Diversity Studies Chapter 4 & 5 & Knowledge Checks
Food ____________ is defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life. According to the USDA, more than 34 million people, including 9 million children experience this in the United States.
Insecurity
Prestige
Refers to the status and esteem people hold in the eyes of others.
Culture of Poverty Theory
The poor generally have beliefs and values that differ from those of the nonpoor and that doom them to continued poverty.
Assumptions of Dependency Theory
The poverty of poor nations stems from their colonization by European nations, which exploited the poor nations' resources and either enslaved their populations or used them as cheap labor. The colonized nations were thus unable to develop a professional and business class that would have enabled them to enter the industrial age and otherwise develop their economies.
Age
The poverty rate for US children is the highest of all wealthy democracies. Children living in families with incomes below twice the official poverty level are called low-income children, and their families are called low-income families. 9 percent of people aged 65 or older are poor (amounting to about 3.5 million seniors). Thus more than 43.4 percent of Americans living in poverty are children or the elderly.
Structural Explanation
The second type of explanation follows from conflict theory and is a structural explanation that focuses on problems in American society that produce poverty. Most sociologists favor the structural explanation.Poverty results from problems in society that lead to a lack of opportunity and a lack of jobs. According to the second, structural explanation, which is a blaming-the-system approach, US poverty stems from problems in American society that lead to a lack of equal opportunity and a lack of jobs. These problems include (a) racial, ethnic, gender, and age discrimination; (b) lack of good schooling and adequate health care; and (c) structural changes in the American economic system, such as the departure of manufacturing companies from American cities in the 1980s and 1990s that led to the loss of thousands of jobs. These problems help create a vicious cycle of poverty in which children of the poor are often fated to end up in poverty or near poverty themselves as adults.
Class (wealth)
The total value of an individual or family, including income, stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets.
According to the World Bank, what is the concept of vulnerability to poverty and why is this important?
This refers to a significant probability that people who are not officially poor will become poor within the next year. It's important because it enables antipoverty strategies to be aimed at those most at risk for sliding into poverty, with the hope of preventing them from doing so.
Focus of symbolic interactionist work on poverty
Tries to understand stratification and thus poverty by looking at people's interactions and understandings in their daily lives. Unlike the functionalist and conflict views, it does not try to explain why we have stratification in the first place. Rather, it examines the differences that stratification makes for people's lifestyles and their interaction with other people.
Analysts use "______________ data" in order to provide a more accurate understanding of how many Americans face serious financial difficulties, even if they are not living in official poverty.
Twice Poverty
The majority of Americans can expect to experience poverty or near poverty at some point in their lives. "Episodic poverty" is defined by the Census Bureau as being poor for at least ____ consecutive months in some time period.
Two
Sociologists use the term social stratification to describe the system of social standing. Social stratification involves categorizing people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on certain factors. Identify four factors.
Wealth Income Education Power Race
Gender
Women are more likely than men to be poor. The high rate of female poverty is called the feminization of poverty
Child Mortality
3.5 percent of all children in these nations die before the age of 5. In a few African nations, child mortality exceeds 200 per 1,000. In contrast, the rate in wealthy nations is only 7 per 1,000. Children in poor nations are thus about 19 times more likely to die before age 5 than children in wealthy nations.
Class Consciousness
An awareness of their oppression and the true reasons for it.
Closed Societies
An individual has virtually no chance of moving up or down.
According to Karl Marx, the primary dimension of stratification in class systems was ___________
Economic
According to Sociologist Mark Rank, why does poverty affect us all?
First, the U.S, spends much more money than it needs to because of the consequences of poverty. Second, the majority of Americans can expect to be poor or near poor at some point in their lives.
Countries where a caste system officially existed.
India: supported by Hindu beliefs emphasizing the acceptance of one's fate in life by several major castes. The Harijan, or untouchables, was considered so low that technically it was not thought to be a caste at all. South Africa: Black people constituted more than three-quarters of the nation's population and thus greatly outnumbered Afrikaners, but they had the worst jobs, could not vote, and lived in poor, segregated neighborhoods. South in the United States: Segregated system called Jim Crow dominated the South, and even though African Americans had several rights, including the right to vote, granted to them by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, these rights were denied in practice. Lynching's were common for many decades, and the Southern police system bolstered white rule in the South.
How does poverty affect health attainment?
