UW-Madison: Social Work 206 Final Exam (Curtis)

Medicaid: Who is eligible? How?

(ENTITLEMENT) Income Tested: All adults with incomes at or below 138% of the federal poverty level

Discrimination in Education

*Racial/ Class Discrimination* -Although there are problems with how we measure access/quality of education there is consensus that schools that serve students of color lacked: Sufficient academic facilities Textbooks Extra-curricular activities Highly qualified (certified) teachers teachers with lower achievement test scores, education and experience compared to teacher in predominately white schools -Higher student/teacher ratios So - these studies are about different quality of education -Poor individuals, regardless of race, receive substandard educational opportunities and educational resources

Medicare tax

- 2.9% split btw employer and employee - no wage cap

Property taxes

- Among homeowners, could be thought of as proportional - Property taxes are also used to support the county and school district operations

Tax credits

- Change the amount owed and can result in payments back to the individual greater than the amount owed - progressive in nature - REDUCES YOUR TOTAL TAX - subtracted from pre-tax income - entitles the taxpayer to subtract the amount of credit (dollar-for-dollar) from the total federal income tax bill

Sales & Sin taxes

- The idea that the price of a pack of cigarettes should account for second-hand smoke and the impact of cigarette smoking on the health and enjoyment of others - can be thought of as regressive - lower income persons pay a higher % of their income than higher income persons to purchase things

regressive tax structure

- high-income taxpayers pay a smaller percentage of their income than do low-income taxpayers (unfair) - Everyone is taxed at the same percentage up to a wage cap, more of an effect on lower income Example: payroll taxes; sales tax; social security tax

proportional tax structure

- tax is the same through all income levels (Efficiency) - usually called a FLAT TAX -Example: sin tax; medicare tax

Problem definition

- the problem definition is the very core of power - What "the problem is" conditions all that happens after - The power to decide "what a problem is" and getting it "on the agenda" is, generally, unequally distributed - Much of the core essence of protest movements is around problem definition - Successfully defining conditions as problems (smog, learning, disabilities, global warming, etc.) is perhaps the most important step in policy change - Problems are inherently political because they are not simply out there waiting to be solved; they must be formulated and defined, using political skill to mobilize support for the desired position

Protest

- we need protest movements to challenge problem definitions - In current times, protest movements have been responsive conditions "on the ground" in everyday life for many Americans - Is it impossible to think about protest movements outside of context of symbols and history - It is impossible to understand why regular citizens would leave their everyday lives to go to meetings, protest public hearings, gather in groups under the threat of violence -Charlottesville, seemed, in my estimation, to represent a movement of national change

(SNAP): Who is eligible, How?

-(ENTITLEMENT) -Abled Bodied Adult without Dependents (ABAWD) work requirements: If not working at least 20 hrs a week - 3 months of SNAP in a 3 year period - May have $2,000 in countable resources

Discrimination in the Labor Market

-Controlling for both the quantity and quality of Education black workers earn about 90% of their white counterparts -Schiller suggests: Some whites gain when shielded from minority competition via higher wages than they would otherwise command. Employers who hire minority workers gain by getting "higher quality" labor at a reduced costs -Whites in occupations that hire minorities lose via increased competition from minority workers, holding wages down. -A society with widespread discrimination can expect a net loss of potential human capital. *If there were not racial discrimination in the labor market then blacks, Hispanics and whites with equal education should command equal incomes*

(SSI): Who is Eligible? How?

-Disabled Adults and Children -Adults 65 & Older (Means Tested)

Gardener's Tale: (Class 20)

-Dr. Jones provides an interesting allegory "The Gardener's Tale" to help us think about the different types of racism in the context of health disparities. -Rich soil, bad soil...seeds...prefer red seed over pink. Puts red in good soil, pink in bad. Red flour flourish and weak seed die. Gardner says she was right to prefer red over pink. inst racism: soil, boxes keep soil separate personalized: plucks pink internalized : pink struggles and red flourishes and pink see a bee doesn't want pink pollen wants red... Gardener is government Must focus on institutionalized racism to fix garden

Dissimilarity Index

-Measures the relative separation or integration of groups across all neighborhoods of a city or metropolitan area. If a city's white-black dissimilarity index were 65, that would mean that 65% of white people would need to move to another neighborhood to make whites and blacks evenly distributed across all neighborhoods.

