SOWK 300 Final Exam

Absolute Poverty: advantages & disadvantages

*A base standard of what is necessary for survival; those who fall below this standard are considered poor* *Advantages*: - Money is essential in a wage economy - Income is easy to measure - Trends are easy to interpret *Disadvantages*: - Doesn't reflect in-kind benefits received - Doesn't always factor in differences in living standards

Absolute poverty vs relative poverty

*Absolute poverty:* a base standard of what is necessary for survival; those who fall below this standard are considered poor *Relative poverty:* deprivation that is relative to the standard of living enjoyed by other members of society

Relative Poverty: advantages & disadvantages

*Deprivation that is relative to the standard of living enjoyed by other members of society* *Advantages*: - Reflects that individuals live in a context *Disadvantages*: - Poverty can 'increase' when times are getting better - Poverty can 'decrease' when times are getting worse

Indoor relief vs. outdoor relief

*Outdoor* = at home Cash or in-kind assistance given to persons in need, allowing them to remain in their own homes *Indoor* = institutions Assistance given to the poor and the needy through placement in institutions, such as poor-houses, orphanages, and prisons.

Poverty index vs. poverty threshold

*Poverty Index*: Relative Poverty - concentrates on the deprivation in the three essential elements of human life already reflected in the HDI: longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. *Poverty Threshold*: Absolute Poverty -the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country

Public Assistance vs. Social Insurance

*Social Insurance* - Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment Compensation - Mostly administered by the Federal Government - Entitlement Programs - Not need-based *Public Assistance* - Means-tested SSI, TANF, Medicaid - Mostly administered by the States - Varying eligibility and benefit rules - Need-based programs

Why some people say welfare reform of 1996 failed? ** Possible essay question

*Success:* - The number of people on welfare declined from 12.5 million to 7.3 million. - Employment increased - Poverty rate dropped *Failure*: - Welfare reform left poor women out in the cold (There was a marked increase in demand for emergency services such as food and shelter.) - The racial composition of the welfare rolls changed: For the first time, African Americans were the majority of welfare recipients. (The myth about welfare became reality.) - In 1992, $23 billion was spent on welfare, yet smaller proportions of children in poverty were receiving benefits - Welfare benefits lagged behind standard of need - Welfare and food stamps combined did not raise income above poverty line - Welfare did not encourage work

Yates Report

*Three Recommendations:* 1. No able bodied person between the ages of 18 to 50 be given public assistance 2. For the old, the young, and disabled, institutional relief be supplied 3. The county, rather than the town, become the administrative unit. *2 significant trends:* 1. The transfer of responsibilities for public assistance from towns to counties 2. General trend towards indoor relief

Why health care cost is so high?

- Administrative Costs (cost of running the healthcare system)

Presidents & social welfare policy: *Nixon & Raegan*

- Budget cuts, conservatism Nixon only: - Enacted EITC (earned income tax credit): a refundable tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples, particularly those with children. Raegan only: - Conservatism & Privatization - Reaganomics- supply-side economics. (less government spending to promote private investment.)

1970s ~ 1980s: Nixon & Raegan

- Conservative Ideology - Retreat from the welfare state and conservatism

Presidents & social welfare policy: *Johnson*

- Expansion of social welfare programs - War on poverty - Greater society - Head Start program

Current problems with health care in the USA **Possible essay question

- Expensive

Key features of PRWORA?

