Emily+L

=Statistics=
 * = **Country** || **Income Per Capita** || **Median Age** || **Life Expectancy** || **Literacy Rate** || **Total Fertility Rate** ||
 * = Baseline
 * USA** || $47, 200 || 36.9 years || 78.37 years || 99% || 2.06 ||
 * = High Income:
 * Italy** || $30, 500 || 43.5 years || 81.77 years || 98.4% || 1.39 ||
 * = Middle Upper:
 * Mexico** || $13, 900 || 27.1 years || 76.47 years || 86.1% || 2.29 ||
 * = Middle Lower:
 * Iraq** || $3, 800 || 20.9 years || 70.55 years || 74.1% || 3.67 ||
 * = Lower Income:
 * Kenya** || $1, 600 || 18.9 years || 59.48 years || 85.1% || 4.19 ||

=High Income Living Conditions:=

Primary Source:
Secondary Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112187/italy_way_of_life.htm http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-01-29-rossellini_N.htm http://www.expatforum.com/articles/cost-of-living/cost-of-living-in-italy.html Person Researched: Isabella Rossellini Story/Description: The life in northern Italy is not as big as the life in southern Italy. The north is much richer, urbanized and has more industries than the south. Many people live near urban areas and family is a very important part of the home. Italians like to cook a lot and food generally differs by the regions the people live in. Soccer is a sport many Italians like to watch as well as participate in. Every kid between the ages of 6-14 attends school in Italy and a majority of them attend public school, since the government only subsidizes public schools up to the secondary level, and then later attend a university. The cost of living in Italy is higher than other places in the world. The cost of housing every month for one person is around 400 euros, which includes the amount of utilities and water. The typical housing unit has one bedroom, but there are larger apartments available for a higher monthly price. Home repairs are covered by living insurances. Other utilities, water source, Internet connection and gas consumption are also sponsored by some employers.

Paragraph Analysis: Italians are very hard working people. Life is different across the country. The northern Italy way of life and the southern Italy way of life differ, much like a western U.S. way of life to a southern U.S. way of life. Northern Italy contains more businesses and is more prosperous than the south of Italy. Italian people love family and it is very important to them. They cook a lot of food in Italy as a family and have brought the world types of food like pasta, pizza, and wines. Soccer is a top recreational activity to Italian people and many families participate in cheering on the Italian team together. Italians work hard, spend a lot of time as a family, cook often, and are well taken care of, which reflects in their life expectancy. Despite high living costs, there are many other ways to have things paid for like government subsidies, insurance, and employer benefits.

=Middle-Upper Income Living Conditions:= Primary Source: Secondary Source: http://www.teamcasa.org/livingconditions.htm http://www.solutionsabroad.com/en/cities/tijuana/living-in-tijuana.html http://www.allaboutmexico.com/people.html Person Researched: Yolanda Story/Description: Tijuana and its surrounding communities are a short distance from metro Los Angeles. Many people go to Tijuana to shop and for fun. Tijuana has some of the worst living conditions in the world. Water is delivered by worn-out water trucks and stored in discarded drums. There is no sewer system, hardly any working water systems and sketchy electricity. Many things are more expensive than they are in the U.S. Yolanda does the dishes in the same sink she bathes her kids in. Through all of the hardships, they are still hard working, loving and nurturing people. Based on a U.S. dollar exchange rate of 11.50 pesos, the cost of living in Tijuana varies from U.S. $7,525 (high-end salary) to U.S. $3,409 (low-end salary) a month. These figures are based on expenditure on housing, food, education, transportation, clothing, recreation, health, furniture, appliances and personal use. It is hard for many people to afford these types of living expenses. Almost three-quarters of the population lives in urban areas. Education is mandatory for children from 3-15 years of age. Around 19 million students attend primary school, while only 6 million attend secondary school and 2.4 million attend another higher education.

Paragraph Analysis: Despite the hardships some Mexican people may face in places like Yolanda in Tijuana, they are still hard-working, loving, and nurturing people. They go to work, help their families, love their children, and give them the best care they can provide. This shows by the students going to primary and even secondary school despite the economic costs. For many Americans Tijuana is a place to move to after they have retired, as the price is much cheaper than San Diego. For Mexican people, not all of them can afford to live the "high-end salary" or the "low-end salary" a month rent in Tijuana, which shows because their income per capita is only $13, 900. The gap between rich and poor is large and the high birth rate is against the reduced death rate due to better health care and sanitation. Mexico is a mixture of past Indian and Spanish customs, but it has also changed a lot from the 1900's. ==