Infant mortality, earlier adulthood mortality, and mental illness, and they are also more likely to receive inadequate medical care. Poor children are more likely to have inadequate nutrition and, partly, for this reason, to suffer health, behavioral, and cognitive problems. These problems in turn impair their ability to do well in school and land stable employment as adults, helping to ensure that poverty will persist across generations. Poor health is a major consequence of poverty.
What are four problems with the functionalist theory according to some Sociologists?
It is difficult to compare the importance of many types of jobs. Implies that the most important jobs have the highest incomes and the least important jobs have the lowest incomes. Also implies that people move up the economic ladder based on their abilities, skills, knowledge, and, more generally, their merit. Might make sense up to a point, but it does not justify the extremes of wealth and poverty found in the United States and other nations.
What did the 1960s' war on poverty and the experience of other democracies make clear?
It is very possible to reduce poverty if, and only if, a nation is willing to fund and implement appropriate programs and policies that address the causes of poverty and that help the poor deal with the immediate and ongoing difficulties they experience.
_________ is National Poverty in America Awareness Month.
January
The "________ wage" is the amount of income that provides a decent standard of living.
Living
Sociologists use the term _______ __________ to describe the system of social standing.
Social Stratification
From a sociological perspective, what is poverty rooted in?
Social and economic problems of the larger society rather than the lack of willpower, laziness, or other moral failings of poor individuals themselves. Individuals born into poverty suffer from a lack of opportunity from their first months up through adulthood, and poverty becomes a self-perpetuating, vicious cycle. To the extent a culture of poverty might exist, it is best seen as a logical and perhaps even inevitable outcome of, and adaptation to, the problem of being poor and not the primary force driving poverty itself.
Region
Some states have higher poverty rates than other states, and some counties within a state are poorer than other counties within that state. A basic way of understanding geographical differences in poverty is to examine the poverty rates of the four major regions of the nation. South; poorest region West; 2nd poorest region Midwest; 3rd poorest region Northeast; 4th poorest region
Society's _______________ has significant consequences for its members' attitudes, behavior, and, perhaps most important of all, life chances—how well people do in such areas as education, income, and health.
Stratification
Functionalist Theory
Stratification is necessary to induce people with special intelligence, knowledge, and skills to enter the most important occupations. For this reason, stratification is necessary and inevitable. Assumes that the various structures and processes in society exist because they serve important functions for society's stability and continuity.
Assumptions of the functionalist view of stratification
Stratification is necessary to induce people with superior intelligence, knowledge, and skills to enter the most important occupations. For this reason, stratification is necessary and inevitable.
Assumptions of the conflict view of stratification
Stratification results from a lack of opportunity and from discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and people of color. It is neither necessary nor inevitable. All assume that stratification stems from a fundamental conflict between the needs and interests of the powerful, or "haves," in society and those of the weak, or "have-nots." The former take advantage of their position at the top of society to stay at the top, even if it means oppressing those at the bottom. At a minimum, they can heavily influence the law, the media, and other institutions in a way that maintains society's class structure. Attributes stratification and thus poverty to lack of opportunity from discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and people of color.
The "________________poverty measure" takes into account the many family expenses in addition to food. This includes geographic differences in the cost of living, tax credits received, the provision of food stamps, Social Security, Medicaid, and certain other kinds of government aid.
Supplemental
What does "vertical mobility" refer to?
The chances of rising up or falling down the stratification ladder.
Where are the poorest nations primarily located and how many people in those poorest nations live a desperate existence in the most miserable conditions possible?
The least industrialized and most agricultural of all the world's countries. They consist primarily of nations in Africa and parts of Asia and constitute roughly half of the world's population. Many of these nations rely heavily on one or two crops, and if weather conditions render a crop unproductive in a particular season, the nation's hungry become even hungrier. More than 1.4 billion people in poor nations live a desperate existence in the most miserable conditions possible.
Americans who identify as _______ are the least likely racial group to live below the poverty line.
Non-Hispanic White Americans
What is a caste system?
People are born into unequal groups based on their parents' status and remain in these groups for the rest of their lives.
A _________________ describes a form of government where political power and control over economic policies is exercised by the wealthy elite of that society; government by the wealthy.
Plutocracy
According to one scholar, "the high child-poverty rate stems from ________________, not economics."
Politics
In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King spoke out publicly against the Vietnam War. One major criticism was that the war was taking away resources for the 'war on poverty' here in the United States. King also described the 'triple evils" which are forms of violence that exist in a vicious cycle. What are the triple evils that are still with us today?
