Chapter 6 - Modern Social Problems

A common working definition of _________ households is households with incomes that are between ____ and ______ of the federal poverty line or up to twice the poverty level.

"low-income" ; 100% and 200%

Individuals living in households with incomes that are above the poverty line, but not very much above it are classified as ________ , and those living in households with income below 50% of the poverty line live in ________ or __________.

"near-poor"; "deep poverty" or "severe poverty".

the official poverty line is based on ___________ so tax burdens, as well as tax credits, are disregarded.

pretax income

_____ has largest gap between their perception of inequality and its inequality? (perceive as less than it really is)

U.S.

Multidimensional Poverty Index

a measure of serious deprivation in the dimensions of health, education, and living standards that combines the number of deprived and the intensity of their deprivation

Basic Economic Security Tables Index (BEST)

a measure of the basic needs and income workers require for economic security

meritocracy

a social system in which individuals get ahead and earn rewards based on their individual efforts and abilities

means-tested programs

assistance programs that have eligibility requirements based on income.

________________ including savings and property, are also excluded in official poverty calculations, and non-cash government benefits that assist low-income families--food stamps, Medicaid, and housing and child care assistance--are not taken into account.

family wealth

The inequality in the distribution of global wealth is even ______ than income inequality (because wealth includes other assets)

greater

working poor

individuals who spend at least 27 weeks per year in the labor force (working or looking for work), but whose income falls below the official poverty level

corporate welfare

laws and policies that benefit corporations, such as low-interest governmental loans to failing businesses and special subsidies and tax breaks to corporations.

Anyone living in a household with pretax income below the official poverty line is considered _______.

poor

Relative poverty

poverty that refers to a deficiency in material and economic resources compared with some other population.

From 1960 to 2002, income per person in the world's poorest countries rose only _______ whereas income in the richest 20 nations tripled.

slightly

feminization of poverty

term that means women are more likely than men to live below the poverty line

Microcredit Programs

the provision of loans to people who are generally excluded from traditional credit services because of their low socioeconomic status. These give poor people the financial resources they need to become self-sufficient and to contribute to their local economies.

wealth

the total assets of an individual or household minus liabilities (mortgages, loans, and debts)

slums

these are concentrated areas of poverty and poor housing in urban areas

Earned Income Tax Credit

this is a refundable tax credit based on a working family's income and number of children

Age and Poverty in U.S.?

-Children are more likely than adults to live in poverty. -More than 1/3 of the U.S. poor population are children. -Compared with other industrialized countries, U.S. has highest child poverty rate.

Social Security Administration devised a poverty index based on data that indicated that families spent about ____ of their income on food. The official poverty level was set by multiplying food costs by three. Since then, the poverty level has been updated ________ for inflation, and differs by the number of adults and children in a household and by the age of the head of household, but is the same across the continental United States

1/3; annually;

Extreme poverty dropped further to about ___ in 2010 and is projected to be less than _____ by 2015.

16%; 10%

In 2000, the average income of the richest 20 countries was 37 times that of the poorest 20 countries--a gap that has doubled since _______ .

1960

Supplementary Security Income?

-(federal SSI), administered by the Social Security Administration, provides a minimum income to poor people who are age 65 or older, blind, or disabled. -Under the 1996 welfare reforms, the definition of disability has been sharply restricted, and the eligibility standards have been tightened.

International Responses to Poverty?

-2000 UN pledged to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals--an international agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives. -One of the MDGs is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who live in severe poverty and who suffer from hnger. -Several other MDGs involve alleviating problems such as disease, child and maternal mortality, and lack of access to education. -Approaches for achieving poverty reduction throughout the world include promoting economic development, investing in human development, providing financial aid and debt cancellation, and providing microcredit programs that provide loands to poor people. -Another strategy to reduce poverty is to increase the public awareness of the magnitude of the problem. Many travel abroad to experience poverty. Although slum tourism can promote greater awareness of poverty, slums will not go away because people walk around them.

Survey of adults on welfare?

-63% favor more generous government assistance to the poor, 31% oppose it. -Negative attitudes toward welfare are not uncommon.

Labor Force Participation and Poverty?

-A common image of the poor is that they are jobless and unable or unwilling to work. -Although the poor in the U.S. are primarily children and adults who are not in the labor force, many U.S. poor are classified as working poor.

Natural Disasters and Poverty?

-Although natural disasters strike indiscriminately, the poor are more vulnerable to devastation from such disasters (flimsier homes) -The poor have few to no resources to help them avoid or cope with natural disasters. Many poor people in the path of Hurricane Katrina lacked a means of transportation to evacuate. When the poor lose their homes and their livelihoods in a natural disaster, they do not have the resources to rebuild. -Poverty also affects natural disaster relief efforts. Because the poorest of tsunami victims lived in areas with weak or nonexistent infrastructure, many tsunami victims were cut off from aid because they did not live near a road or airport. Well-off tourists received more assistance than poor people who lived in villages. Government's slow response to Katrina was at least partly due to the fact that victims were predominantly poor.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families?