=Middle-Lower Income Living Conditions:= Primary Source: Secondary Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=14255&Cr=Iraq http://www.acttogether.org/Iraqiteenagers.htm Person Researched: Farah, Samir, Staffan Story/Description: Daily living conditions in Iraq are worse than they have been for many years. Many families suffer from irregular water and electricity supply. Around 25% of the children suffer from chronic malnutrition. Also, Iraq has more young illiterate people then ever before and with a decrease in education, comes a decrease in employment. Many people of the Iraqi population are connected to water, electricity and sewage networks. Although the networks are available they have been too unsteady to help the people's living conditions. Hospitality, especially where food is concerned, is a very important aspect of Iraqi culture. These days, most Iraqi families can’t provide their guests with nice food because of widespread unemployment, low salaries and widespread poverty linked to economic sanctions. This fact has had a damaging impact on family and social life in contemporary Iraq. Living in luxury in the midst of widespread suffering and poverty asks for envy and contempt. So the few rich people that live in Iraq tend to stick to themselves. Despite the hardship and the every-day struggle for survival, families still try to be supportive of each other.

Paragraph Analysis: Iraqi people have been through a lot with the war in recent years. It has been a struggle for them to overcome many of the obstacles given to them and this has been reflected in the lower living conditions. Daily living conditions have worsened and the Iraqi people are not living as well as they had in past years. This is reflected from the lower income per capita at $3,800. Teenagers and young people in generally are experiencing a lower literacy rate than they have before, which is evident in their 74.1% literacy rate. Family is also important to Iraqi people, but due to the current economic conditions they are experiencing some Iraqi people have been forced to abandon some of their morals.

=Lower Income Living Conditions:= Primary Source: Secondary Source: http://www.stacyharrisministries.com/id20.html Person Researched: Massai Story/Description: The majority of the population of Kenya live on less than $1.00 a day. Hunger and poverty are a daily struggle and are a major problem of Kenya. Life in Kenya consists of a lack of sanitation and sewage, electricity, and clean water. Kenya consists of the worlds largest slum, Nairobi, where over a million are forced to live. Language consists of English, Swahili, and local languages. The Maasai, who live in Kraals, are a semi-nomadic people. The Inkajijik (maasai word for a house) are loaf-shaped and made of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and cow's urine. Women are responsible for making the houses as well as supplying water, collecting firewood, milking cattle and cooking for the family. Warriors are in charge security while boys are responsible for herding livestock. During the drought season, both warriors and boys assume the responsibility for herding livestock. The elders are directors and advisors for day-to-day activities. Every morning before livestock leave to graze, an elder who is the head of the inkang sits on his chair and announces the schedule for everyone to follow. Livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep are the primary source of income for the Maasai. Livestock serves as a social utility and plays an important role in the Maasai economy. Livestock are traded for other livestock, cash or livestock products such as milk and siege. Individual, families, and clans established close ties through giving or exchange of cattle. The Maasai economy is increasingly dependent on the market economy. Livestock products are sold to other groups in Kenya for the purchase of beads, clothing and grains. Cows and goats are also sold for uniform and school fees for children. It is now common to see young Maasai men and women in major towns and cities of Kenya selling, not just goats and cows, but also beads, cell phones, chacoal, grain among other items.

Paragraph Analysis: Children in Kenya are poor and grow up living and knowing a very poor life. Not much is available to the Kenyan people and they are suffering greatly compared to wealthy America. Cattle and children are the most important aspect of the Maasai people. It makes sense that the Maasai people put more hope and faith into their own children and cattle, than outsiders. Kenya makes less than $2000 for income per capita and live for around 60 years, with the median age being around 18 years. This shows how important the children are to Kenyans. To get out of the economic place they're in, Kenyans work hard to bring up children that can work and raise cattle and goats to sell to try to be able to afford uniform and school fees for children.

=Conclusion:= My fellow classmate, Becca Hess, researched Italy and Kenya also. We found that Italy makes close to nineteen times income per capita more than Kenya, as Italy makes $30,500 and Kenya makes $1, 600. Becca also researched Honduras and Brazil. She found that Brazil had an income per capita of $10, 800 and Honduras had an income per capita $4,200. Comparing our results, we found that Mexico is wealthier than Brazil in income per capita by $3,100. We also found that Honduras made $400 more in income per capita than Iraq. We found that Honduras and Iraq just about the same median age, at 21 years and 20.9 years, respectively. These conclusions show that countries that make more money, tend to follow in that their citizens live longer, know how to read better, and have older, median aged citizens. Another one of my fellow classmates, Derek Harzinski, researched Greece, Brazil, Vietnam, and Chad. These countries showed results that reflected the results I researched and found. Starting with Greece compared to Italy. Greece made $29,600 income per capita, while Italy made $30, 500 income per capita, this shows that Italy makes $900 more than Greece. Greece and Italy have very close median ages at 42.5 years and 43.5 years. Italy had a higher life expectancy at about 82 years, compared to Greece's life expectancy at 80 years. Italy also had a 98% literacy rate, which was 2% higher than Greece's literacy rate. Italy and Greece also had the same total fertility rate. To conclude this, Greece and Italy are two very similar countries with respect to income per capita, median age, life expectancy, and literacy rate.