Poverty, Racism, and Militarism
According to sociologist ________ _________ , class systems of stratification are based on three dimensions of stratification: class (wealth), power, and prestige.
Max Weber
Slavery, the ownership of people, is the most closed system. Slavery (human trafficking) still exists in the world today. What are the four types of slaves today?
Men first taken as prisoners of war in ethnic conflicts Girls and women captured in wartime or kidnapped from their neighborhoods and used as prostitutes or sex slaves Children sold by their parents to become child laborers Workers paying off debts who are abused and even tortured and too terrified to leave
How does poverty affect housing and homelessness?
More likely to be homeless than the nonpoor but also more likely to live in dilapidated housing and be unable to buy their own homes. Many poor families spend more than half their income on rent, and they tend to live in poor neighborhoods that lack job opportunities, good schools, and other features of modern life that wealthier people take for granted. The lack of adequate housing for the poor remains a major national problem.
According to the functionalist view, in what ways does the existence of poverty serve certain positive functions for our society?
(1) poor people do the work that other people do not want to do; (2) the programs that help poor people provide a lot of jobs for the people employed by the programs; (3) the poor purchase goods, such as day-old bread and used clothing, that other people do not wish to purchase, and thus extend the economic value of these goods; and (4) the poor provide jobs for doctors, lawyers, teachers, and other professionals who may not be competent enough to be employed in positions catering to wealthier patients, clients, students, and so forth.
Identify nine measures that are commonly cited as holding strong potential for reducing poverty in the United States that are also found in varying degrees in other Western democracies.
1) Adopt a national "full employment" policy for the poor, involving federally funded job training and public works programs, and increase the minimum wage so that individuals working full-time will earn enough to lift their families out of poverty. 2) Increase federal aid for the working poor, including higher earned income credits and child-care subsidies for those with children. 3) Establish well-funded early childhood intervention programs for poor families, including home visitations by trained professionals. 4) Provide poor families with enough income to enable them to pay for food and housing. 5) Increase the supply of affordable housing. 6) Improve the schools that poor children attend and the schooling they receive and expand early childhood education programs for poor children. 7) Provide better nutrition and health services for poor families with young children. 8) Establish universal health insurance. 9) Increase Pell Grants and other financial aid for higher education.
Class System
A person is born into a social ranking but can move up or down from it much more easily than in caste systems or slave societies. By far the most open, meaning they have the most vertical mobility.
What is the official global poverty line, which is considered a measure of extreme poverty? A) $1.90 per day B) $3.20 per day C) $5.50 per day D) $21.70 per day
A) $1.90 per day
The federal minimum wage for tipped workers has been stuck at just $______ for 23 years! A) 2.13 B) 3.13 C) 4.13 D) 5.13
A) 2.13
Education is the best way to help ensure financial security in the United States. Which of the following has the highest chance of living in poverty? A) Adults without a high school diploma B) Adults with a high school diploma and no college C) Adults with some college D) Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher
A) Adults without a high school diploma
Wisconsin children of color are far more likely to live in poverty than White non-Hispanic residents. Which of the following racial groups has the highest poverty rate in Wisconsin at 42.4%? A) African American B) Asian Americans C) Latinx Americans D) Native Americans E) White non-Hispanic Americans
A) African American
Which of the following racial categories has the 2nd highest poverty rate? A) African Americans B) Asian Americans C) Latinx Americans D) Native Americans E) Non-Hispanic White Americans
A) African Americans
Which of the following racial groups has the highest child poverty rate? A) African Americans B) Asian Americans C) Latinx Americans D) Native Americans E) White non-Hispanic Americans
A) African Americans
Which of the following below explains that stratification results from the lack of opportunity and from discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and people of color. In this view, stratification is neither necessary nor inevitable. A) Conflict Theory B) Functionalist Theory C) Symbolic Interactionism
A) Conflict Theory
Which of the following theories of stratification draws on Karl Marx's view of class struggle? In this view, stratification and thus poverty result from a lack of opportunity because of discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and people of color. A) The Conflict View B) The Functionalist View C) The Symbolic Interactionist View
A) The Conflict View