Earner-carer paradigm

-The caregiving responsibility falls primarily on women, even though there are universal programs to help elderly, they usually need more than what is offered. No universal programs for children. Even when women do earn more than men, the household responsibility largely falls on them, systems do not support male caregivers either. Effect of shifting children to public goods? -Female caregivers may spend as much as 50% more time providing care than their male caregiver counterparts. -Time out of the workplace for caregiving impact women's retirement income fewer contributions to pensions, Social Security and retirement savings -even when women out earn their husbands they still do a disproportionate share of childcare, household labor, and caregiving

progressive tax structure

-high-income individuals are paying a larger portion of their income (more fair) Examples: federal income tax

Family Policies

-implemented because of the demographic changes in female and male employment. Influence decisions made about work, child care, etc. Effects of Children spending time in other care. -FMLA (National law - Family and Medical Leave Act): Unpaid parental leave (up to 12 weeks) 60% workers are covered by this, must be employed for 12 months, and work more than 25hours a week, and small business are exempt. -ECEC: helps parents pay for no parental care and education for children by subsidizing care, providing care directly through public programs, tax deductions/credits etc. -Flexible working schedule: fairly common, lower income workers less likely to have access to this. Flexible work policies common in Europe (video).

non refundable tax credit

-is subtracted from your income tax liability, up to the total amount you owe -cannot reduce your tax balance beyond zero

Affordable Care Act

-prohibit private health insurance exclusions for preexisting conditions -change role of public programs and improving quality and efficiency of care -improving access to innovative medical therapies

Tax deductions

-subtracted from adjusted gross income before federal income taxes are calculated -benefits higher income taxpayers than lower income - can result in refunds of taxes paid, reduces your gross income, tend to favor those with higher incomes - example of tax expenditures - REDUCES YOUR GROSS INCOME

refundable tax credit

-subtracted from the amount of taxes you owe (after deductions) similar to the way the tax withheld from your paycheck is subtracted from your total yearly tax liability

tax structures

1. regressive 2. proportional 3. progressive

Gilded Age

1865-1893 period of rapid growth large industries developing monopolies scandals, politicians and industry extreme wealth for some marked poverty and hardship for many often described as the birth of modern capitalism laissez faire economic policy

Great Society

1964, LBJ's policies of fighting poverty and racial injustice

Hate Crimes Law

1969, allowed federal prosecution of a hate crime only if the crime was motivated by race, religion, national origin, or color, applicable only if assailant intended to prevent the victim from a federally protected right

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act

2007, made it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee based on sexual orientation or gender identity, does not apply to military or small businesses, did not pass

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA)

2009, extends federal hate crime laws to include crimes that target a victim based on his/her perceived or actual gender, sexual orientation, identity, or disability

Getting on the agenda

3 most common ways to get on the legislative agenda: 1) Changes in official indicators (poverty, mortality, infectious diseases, program costs, etc. ) that catch official attention 2) A focusing event like a disaster, personal experience, crisis or symbol 3) The most effective way to get a problem on the agenda is to have an incoming president seize and articulate the problem as necessary to address

Problem Defined

A condition becomes a problem when recognized by a significant number of people or a number of significant people. Vexing conditions can remain and persist but never become defined as a problem.

