Tom and his family are from a middle class family. They try so hard but can not make ends meet because their bills prevent them from doing so. Tom does not know what to do. Tom thinks it is his fault because he did not get a good education. To make things worse, his daughter has a bad flue. He wants to take her to the hospital but he can not afford another bill, so he decides to get her some flue medicine and hopes she will get better. Many people in today�s society are in the same situation as Tom because the high price of everyday necessities is contributing to family debt.
The main reason most families fall into debt is because their education is holding them back from getting a good job. In today�s society an education is as necessary as water is to a fish. �A college degree is no longer seen as a luxury reserved mainly for the rich and well-connected. [In the past, a person could get by with just a high school diploma.] The increasingly tight job market has made higher education a virtual prerequisite�� (Worsnop). In addition, the parents may not want their son or daughter to fall into the same situation. As a result, they may decide to put their son or daughter into college. The price of college can be expensive, and if the parents do not have any savings, he or she may fall deeper into debt. A student has to pay tuition, the price of books, car permit, and school supplies. The cost of enrollment can cost around forty two thousand dollars a semester. The price of getting the needed books for college can be around eight hundred dollars plus. The main reason the prices of the college�s books are so insane is because most students sell their textbooks to other students and the textbook publisher does not get any profit. In addition, the only way a publisher can get the needed funds is to hike up the prices of newer edition textbooks, so the older edition is judged as outdated. �Rapidly rising prices are being blamed on many publishers� practices, including frequently producing new editions of textbooks with few significant content changes. This causes older versions to be deemed outdated and prevents students from selling them for a profit or buying them used at a discounted rate� (�Lifting the Weight�). On the other hand, there are programs that may assist the student, but to what extent? If the student is living with the parents and one or both the parents are working, the child may be deprived of some or most their financial benefits. In addition, if a student is employed, he or she may be deprived of all their financial benefits except for their BOG Wavier (only covers tuition). The funds that are given to a student who qualifies for all the needed financial aid is not given enough to last the whole semester. The most he or she gets is around two thousand plus a semester, and a person working is making around a thousand a month times four to five months that is four thousand to five thousand a semester.
Another necessity that can contribute to family debt is technology. With the technological advances society is making. More and more technological necessities are being created. For example, more and more schools are becoming dependent upon the internet and in a way it has became an educational necessity. �[N]ot only is it a novelty, but it is also starting to become a necessity. Students that have the privilege to get on the Internet have a distinct advantage over the students who are less fortunate. Internet-able students have the possibility to access information at an unbelievable pace, and creating their reports becomes less tedious� (Thelen). Research in today�s educational society is based mostly upon the internet. Most families have at least one or two connections to the internet at home. One thing that the internet is dependent upon is the computer (another necessity created by technology thanks to Bill Gates). The high price of these technological necessities can make any family member that is in school fall into debt. The price of a computer can rage from five hundred dollars to five thousand plus dollars. In addition, the cheap computers do not come with all the necessary doodads needed for the regular educated curriculums that relate to most institutions. In addition, the educational software for the computers can be quite expensive. The Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint 2003 software is in the mid hundred ranges. Subsequently, school software is the most expensive type of software other than gaming software. In addition to software, most computers when it comes to age are obsolete. If a person had a computer for over a couple years and it breaks down on them they are sol because most computer companies have parts and upgrades to computers that sold in the recent year. As a result, the person has to buy a new computer. In addition, the upgrades can be quite expensive.
Another necessity that contributes to family debt is the high cost of housing. Today�s market has practically made housing out of reach and in some cases literally put some people out in the cold. �With rising wealth driving up housing cost, the working poor have been left practically helpless� (Shipler 228-9). In addition, the extraneous price of renting is far too high for some people. On the other hand, a person who is a homeowner might find themselves in another problem. It cost money to maintain the house and keep up with the mortgage. . �Indeed, homes have a tendency to actually make you poor because they need to be finished and furnished; older homes become deep money pits; roofs need replacing; drains clog; termites gnaw at foundations while squirrels and mice move in; pipes break; furnaces fail, and, in the south, mold and mildew can�t even be insured; walls need paint; bricks cry out for tuck-pointing and yards need constant care.� Worse yet, when it comes to the state and local government, they are always looking for someone to tax.� As soon as you buy a house, you have just raised your hand and announced �please tax me�!� (�Goodbye Middle Class�).There is a term �house poor� used when a person has to put more than half their income just to maintain a house Subsequently, the programs that help people with housing are just as bad as the high prices. One program that provides aid to families who do not have the necessary funds to get a rental house is Section 8. The problem with this program is the waiting list. ��[T]he projected wait period of time for rental assistance was not reasonable.� Justin Vest, director of assisted housing, says that based on current federal funding, and considering the large number of eligible families currently on the Section 8 Wait List, a new applicant could not expect to receive much-needed rental assistance for about four (4) years.� (�Section 8 Wait List�). The high price of getting shelter over a person head can give just about anybody a heart attack.
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