- Family Cap - Workfare - Time Limit - Block Grant Program - Increased funding for child care, from 11.5 billion to 14 billion. - Immigrants: Initially, even legal immigrants were barred from receipt of benefits. - Prohibiting those convicted of drug-related felonies from receiving welfare - Teens should live with guardians

Current problems of social security

- Funding issues (By 2041, trust funds will be exhausted) - Increases in life expectancy - Declining fertility (fewer workers to pay in)

Institutionalization

- Main social welfare institution during colonial to pre-Civil War years: Poor houses - Reliance on institutions to solve the problems Orphanages, mental hospitals, almshouses

Problems with the poverty line

- Need to adjust for changes in standard of living - Need to adjust for regional differences (both between states and urban vs. rural) - Does not take in value or cost of health care - Ignores the cost of working - Ignores tax payments

Social Security Act

- Public Assistance vs. Social Insurance - Key features of each program - Current problems of social security

Presidents & social welfare policy: *Clinton*

- Welfare reform and PRWORA

1950's & 1960's: Johnson

- Welfare state continued to expand during the 50s and 60s - Economic growth; more generous attitudes toward the poor - Postwar institutionalization of welfare state improved the standard of living and democratic rights of women, labor, and people of color

PRWORA

- in 1996, reformed welfare system; shifted from federal to states; recipients had to find work in 2 years; assistance for only 5 years; cut assistance programs for poor - Official name of the welfare reform - Less emphasis on trainings - More emphasis on short-term job search assistance

Presidents & social welfare policy: *Carter*

- proposed Better Jobs & Income Program (BJIP) (not enacted)

War on drug effective? ** Possible essay question

- punishment & incarceration - We conclude that prohibition is not only ineffective, but counterproductive, at achieving the goals of policymakers both domestically and abroad. Given the insights from economics and the available data, we find that the domestic War on Drugs has contributed to an increase in drug overdoses and fostered and sustained the creation of powerful drug cartels.

Key features of Social Security Act

1. *Social Insurance* - OASI (past) & OASDI (present) - Social security Dilemma today 2. *Public Assistance * - OAA, AD, & ADC Public Assistance: reform and dilemma

Principles of Elizabethan Poor Law

1. Compare... key principles of the current welfare policy... 2. Classification of the poor 3. Local government responsibility for the poor. 4. Family responsibility: Family (the extended family) as the primary unit of support, but no cognizance of the family as a social entity to be helped.

3 major health care programs

1. Medicare 2. Medicaid 3. CHIP Program (Children's Health Insurance Program)

Official poverty rate in 2017

12.3%

What year was Elizabethan Poor Law was enacted in?

1601

What year was Social Security Act was passed in?

1935

What year was Medicaid was enacted?

1965

What year was PRWORA was passed in?

1996

Poverty line: 1 person? 4 people?

1: $12,488 4: $25,094

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) replaced which former income maintenance program?

Aid for Dependant Children (AFDC) (1935) ADC -> AFDC -> TANF (1996)

The Social Security Act of 1935 is significant in the history of social welfare because it A. Required businesses to fund the program through taxes B. Extended federal responsibility for social welfare which reflected public commitment C. Provided federal jobs for men and women who were unemployed during the depression

B. Extended federal responsibility for social welfare which reflected public commitment

The highest cost of unemployment in the 70's and 80's led to a shift in public welfare programs to A. A growth in the faith of collective action to address society's problems B. An institutional approach and more generous programs C. A return of the residual approach to the problems of the poor D. A push to return to traditional families and a backlash on working mothers

C. A return of the residual approach to the problems of the poor

The primary underlying principle from the English Poor Laws (1601) which is evident in the development of American welfare policies is: A. The value we place on children and woman B. Volunteerism is the best means for providing for the poor C. Its emphasis on work and workforce participation

C. Its emphasis on work and workforce participation

The purpose of the Charity Organization Societies (COS) was to ____________, while that if the Settlement House movement (SHM) was to ___________: A. Collect charitable donations while living with the poor; build affordable housing for the poor with the help of private industry B. Run for public office and engage in social advocacy; function as one-stop organization for free legal advice and medical care C. Provide social treatment via friendly visitors; effect social reform while living amongst the poor

C. Provide social treatment via friendly visitors; effect social reform while living amongst the poor

*1930s:* The major philosophical change in the American public during the depression was A. That poor people resulted from laziness and having no work ethic B. A belief that limiting government interventions would stimulate the economy C. That one could be poor as a result of malfunctioning society D. The need for the United States to ask for help from other countries