Homestead Act

A homesteader had to be the head of a household and at least 21 years of age to claim a 160 acre parcel of land. Settlers from all walks of life including -newly arrived immigrants -farmers without land of their own from the east were eligible Each homesteader had to -live on the land -build a home -make improvements and farm for 5 years before they were eligible to "prove up". -A total filing fee of $18 was required -30 states had land available for homesteading

Tax expenditures

A loss of tax revenue because some item is excluded from the tax base Can also take the form of: credits, deductions, preferential rates, and deferral of tax liability

Welfare Reform: AFDC vs. TANF

AFDC - Cash to Families: Modified state by state (eligibility/benefit levels) - Low levels of cash assistance: Below Poverty - Entitlement - Automatic eligibility for Medicaid and other "in-kind" benefits - Modest Work requirements - Modest Work Supports vs. TANF - Time limited benefits - Responsibility transferred from Feds to States - CAPPED State Block Grant (NOT ENTITLEMENT) -Strict Work Requirements

Means-tested Programs

Benefits are dependent on income, assets, or a combination of both.

Non-means-tested Programs

Benefits are dependent on something other than income or assests

Near Cash Benefit

Benefits to spend as you please with some limitations (such as food stamps)

(TANF): How is it funded?

Block Grant

(GA): Funded

By state, under their own guidelines

Absolute Poverty Measure (APM)

Calculated based on assumptions of costs for purchasing bundle of good considered "necessary"

Disadvantages of RPM

Can never "end" poverty No sense of need

(EITC): What benefits are provided?

Cash

(OASDI) Benefits

Cash

(TANF): What benefits are provided?

Cash

(UI) Benefits

Cash

(SSI): Benefits

Cash (Adjusted annually to reflect cost of living)

(GA): Benefits

Cash, In-Kind in some places ( State funds/not available every state)

Radical (Political Ideology)

Cause of social problems: Environmental factors generated by "monied" interests Human nature: Pessimistic about "monied" interests Economic system: Capitalism exploitative and inherently unfair Role of social welfare: First-line institution but caution about control by elites Safety net: Very generous; income disconnected from ability/effort

Liberal (Political Ideology)

Cause of social problems: Environmental x personal factors Human nature: Optimistic about poor, less optimistic about rich Economic system: Needs regulation to ensure fairness Role of social welfare: First-line institution, very few can function without some supports Safety net: Relatively generous

Conservative (Political Ideology)

Cause of social problems: Personal and cultural factors Human nature: Optimistic about rich, less optimistic about poor Economic system: Inherently fair Role of social welfare: Residual, limited governmental role (what about social conservatives?) Safety net: Relatively meager

Agenda Setting

Changes in Indicators over a large magnitude ( Poverty rates in sub-groups, marriage rates, birth rates, high school rates, rates of disease infection, costs of assistance programs) Focusing Event (Disaster, Personal Experience, Crisis, Symbol) MOST EFFECTIVE: Incoming President seizes and articulates problem as necessary to address

S-CHIP: Problem

Children without Health Insurance

Block Grants

Confers monies to the state from the federal government State has discretion, under certain broadly stated federal goals, in the dissemination of these funds

Civil Unions

Couples receive legal protections and rights under state law only, there is variation among states

Marxism: What is the understanding of poverty?

De-commodification of labor Bourgeois reforms will enhance the position of the workers

Discretionary Spending Key Programs

Defense: Military Non-Defense: Education, WIC, science, low-income housing assistance

Concerns with OPM

Doesn't measure the depth of economic need Doesn't reflect modern expenses and resources Doesn't vary by geographic differences in cost of living Not adjusted for changes in the standard of living over time Modern families do not reflect OPM's strict definition of family (foster children, cohabiters, unmarried with children from previous marriages)

Medicare: Who is eligible? How?

ENTITLEMENT pays for health care people 65 or > pays for health care for people <65 with certain disabilities people of all ages with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant).

Phrenology

Early pseudo science based on skull shapes intended to show that Anglo-Saxons were innately superior to "others" Used as justification of slavery, expansion of colonists, seizing of lands, breaking of treaties with Native Americans, reactions to massive immigration

What does EITC stand for?