Which of the following theories attributes the poverty of poor nations to their colonization by European nations, which exploited the poor nations' resources and either enslaved their populations or used them as cheap labor? A) The Dependency Theory B) The Modernization Theory
A) The Dependency Theory
Which of the following explanations for poverty follows logically from the functionalist view of stratification, meaning the poor have personal problems and deficiencies that are responsible for their poverty? A more sophisticated version of this type of explanation is called the culture of poverty theory. A) The Individualist Explanation B) The Structural Explanation
A) The Individualist Explanation
According to Martin Gilens (UCLA), the popular media image of the poor being mostly people of color is thought to reduce the public's sympathy for poor people and lead them to oppose increased government assistance for the poor. A) True B) False
A) True
According to Sociologist Mark Rank: "The fundamental causes of poverty are to be found in the economic structure and political policy failures, rather than individual shortcomings. A) True B) False
A) True
According to experts, social mobility is driven by several factors including a social class at birth, race, having parents who were married versus having parents who were never married, as well as one's level of education. A) True B) False
A) True
According to the structural explanation, US poverty stems from problems in American society such as discrimination, lack of good schooling and healthcare, as well as structural changes in the American economic system. Most sociologists favor this explanation for poverty. A) True B) False
A) True
American children are far more likely to live below the poverty line than adults. A) True B) False
A) True
American society is very stratified - it has a range of wealth from the extremely wealthy to the extremely poor. A) True B) False
A) True
Children in the U.S. experience higher poverty rates than most developed nations. A) True B) False
A) True
From a sociological perspective, poverty is rooted in social and economic problems of the larger society rather than in the lack of willpower, laziness, or other moral failings of poor individuals themselves. A) True B) False
A) True
In another study, the minimum wage would be $33 an hour if it grew at the same pace as Wall Street bonuses. A) True B) False
A) True
Millions of full-time, adult workers in the United States — many employed by Walmart, McDonald's, and other highly profitable corporations — are paid wages so low that they are forced to rely on public assistance to make ends meet. A) True B) False
A) True
Most sociologists define social class as a grouping based on similar social factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation. According to sociologists William Thompson and Joseph Hickey (2005), America's social class system consist of the following: upper class (1%), upper middle class (15%), lower middle class (32%), working class (32%), and the lower class (14-20%). One's social class largely determines one's future opportunities, quality of life and standard of living. A) True B) False
A) True
The official measure of poverty is defined as a family whose cash income is lower than 3x the cost of a very minimal diet. The official measure also takes into account inflation and the number of family members. This measure is out of date and no longer "corresponds to reality". A) True B) False
A) True
The typical minimum wage earner is adults, most of whom are women. A) True B) False
A) True
Those living in a two-parent household are far less likely than those in other living situations to live on poverty level incomes. A) True B) False
A) True
Two-thirds of low-wage workers report some form of "wage theft" every week! The workers affected by wage theft are predominantly women and people of color. A) True B) False
A) True
Which of the following groups are more likely than other Wisconsin residents to live in poverty? A) Under Age 18 B) Age 18 to Age 64 C) Age 65 and Older
A) Under Age 18
Modernization Theory
According to this theory, rich nations became wealthy because early on they were able to develop the "correct" beliefs, values, and practices—in short, the correct culture—for trade, industrialization, and rapid economic growth to occur. These cultural traits include a willingness to work hard, to abandon tradition in favor of new ways of thinking and doing things, and to adopt a future orientation rather than one focused on maintaining present conditions. It attributes the poverty of poor nations to their failure to develop the "proper" beliefs, values, and practices necessary for economic success both at the beginning of industrialization during the nineteenth century and in the two centuries that have since transpired. May be considered a functionalist explanation of global inequality.
What is the World Bank and what does it do?
An international institution funded by wealthy nations that provide loans, grants, and other aid to help poor and middle-income nations. Publishes its World Development Report, which provides statistics and other information on the economic and social well-being of the globe's almost two hundred nations.
What significant consequences does a society's stratification have for its members?