-Before 1996, a cash assistance program called Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) provided single parents (primarily women) and their children with a minimum monthly income. -In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), commonly referred to as "welfare reform", which replaced AFDC with a program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families?

-Before 1996, a cash assistance program called Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) provided single parents (primarily women) and their children with a minimum monthly income. -In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), commonly referred to as "welfare reform", which replaced AFDC with a program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). -Within 2 years of receiving benefits, adult TANF recipients must be either employed or involved in work-related activities, such as on-the-job training, job search, and vocational education. A federal lifetime limit of 5 years is set for families receiving benefits, and able-bodied recipients age 18 to 50 without dependents have a 2 year lifetime limit. Some exceptions to these rules are made for individuals with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, residents in high unemployment areas, and those caring for young children. -To qualify for TANF benefits, unwed mothers younger than age 18 are require to live in an adult-supervised environment and to receive education and job training. -Legal immigrants who entered the U.S. before August 22, 1996 can receive TANF, but those who entered after this date can receive services only after they have been in the country for 5 years.

Homelessness?

-Due to the recent rise in unemployment and foreclosures, more women, men, and children have been pushed into homelessness. -According to survey of mayors in major U.S. cities, the primary cause of homelessness is unemployment, followed by lack of affordable housing. Housing is considered affordable when a household pays no more than 30% of its income on rent. -Other causes of homelessness include domestic violence, mental illness and the lack of mental health services, substance abuse and the lack of substance abuse services, low-paying jobs, poverty, and prison release. -Homeless individuals live on the street or outdoors; others live in homeless shelters or makeshift dwellings made of a variety of discarded materials such as pieces of woods and boards, cardboard, mattresses, fabric, and plastic tarps. For homeless people living on the street, every day is a struggle for survival: makes you do a lot of things that you wouldn't normally do. -In recent years, there has been a surge in unprovoked violent attacks against homeless individuals. In most cases, the attacks are by teenage and young adult males. -Many acts of violence toward the homeless are not reported to the police, so documented cases may be just the tip of the iceberg. -There is a new fascination with "bum bashing" or "bum fight" videos on YouTube--videos shot by young men and boys who are seen beating the homeless or who pay homeless a few dollars to fight each other. There are also bum fight DVDs and web-based bum-bashing games.

Educational Assistance?

-Head Start and Early Head Start programs and college assistance programs. -Head Start and Early Head Start provide educational services for disadvantaged infants, toddlers, and pre-school age children and their parents. -Evaluations of Head Start and Early Head Start indicate that they improve children's cognitive, language, and social-emotional development and strengthen parenting skills. -According to Children's Defense Fund, every $1 invested in high-quality early childhood care and education saves as much as $7, by increasing the likelihood that children will be literate, go to college, and be employed, and by decreasing the likelihood that they will drop out of schools, be dependent on welfare, or be arrested for criminal activity. -To alleviate economic barriers for low-income individuals wanting to attend college, the federal government offers grants, loans, and work opportunities. The Pell Grant program aids students from low-income families. The guaranteed student loan program enables college students and their families to obtain low-interest loans with deferred interest payments. The federal college work-study program provides jobs for students who demonstrated need.

ealth Problems, Hunger, and Poverty?

-In developing countries, absolute poverty is associated with hunger and malnutrition, high rates of maternal and infant deaths, indoor air pollution from heating and cooking fumes, and unsafe water and sanitation. -Most of the world's hungry live in Asia and the Pacific. -Inadequate nutrition hampers the ability to work and generate income, and can produce irreversible health problems like blindness (vitamin A deficiency) and physical stunting (from protein deficiency). -In the U.S., low socioeconomic status is associated with higher incidence and prevalence of health problems, disease, and death. -Hunger in the U.S. is measured by the percentage of households that are "food insecure", which means that the household had difficulty providing enough food for all its members due to a lack of resources. (some household members had reduced food intake and disrupted normal eating patterns due to lack of resources). -Poor U.S. children and adults tend to receive inadequate and inferior health care, which exacerbates their health problems. -Poverty is linked to higher levels of mental health problems, including stress, depression, and anxiety. -Economic inequality also affects physical and psychological health. Poor and middle-income adults who live in states with the greatest gap between the rich and poor are much more likely to rate their own health as poor or fair than people who live in states where income is more equally distributed. Subjective perceptions of happiness depend more on how an individual's income compares with other people's income than on the actual amount of their income.

Educational Problems and Poverty?