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Advantages of APM

Easy to measure Easy to see trends

Defined Contribution

Employer, employee, or both contribute to an account on a regular basis Usually an employee contributes a predetermined portion of their earnings and all or part of this contribution is matched by the employer returns are based on how the $ is invested and how the market does, so the employee bears the risk

Universal Programs

Everyone gets the benefits, may be means-tested or non-means tested (SNAP, Public education, Public libraries)

(OASDI) Who is eligible? How?

Everyone over 65 Not means tested

(TANF): Who is eligible? How?

Families with Children -Must work w/in 24 hrs of getting benefits -Must work at least 30 hrs/week 50% of welfare caseload in 1995 must meet these criteria (NOT ENTITLEMENT)

(OASDI) Administered

Federal

(SNAP) Funded

Federal

Medicare: Administered

Federal

(SSI): Administered

Federally

(EITC): How is it administered?

Federally (IRS)

What does GA stand for?

General Assistance

(SSI): How is it funded?

General Revenues

(UI) Problem

Getting layed off because the company people are working for can't afford to support their workers

In-Kind Benefit

Goods or services

Classical Malthusian Melancholy: Political philosophy

Government has no role in poverty intervention; free market system works appropriately

Purpose of tax expenditures

Government uses them to incent certain behavior such as home-buying and investing, and to support certain industries such as agriculture and energy

(GA): Problem

Groups that do not fit into either TANF or SSI aka "non-deserving poor"

Medicaid: Problem

Health Risks of Low-Income Adults without Health Insurance

Medicare: Problem

Health risks of elderly people, disabled, end stage renal disease people

Entitlement

If you're eligible you'll get it regardless - Legal right

Medicaid: Benefits

In-Kind

Medicare: Benefit

In-Kind

Classical Liberalism: Political philosophy

Limited government, laissez faire; merchants should not enlist government to give them more power National defense, justice, public works that entrepreneurs cannot undertake profitably Political ideology: conservative

Great Depression

Major, severe suffering: Very high unemployment (-30%), drop in GDP, price deflation, bank foreclosures, loss of family farms President Roosevelt (elected in 1932) was willing to try new policies and eschew laissez-faire economic to deal with the marked hardship, in doing so he set a new precedent for Presidents as policy initiators Called into question the viability of the market based system and acceptability of boom & bust economic cycles Resulted in New Deal

Monetary policy

Managing the economy by altering the supply of money and interest rates (Done by central bank, currency board, or other regulatory committee)

(EITC): Who is eligible? How?

Means tested Working people with low to moderate income

Medicare: Funded

Medicare's two trust funds: Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund (pays for Part A benefits) Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund (pays for part B and Part D benefits) expected to remain solvent until 2019

Cash Benefit

Money to spend as you wish

Categorical Programs

Must fall into a certain category to receive benefits. (TANF, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security Insurance)

(SNAP): Benefits

Near Cash

The U.S. Health Care System

No guaranteed coverage for all citizens State variation in coverage Gaps in coverage (over time and across groups) Huge spending, mediocre health outcomes Many Americans receive subsidized healthcare through employers. Firms that offer insurance as a part of their compensation package. Firms deduct the costs of health insurance on their taxes. This is reflected in the tax expenditure budget. In 2010 (before ACA) - 49.1 million uninsured non-elderly Americans

The Defense of Marriage Act of 1996

No state is required to give effect to a law of any other state with respect to same-sex marriage or domestic partnership, defines the words marriage and spouse for purposes of federal law to include only members of the opposite sex

Social Insurance Programs

OASDI & UI

What does OASDI stand for?

Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Disability Insurance (DI) AKA Social Security

(OASDI) Funded

Payroll tax FICA - Federal Insurance Contributions Act

(UI) Funded

Payroll taxes

(UI) Who is eligible? How?

