make ends meet. ♦ A mother who works full-time at minimum wage to support one small child, that translates to earnings of $10,712 a year -- which is $1,157 below the 2001 poverty line for a family of two. Think About It: The “worst form of violence” In the quote above, Mohandas Gandhi says poverty is “the worst form of violence.” Why does he say this? Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Why do you think the minimum wage in our country is not always a “living wage” (enough to keep a person above the poverty line)? Were you aware of this problem? Do you think enough attention is given to 32 fixing it? Pictures from www.stwr.net, www.commons.wikimedia.org and www.photoethnography.com
P overty in Chicago A city of homelessness and millionaires “ The City of Chicago's Department of Human Services estimates that the homeless population numbers between 25,000- 35,000 persons over the course of a year. Of this group, it estimates that 14,000 are minors. ” - www.ProjectRUSH.com Think About It: Disparity of wealth According to the <strong>2007</strong> Report on Illinois Poverty by the Mid-America Institute on Poverty of Heartland Alliance, Cook County, IL—which covers the Chicago metropolitan area—has the second-highest number of millionaire households (167,873) and the second-highest number of poor households (273,658) of any county in the nation. For reference, there are currently 3,141 counties in the U.S. The disparity of wealth among Chicago citizens is second-highest of them all. In 2006, the Chicago City Council voted for an ordinance that would have required megaretailers such as Wal-Mart and Target to pay their workers higher wages, totaling at least $10 per hour by 2010. Mayor Richard Daley vetoed the ordinance in September of that year, in what was his first veto in 17 years in office. He reasoned it would cost the city jobs and hurt the people who Why do you think there are so many millionaire and poverty-stricken households in Chicago? How has it come to pass that so many people have become either extremely wealthy or extremely poor? What social conditions or other factors may have led to this divide? The Great Divide Children play on statues made under the 1930s Work Projects Administration that sit outside of their homes at the Jane Addams projects in Chicago. The Addams homes are some of the oldest projects in the United States and will soon be demolished as a part of the Chicago Housing Authority's "Plan for Transformation." need them most. In other words: a minimum wage job is still a job. Major retailers agreed they would be less likely to build stores in Chicago if the ordinance had been passed. The minimum wage in the state of Illinois is currently $7.50 an hour, considerably higher than the federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour. An estimate of the “living wage” in Chicago using the Living Wage Calculator—a computing website created by the Living Wage Project at Penn State University— puts this amount at $6.09 per hour for a single adult. Add a child to the picture, and that amount jumps to $12.52, five dollars more per hour than Illinois’ minimum wage. To read the full <strong>2007</strong> Report on Illinois Poverty, calculate the “living wage” for your hometown and look at other resources on poverty in Illinois and the city of Chicago, visit our Knowledge - _ online! Nucleus Do you agree with Mayor Daley’s decision to strike down the “living wage” ordinance last year? Why or why not? What other ways can you think of to introduce better-paying jobs in Chicago? 33 Pictures from www.aliciapatterson.org, www.projectrush.org and www.siu.edu
Page 1 and 2: Goodman Theatre Student Subscriptio
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Welcome to the St
Page 5 and 6: Exploring the Production 5
Page 7 and 8: W illiam Brown The director The Dir
Page 9 and 10: Before being elected president of S
Page 11 and 12: Exploring the Text 11
Page 13 and 14: ctivity Novel Match-Up Dickens publ
Page 15 and 16: V ocabulary It does a conversation
Page 17 and 18: G host Stories Who you gonna call?
Page 19 and 20: Exploring the Context 19
Page 21 and 22: D A divided city ickens’ London L
Page 23 and 24: ctivity OurNeighborhoods Most of Di
Page 25 and 26: W Humbug! Bah! Humbug! Bah Hum Bah!
Page 27 and 28: ctivity Scrooge’s Campaign for Ma
Page 29 and 30: Exploring the Social Issues 29
Page 31: There are still thousands of househ
Page 35 and 36: ctivity Christmas Around the World
Page 37 and 38: T he Power of Art Can creativity ch
Page 39 and 40: Stocking Stuffers A little somethin
Page 41 and 42: cemetery where Tiny Tim is buried.
Page 43: W riting Your Response Letter After

A Christmas Carol 2007 Study Guide - Goodman Theatre

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