Attitudes, behavior, and life chances—how well people do in such areas as education, income, and health. Power and Privilege Classism
Government data on the poor show that poor people could really work if they wanted to. A) True B) False
B) False
Men are far more likely than women to live below the poverty line. A) True B) False
B) False
Socioeconomic mobility refers to the upward or downward movement of Americans from one social class or economic level to another, through job changes, inheritance, marriage, connections, etc. The United States ranks high in terms of social mobility. A) True B) False
B) False
The "war on poverty" during the 1960s had very little impact in reducing the poverty rate in the United States. A) True B) False
B) False
Unlike American society, the countries of the world are not very stratified between the extremes of very wealthy nations and very poor nations. A) True B) False
B) False
Which of the following below assumes that stratification is necessary in order to induce people with special intelligence, knowledge, and skills to enter the most important occupations. For this reason, stratification is inevitable and necessary for stability and continuity. A) Conflict Theory B) Functionalist Theory C) Symbolic Interactionism
B) Functionalist Theory
_____________ 17th is observed by the United Nations as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. A) September B) October C) November D) December
B) October
Which of the following theories attributes global stratification to "wrong cultural values and practices" in poor nations? In other words, it attributes the poverty of poor nations to their failure to develop the "proper beliefs, values, and practices" necessary for economic success. A) The Dependency Theory B) The Modernization Theory
B) The Modernization Theory
Which of the following has a greater poverty rate with respect to single-parent households? A) Those children living in a single-father household B) Those children living in a single-mother household
B) Those children living in a single-mother household
In 2017, Historian Rutger Bregman gave a TED Talk entitled: "Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash." What solution did he propose that would eliminate poverty?
Basic Income Guarantee Universal Basic Income
Colors of Poverty
Because there are so many non-Latino whites in the United States, the greatest number of poor people are non-Latino white, even if the percentage of whites who are poor is relatively low.
What is the current federal minimum wage? A) $5.25 an hour B) $6.25 an hour C) $7.25 an hour D) $8.25 an hour
C) $7.25 an hour
In the richest country in the world today, approximately __________ of America's children (18%) live in poverty! A) 7 million B) 9 million C) 11 million D) 13 million
C) 11 million
Which of the following below does not attempt to explain social stratification but focuses on how stratification affects people's beliefs, lifestyles, daily interactions, and conceptions of themselves? A) Conflict Theory B) Functionalist Theory C) Symbolic Interactionism
C) Symbolic Interactionism
Malnutrition
Caused by a lack of good food combined with infections and diseases such as diarrhea that sap the body of essential nutrients. About one-fifth of the population of poor nations, or about 800 million individuals, are malnourished; looking just at children, in developing nations more than one-fourth of children under age 5, or about 150 million altogether, are underweight. Half of these children live in only three nations: Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan; almost half the children in these and other South Asian nations are underweight. Children who are malnourished are at much greater risk for fat and muscle loss, brain damage, blindness, and death, child malnutrition contributes heavily to the extremely high rates of child mortality.
__________________ refers to the unearned access, resources, and social status systematically given to upper-echelon class individuals, at the expense of middle, working, and poor-class individuals.
Class Privilege
________________ describes the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests and desires between people of different classes.
Class Warfare (Class Struggle)
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is a powerful opponent against increased minimum wage and workplace protections like paid sick leave. What word describes systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper classes at the expense of the lower classes, resulting in drastic income and wealth inequality.
Classism
_____________ involves systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper classes, at the expense of the lower classes, resulting in drastic income and wealth inequality.
Classism
Dependency Theory
Considered a conflict explanation of global inequality. Not surprisingly, this theory's views sharply challenge the modernization theory's assumptions. Blames global stratification on the exploitation of these nations by wealthy nations. According to this view, poor nations never got the chance to pursue economic growth because early on they were conquered and colonized by European ones. The European nations stole the poor nations' resources and either enslaved their populations or used them as cheap labor. They installed their own governments and often prevented the local populace from getting a good education. As a result, the colonized nations were unable to develop a professional and business class that would have enabled them to enter the industrial age and otherwise develop their economies. Along the way, wealthy nations sold their own goods to colonized nations and forced them to run up an enormous debt that continues to amount today.