People who have no fault job loss not means tested

Arguments Against Tax Expenditures

People will likely change their behavior if the tax system changes so the numbers in the budget are likely off

What repealed AFDC and replaced it with TANF

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

Keynesian Theory: Social Welfare

Poor due to societal position and impersonal economic forces Improved status of the working class is an essential ingredient in the health of the economy

Keynesian Theory (John Maynard Keynes, 1936): Economic Structure

Preserve capitalism, but capitalism had imperfections Market system does not have self-correcting property Laissez-faire not appropriate for a stagnant economy like the 1930s depression (insufficient demand Business and government as partners

New Deal

President Roosevelt set of domestic programs including (Social Security Act, Federal Housing Administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and Fair Labor Standards Act) formed beginning of the modern US welfare state

(TANF): Whats the problem?

Problem: out-of wedlock pregnancies, one parent families, and dependence of needy parents

(SSI): Problem

Provide a positive assurance that the nation's aged, blind, and disabled would no longer have to subsist on below poverty level

S-CHIP: Eligibility

Provides eligible children (up to 200% of Poverty Line) through both Medicaid, separate CHIP programs

Classical Malthusian Melancholy : Social Welfare

Providing assistance enables the poor to have more children Poverty and famine are natural checks on population growth Wages at a subsistence level Poverty as a moral problem

Supporters of Tax Expenditures

Recognition of the fact that the tax system plays a major role in subsidizing certain activities, better than direct subsidy when you do not want to "crowd out" additional dollars

Fiscal Policy

Refers to the taxing and spending activities undertaken by Congress, includes mandatory and discretionary spending

Monetary Policy

Refers to what the Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank, does to influence the amount of money and credit in the US economy (setting key interest rates, for example)

Advantages of RPM

Reflects that individuals live in social contexts (inequality; social distance; social inclusion) Allows for direct international comparison

Defined Benefit

Retirees receive guaranteed benefits, usually based on number of years employed, income level. (Social Security) Pay-as-you-go - current workers pay for current retirees in an cross-generational compact Demographic events (our baby boom) necessitate system adjustments Societal impacts: encourages a collective consciousness - we workers pay for you now and future workers will pay for us Single purpose financing

Means tested "near cash" or in-kind benefits

SNAP

Classical Liberalism (Adam Smith, 1776): Economic Structure

Self interest and competition Free markets Self adjusting market market price down to natural price by an invisible hand (perfect competition) Guarantees economic efficiency Opposed to monopoly

Mandatory Spending Key Programs

Social Security Medicare Federal Share of Medicaid SNAP TANF EITC food stamps interest on national debt

Mandatory Spending

Spending Controlled by laws other than annual appropriations acts. This spending will continue each year unless Congress changes the laws that fund it.

Discretionary Spending

Spending stemming from authority provided in annual appropriations acts. This spending won't happen unless Congress provides the funding through an appropriations bill

Relative Poverty Measure

Standing Relative to some central tendency (The concept is that, in a rich country such as the UK, there are higher minimum standards below which no one should fall, and that these standards should rise if and as the country becomes richer.)

(SNAP) administered

State

(UI) Administered

State

Medicaid: Administered

State

What does S-CHIP stand for?

State Child Health Insurance Programs

(GA): Administered

States

(TANF): How is it administered?

States

Feudalism

Strict Social Order in which the British Crown gave lands to the nobility in return for military service (serfs, nobleman) Settlers brought with them a fear/resistance to an overreaching central government New values: freedom, independence, self-determination This leads to some founding ideas: that government was "only legitmate if it has the will of the people" checks and balances, separation of powers

What does SNAP stand for?

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

What does SSI stand for?

Supplemental Security Income

Marxism (1848): Economic Structure

Surplus value: Exploitation of labor generates profits Imbalance between capitalists and workers results in the collapse of the market system

Means tested cash programs

TANF SSI GA EITC

Public Assistance Programs

TANF, SSI

Fiscal policy

Taxing and Spending done by Congress

What does TANF stand for?