C. That one could be poor as a result of malfunctioning society

Presidents & social welfare policy: *Bush*

Faith-based organization

Medicaid is a public assistance program *T/F*

False

The Raegan administration's drug policy emphasized treatment and public education *T/F*

False

1965 Immigration Act

Formalized the new criteria for entry into the United States. Race, national origin, and ancestry quotas were replaced by admission standards of family relationship, occupation, and skill

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964

Head start (preschool program for disadvantaged children), financial assistance through loans, grants, and work study were established with this

GI Bill

Help veterans through education, training, loans for purchase of a home, business, farm

Civil Rights Act

Introduced by LBJ, the first significant legislation that prohibits racial, sexual, and ethnic discrimination in employment

SHM (Settlement House Movement)

Jane Addams - *Effect social reform while living amongst the poor* - *Social Policy: macro level* - Social group work as a major methodological approach - Helping the poor through recreational and educational activities. - With an aim of civilizing industrial society by popularizing art and developing the creative instinct. - Populist/socialist movement - Emphasized environment as the cause - All poor viewed alike - Stressed poverty - Client defined need/ program

PRWORA: *Block Grant program*

Many requirements are mandated by state regulations

COS (Charity Organization Society)

Mary Richmond - *Micro Level: focus on individual* - *Casework* became a major social work methodology - *Provide social treatment via friendly visitors - Influenced by Freud's psychological theories. - Emphasized individual and family responsibility for socioeconomic problems (personality reform). - Darwinism - Individual & moral causes emphasized - Distinguished types of the needy - Stressed dependency - Agency defined need/program - Deserving poor

The National Mental Health Act of 1946

Provided new funding for research and training programs, as well as the establishment of community mental health services

Elizabethan Poor Law: *Old Poor Law*

Publicly provided, locally financed. -> government told locals how to deal with their poverty problem, but left them to pay the bill.

Deserving poor vs. undeserving poor

The *'deserving'* are those in need who are unable to work because they are too old, disabled, or too sick. ex: children The *'undeserving'* are people who don't want to work and often it is assumed that all able-bodied unemployed people fit into that category.

Elizabethan Poor Law (old poor law, English Poor Law)

The establishment of the parish as the administrative unit responsible for poor relief. - Indoor relief vs. outdoor relief - Deserving poor vs. undeserving poor - Principles of Elizabethan Poor Law

Disadvantages of privitization

The provision of federal funding of services to private for-profit agencies to save money through competition - Not cost effective - Small # of wealthy can shape social policy to maximize their interest

Welfare reform in the 1990s allowed welfare mothers to lose their benefits if they did not work *T/F*

True

PRWORA: *Workfare*

Welfare mothers to lose their benefits if they dont work

PRWORA: *Family Cap*

Welfare reform that stated if a family on welfare had another child their payment would be the same as before the child was born

PRWORA: *Time limit*

Whether or not they found work, after 24 moths their TANNF grants ended for them and their children States could readmit clients after a time they set, but recipients could only receive grants for a maximum of 5 years

Elizabethan Poor Law: *English Poor Laws*

Workhouses provided shelter and employment for the able bodied poor.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 changed federal funding for each cash assistance to poor families to? A. an entitlement program B. a social insurance program c. a block grant program d. a public assistance program

c. a block grant program The term "block grant" refers to grant programs that provide federal assistance for broadly defined functions, such as community development or social services.

Institutional relief: poorhouses & workhouses

indoor relief

Aid provided in a private home during the American Colonial era was called ________________

outdoor relief

Medicaid is a ______ assistance program

public

An ideoloigcal issue regarding health care is whethe access should be a _____ or a _____

right; privilege

How to measure poverty

the average US household spends about one-third of its taxable income on food

The group least likely to have insurance by age?

unemployed young adults (18-24)