Poverty captures attention, triggers intrusive thoughts, and reduces cognitive resources. The more preoccupied one is with troubles, the less able one is to muster the "cognitive resources" necessary to rationally "guide choice and action." The difference in IQ between those living in poverty and those living above the poverty line can be as high as ___ points! A) 10 B) 11 C) 12 D) 13
D) 13
Adjusting the real value for inflation, the minimum wage of $1.60 in ________ was worth $11.65 today. A) 1965 B) 1966 C) 1967 D) 1968
D) 1968
According to a recent study (2012), if the minimum wage had kept pace with gains in the economy's productivity over the last 50 years, it would be nearly $____ an hour today, or more than $50,000 a year in annual income. A) 12 B) 18 C) 22 D) 26
D) 26
A family with an income below twice the official poverty level is called a "low-income family." Of the 72.4 million children in the U.S., almost 44% of those children, or some ______________ kids, live in low-income families. A) 18.5 million B) 24.5 million C) 28.5 million D) 32.5 million
D) 32.5 million
The Economic Policy Institute calculates that workers in the U.S. lose $_____ billion a year in unpaid wages. A) 20 B) 30 C) 40 D) 50
D) 50
In 2020, nearly _____ of Green Bay's student population of 21,000 was on "free or reduced lunch". A) 30% B) 40% C) 50% D) 60%
D) 60%
Which of the following states has the highest poverty rate at 19.6%? A) Florida B) Georgia C) Arkansas D) Mississippi
D) Mississippi
Which of the following U.S. Census Bureau racial categories has the highest poverty rate? A) African Americans B) Asian Americans C) Latinx Americans D) Native Americans E) Non-Hispanic White Americans
D) Native Americans
In which of the following geographic regions of the United States are people most likely to live below the poverty line (13.6%)? A) Northeast B) Midwest C) West D) South
D) South
The U.S. Census Bureau defines "_______ poverty" as living in a household with a total cash income below 50% of its poverty threshold.
Deep
Problems with the functionalist view?
Difficult to compare the importance of many types of jobs. The most important jobs have the highest incomes and the least important jobs have the lowest incomes, but that is not always the case. Assumes that people move up the economic ladder based on their abilities, skills, knowledge, and, more generally, their merit. This implies that if they do not move up the ladder, they lack the necessary merit. However, this view ignores the fact that much of our stratification stems from a lack of equal opportunity (Because of their race, ethnicity, gender, and class standing at birth, some people have less opportunity than others to acquire the skills and training they need to fill the types of jobs addressed by the functionalist approach). Does not justify the extremes of wealth and poverty found in the United States and other nations.
Explain what poverty and labor force participation data imply about the belief that many poor people lack the motivation to work.
Either working, unemployed but looking for work, or unable to work because of their age or health. Either working or unemployed but looking for work, too young or too old to work, disabled, or in the armed forces. It would thus be inaccurate to describe the vast majority of the poor as lazy and lacking the motivation to work.
Open Societies
Have more vertical mobility, as some people, and perhaps many people, can move up or even down.
In explaining stratification, conflict theory emphasizes __________ , or a set of ideas that justifies the status quo. This emphasis goes back to the work of Karl Marx, who said the ruling class shapes and even controls the ruling ideas of a society.
Ideology
Ideological beliefs bolster every system of stratification and domination. In class societies, these beliefs are complex and subtle but nonetheless influential. What are the implications of the belief that people born into poverty can lift themselves up by the bootstraps and become successful if they work hard enough?
If people remain poor, they are not trying hard enough or have other personal deficiencies keeping them in poverty. Prompts many Americans to take a blaming-the-victim approach by blaming poverty on laziness and other problems in the poor rather than on discrimination and the lack of opportunity in society. They are less likely to criticize the existing system of stratification.
False Consciousness
If the poor instead do not recognize their interests as a class that does not control the means of production.
Some countries have done their best to eliminate stratification by developing classless societies. In Europe, some countries have social democracies. How do these countries compare to the United States?
Less economic inequality than in the United States and other class systems but also with little or no political freedom. Governing elites in these societies enjoyed much more wealth, power, and prestige than the average citizen.
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy is highest in North America, Western Europe, and certain other regions of the world and lowest in Africa and South Asia, where life expectancy in many nations is some 30 years shorter than in other regions.
In 1968, Dr. MLK Jr. said: "It is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages. It is criminal to have people working on a full-time basis and a full-time job getting part-time income." He spoke these words in Memphis, Tennessee shortly before his assassination on April 4th, 1968. What was MLK Jr. doing in Memphis, Tennessee?
MLK Jr. was there to support black sanitation workers who went out on strike. Their motto: "I am a man."
Why does the United States neglect its poor?
Many citizens and politicians think the poor are poor because of their own failings. Failings include "not working hard enough, failure to acquire sufficient skills, or just making bad decisions." By thus blaming the poor for their fate, citizens and politicians think the poor do not deserve to have the US government help them, and so the government does not help, or at least not nearly as much as other democracies do.
Sanitation and Clean Water
Much greater risk for life-threatening diarrhea, serious infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid, and parasitic diseases such as schistosomiasis. Adequate sanitation is virtually universal in wealthy nations but is available to only 38 percent of people in poor nations. Clean water is also nearly universal in wealthy nations but is available to only 67 percent of people in poor nations.