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Official Poverty Measure (OPM)

The U.S. Census Bureau determines poverty status by comparing pre-tax cash income against a threshold that is set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963 updated annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index adjusted for family size, composition, and age of householder. "Family" is defined by the official poverty measure as persons living together who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption.

Marxism: Political philosophy

The state assumes total responsibility from the provision of welfare Production and distribution of resources by the government (inseparability of politics and economics) History of class struggle

Keynesian Theory : Political philosophy

The state engages in public policies that creates a sufficient demand to full employment Two Strategies: 1) Fiscal policy: taxing and government spending 2) Monetary policy: Money/Credit and interest

Classical Malthusian Melancholy (Thomas Malthus, 1798): Economic Structure

Theory to defend against monopoly as a problem

(OASDI) Problem

Uncertainty about future wealth and risks that can not be borne by an individual alone

What does UI stand for?

Unemployment Insurance

Classical Liberalism: Social Welfare

Welfare improved through free trades Assume that economic opportunities are available to the poor (everyone has basic rights) Higher/living wages for working class Morality not inherent in class

Disadvantages of APM

What about changing standard of living? Doesn't include in-kind benefits Which income do we count?

Housing as a bundle

When a homeowner buys a house they are buying access to other things (shelter, storage, parking, place to mail things to, ability to put kids in public school, ability to vote) therefore, they're buying a bundle: a collection of things tied together

How does TANF differ from other means tested benefits?

Who is eligible Opinions about "deserving" vs. "undeserving poor", evolution over time Changes in norms around women/work/childcare Changes in the composition of poor women/children over time on the program Political support for the program has been more volatile Poor mothers and children versus Poor elderly (SSI) or Working poor (EITC) How benefits are set and programs are funded

Racism

a belief that are is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities

Internalized Racism

acceptance by members of stigmatized racial group

Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)

all related individuals who live at the same address 33rd percentile of expenditures on food, clothing, shelter, utilities Geographical adjustments Sum of income + in-kind benefits

Prejudice

an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge

Manifest Destiny

an attitude common in the 19th century period of American expansion, the idea that America could and would eventually stretch from coast to coast "God's Plan" Helped spur western settlement which was fueled by Native American removal and slavery

(SNAP): Problem

anti-recessionary tool to ease consumption

Structural View of Poverty (Poverty Theory)

can't reduce/eliminate poverty by changing behaviors or choices of poor individuals

Institutionalized Racism

endemic to a system, organization, program, or policy affects access to goods, services, or opportunities

Homesteading

keep in mind that the Homestead Act predates emancipation so slaves were not eligible distribution of lands to former slaves, after freedom, was quite minimal the Freedman's Bureau was underfunded and temporary hampered by resistance to governments' involvement in welfare and concerned about preferential treatment towards fomer slaves

(EITC): How is it funded?

payroll tax

(GA): Who is eligible? how?

poor, non-aged childless adults (NOT ENTITLEMENT & VARIES BY STATE)

Culture of Poverty (Poverty Theory)

poverty as pathology - the poor lack motivation or effort, this is a persistent cycle passed on

Restricted Poverty (Poverty Theory)

racism/discrimination as reason for poverty

Benefits of Marriage

right to make health care decisions if partner is incapacitated, right to survivor's benefits, tax benefits, end of life decisions, dispensation of property upon death

Government Assistance (Poverty Theory)

social welfare benefits provide a disincentive to work

S-CHIP: Administered

states

S-CHIP: Funded

states/Feds

Medicaid : Funded

states/feds

Human Capital (Poverty Theory)

stock of skills/abilities/knowledge that is changeable and earns higher wages, immediate investments in human capital development are rewarded with future higher earnings

Discrimination

the act, practice, or an instance of responding differently to categories rather than individuals

S-CHIP: Benefit

vary by state and type of CHIP program