In explaining stratification, conflict theory emphasizes ideology, or a set of ideas that justifies the status quo. Ideological beliefs bolster every system of stratification and domination. Today, ________________ is the dominant ideology that controls the political economy of the United States and many other countries as well.
Neoliberalism
To renew the US effort to help the poor, it is essential that the actual facts about poverty become better known so that a fundamental shift in thinking about poverty and the poor can occur. According to Mark Rank, what are the three aspects of this "paradigm shift" in thinking?
One aspect of this shift must include the recognition, that "poverty affects us all" because it costs so many tax dollars to help the poor and because a majority of the public can expect to be poor or near poor at some point in their lives. The second aspect of this shift in thinking, adds Rank, is the recognition (following a blaming-the-system approach) that poverty stems much more from the lack of opportunity, lack of jobs, declining government help for the poor, and other structural failings of American society than from individual failings of the poor themselves. The third aspect of this shift in thinking, he concludes, is that poverty must become seen as a "moral problem" and as "an injustice of a substantial magnitude."
How do explanations of global poverty parallel those of explaining poverty in the United States?
One type of explanation takes an individualistic approach by, in effect, blaming the people in the poorest nations for their own poverty, while a second explanation takes a structural approach in blaming the plight of poor nations on their treatment by the richest ones.
The word ________________ describes an economy with significant income and wealth inequality as well as an economy that is significantly influenced by the very wealthy.
Plutonomy
According to sociologist Joe Soss, what else is needed for a renewed antipoverty effort to occur in the United States?
Political protest and other political activity by the poor and on behalf of the poor.
How does poverty affect crime and victimization?
Poor (and near poor) people account for the bulk of our street crime (homicide, robbery, burglary, etc.), and they also account for the bulk of victims of street crime. The deep frustration and stress of living in poverty and the fact that many poor people live in high-crime neighborhoods. In such neighborhoods, children are more likely to grow up under the influence of older peers who are already in gangs or otherwise committing crimes, and people of any age are more likely to become crime victims. Moreover, because poor and near-poor people are more likely to commit street crimes, they also comprise most of the people arrested for street crimes, convicted of street crimes, and imprisoned for street crimes.
Later, Dr. MLK Jr. King also called for a "_____________ campaign" to confront nationwide inequalities in jobs, pay and housing.
Poor People's
How does poverty affect education attainment?
Poverty has certain neural effects on poor children that impair their cognitive abilities and thus their behavior and learning potential. Poor children are more likely to be poor when they become adults, and they are at greater risk for antisocial behavior when young, and for unemployment, criminal behavior, and other problems when they reach adolescence and young adulthood. Poor children typically go to rundown schools with inadequate facilities where they receive inadequate schooling. They are much less likely than wealthier children to graduate from high school or to go to college. Their lack of education in turn restricts them and their own children to poverty, once again helping to ensure a vicious cycle of continuing poverty across generations. Scholars debate whether the poor school performance of poor children stems more from the inadequacy of their schools and schooling versus their own poverty. Regardless of exactly why poor children are more likely to do poorly in school and to have low educational attainment, these educational problems are another major consequence of poverty.
Growing up poor has wide-ranging and long-lasting repercussions. What are some of those repercussions?
Poverty impedes cognitive function. Poverty elevates a child's risk of experiencing behavioral, social and emotional challenges. Child poverty reduces skill-building opportunities and academic outcomes, undercutting a young student's capacity to learn. Child poverty can contribute to poor physical and mental health. Poor children are more likely to be teenaged parents. Poor children are less likely to graduate from High School. Poor children are more likely to remain poor as adults.
The measure of official poverty is called the "______________."
Poverty line/poverty threshold
How is family structure related to the poverty rate?
Poverty rates are higher in families with one adult than in those with two adults (because they often are bringing in two incomes), and, in one-adult families, they are higher in families headed by a woman than in those headed by a man (because women generally have lower incomes than men). Children living just with their mothers are at particularly great risk of living in poverty.
"________________" can be defined as the ability to direct and influence behavior, events, and allocation of resources.
Power
What data supports the view that race and ethnicity affect the chances of being poor?
Race and ethnicity affect the chances of being poor. African Americans and Latinos are almost three times as likely as non-Latino whites to be poor.
Social Stratification
Refers to a society's categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power.
Symbolic Interactionalism
Stratification affects people's beliefs, lifestyles, daily interactions, and conceptions of themselves. Consistent with its micro orientation, symbolic interactionism tries to understand stratification by looking at people's interaction and understandings in their daily lives. Unlike the functionalist and conflict views, it does not try to explain why we have stratification in the first place. Rather, it examines the differences that stratification makes for people's lifestyles and their interaction with other people.
Conflict Theory
Stratification results from lack of opportunity and from discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and people of color. It is neither necessary nor inevitable. Draws on Karl Marx's view of class societies and incorporates the critique of the functionalist view just discussed.
What are the two reasons why the poverty rate in the U.S. never went lower than 11.1%, which was the poverty rate in 1973?
The United States retreated from its war on poverty by cutting back on the programs and services it had provided during that good war. Another major reason is that changes in the national economy during the past few decades have meant that well-paying manufacturing jobs have been replaced by low-paying service jobs with fewer benefits.
Power
The ability to influence others to do your bidding, even if they do not want to.
What is conspicuous consumption?
The acquisition and display by the wealthy of lavish products that show off their wealth.
Individualistic
The first type of explanation follows logically from the functional theory of stratification and may be considered an individualistic explanation. Poverty results from the fact that poor people lack the motivation to work and have certain beliefs and values that contribute to their poverty. A blaming-the-victim approach. Critics say this explanation ignores discrimination and other problems in American society and exaggerates the degree to which the poor and nonpoor do in fact hold different values. The poor have personal problems and deficiencies that are responsible for their poverty. In the past, the poor were thought to be biologically inferior, a view that has not entirely faded, but today the much more common belief is that they lack the ambition and motivation to work hard and to achieve success.
The racial and/or ethnic differences in the poverty rate.
The most typical poor person is white (non-Latino).
Adult Literacy
The percentage of people 15 and older who can read and write a simple sentence. In poor nations, only about 69 percent of adults 15 and older can read and write a simple sentence. The high rate of illiteracy in poor nations not only reflects their poverty but also contributes to it, as people who cannot read and write are obviously at a huge disadvantage in the labor market.
Family Problems associated with poverty
The poor are at greater risk for family problems, including divorce and domestic violence. A major reason for many of the problems families experience is stress. Even in families that are not poor, running a household can cause stress, children can cause stress, and paying the bills can cause stress. Families that are poor have more stress because of their poverty, and the ordinary stresses of family life become even more intense in poor families. The various kinds of family problems thus happen more commonly in poor families than in wealthier families. Compounding this situation, when these problems occur, poor families have fewer resources than wealthier families to deal with these problems. Children growing up in poverty experience multiple stressful events: neighborhood crime and drug use; divorce, parental conflict, and other family problems, including abuse and neglect by their parents; parental financial problems and unemployment; physical and mental health problems of one or more family members; and so forth. Their great levels of stress in turn affect their bodies in certain harmful ways.
Identify some specific dimensions and consequences of global poverty.
They suffer from AIDS and other deadly diseases, live on the edge of starvation, and lack indoor plumbing, electricity, and other modern conveniences. Many children die before reaching adolescence, and many adults die before reaching what in the richest nations would be considered middle age. Many people in the poorest nations are illiterate, and a college education remains as foreign to them as their way of life would be to us.
__________ ___________ provided one of the most insightful analyses of stratification that fits into a symbolic interactionist framework.
Thorstein Veblin
According to the World Bank, what is the official global poverty line, which is considered a measure of extreme poverty?
Under $1.25 per person per day
The global distribution of income resembles a champagne glass. What popular classification system or typology is used today for global stratification?
Wealthy (high-income) nations Middle-income nations Poor (low-income) nations
Assumptions of Modernization Theory
Wealthy nations became wealthy because early on they were able to develop the necessary beliefs, values, and practices for trade, industrialization, and rapid economic growth to occur. Poor nations remained poor because they failed to develop these beliefs, values, and practices; instead, they continued to follow traditional beliefs and practices that stymied industrial development and modernization.
The "_______________" are people who spend 27 weeks or more in a year in the labor force either working or looking for work but whose incomes fall below the poverty level.
Working Poor
How would the popular board game Monopoly be if it actually reflected the real world?
Would begin with very different amounts, because in real life some people are richer than others, and some are much poorer. In fact, reflecting the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States, one player, the richest, would begin with $6,352 of the $7,500 distributed to the five players combined. The next richest player would have $848. The third player would start with $285, while the next would have $52. The fifth and poorest player would actually begin $38 in debt!