-In many countries, most children from the poorest households have no schooling, and enter their adult lives never having completed the first grade. -In the U.S., children living in poverty are more likely to suffer academically than are children who are not poor. "Overall, poor children receive lower grades, receive lower scores on standardized tests, are less likely to finish high school, and are less likely to attend or graduate from college than are nonpoor youth. -Health problems associated with childhood poverty, including poorer vision, lead poisoning, asthma, and inadequate nutrition, contribute to poor academic performance. -The poor often attend schools that are characterized by lower quality facilities, overcrowded classrooms, and a higher teacher turnover rate. -Because poor parents have less schooling on average than do nonpoor parents, they may be less able to encourage and help their children succeed in school. -Poor parents have fewer resources to provide their children with books, computers, travel, and other goods and experiences that promote cognitive development and educational achievement. -With the skyrocketing costs of tuition and other fees, many poor parents cannot afford to send their children to college. -Poor adults who want to escape poverty by furthering their education may have to work while attending school or may be unable to attend school because of unaffordable child care, transportation, and/or tuition, fees, and books.

Child Care Assistance?

-In the U.S., lack of affordable, good child care is a major obstacle to employment for single parents and a tremendous burden on dual-income families and employed single parents. Child care for infants is greater than that for 4 year olds. -Some public and private sector programs and policies provided limited assistance with child care. -The Dependent Care Assistance Plan provisions of the 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act permit individuals to exclude the value of employer-provided child care services from their gross income. However, few employers provide on-site child care or subsidies for child care. At the same time, Congress increased the amount of child care tax credit and modified the federal tax code to allow taxpayers to shelter pretax dollars for child care in "flexible spending plans". -The Family Support Act of 1988 offered additional funding for child care services for the poor (in conjunction with mandatory work requirements). -The Child Care and Development Block Grant, which became law in 1990, targeted child care funds to low-income groups, and the PRWORA appropriated funds for child care. -However, child care assistance is inadequate; many states have waiting lists for it and many families earn more than the eligibility limit, but not enough to afford child care expenses.

What are living wage laws?

-Laws that require state or municipal contractors, recipients of public subsidies or tax breaks, or, in some cases, all businesses to pay employees wages that are significantly above the federal minimum, enabling families to live above the poverty line. -Businesses that pay their employees a living wage have lower worker turnover and absenteeism, reduced training costs, higher morale and productivity, and a stronger consumer market. -As more individuals receiving welfare (TANF) reach their time limits and are forced to enter the job market, it is increasingly important to provide jobs that pay a living wage. Single mothers who work in low-wage jobs often have more hardships than those who are dependent on welfare.

Intergenerational Poverty?

-Nearly half of U.S. children born to low-income parents become low-income adults. -Problems associated with poverty, such as health and educational problems, create a cycle of poverty from one generation to the next. -creates a persistently poor and socially disadvantaged population, referred to as the underclass. Although the underclass is stereotyped as being composed of minorities living in inner-city or ghetto communities, the underclass is a heterogeneous population that includes poor whites living in urban and nonurban communities. -Wilson attributes intergenerational poverty and the underclass to a variety of social factors, including the decline in well-paid jobs and their movement out of urban areas, the resultant decline in the availability of marriageable males able to support a family, declining marriage rates and an increase in out-of-wedlock births, the migration of the middle class to the suburbs, and the effect of deteriorating neighborhoods on children and youth.

Economic Development?

-One approach to alleviating poverty involves increasing economic output or the GDP of a country. However, economic development does not always reduce poverty; in some cases, it increases it. -Policies that involve cutting government spending, privatizing basic services, liberalizing trade, and producing goods primarily for export may increase economic growth at the national level, but the wealth ends up in the hands political and corporate elite at the expense of the poor. -Economic growth does not help poverty reduction when public spending is diverted away from meeting the needs of the poor and instead is used to pay international debt, finance military operations, and support corporations that do not pay workers fair wages. -The World Bank lends billions of dollars a year to pay primarily for roads, bridges, and industrialized agriculture that mostly benefits corporations. "Relatively little attention or money has been given to developing basic social services, building schools and clinics, and building decent public sanitation and clean water systems in some of the world's poorest counties. -Another problem with economic development is that the environment and natural resources are often destroyed and depleted in the process of economic growth. -Economic development also threatens the lives and cultures of the 370 million indigenous people who live in 70 counties around the world. Indigenous people who live on land that is rich in natural resources are displaced by corporations that want access to the land and its natural resources, and by government forces that help the corporations expand their activities. As remote areas are "developed", many indigenous people are forced to give up their traditional ways of life and become assimilated into the dominant culture. Conflict between indigenous people who want to continue their traditional ways of life and governments and multinationals who want to pursue economic development and the profits it produces can become violent.

War and Social Conflict from Poverty/Economic inequality?

-Poverty and economic inequality are often root causes of conflict and war within and between nations. -Poorer countries are more likely than wealthier countries to be involved in civil war, and countries that experience civil war tend to become and/or remain poor. -Armed conflict and civil war are generally more likely to occur in countries with extreme and growing inequalities between ethnic groups: When inequalities become persistent and some groups are systematically barred from the benefits of growth...those at the bottom claim their share of national income by any means possible. -In the developing world, most of the people recruited for armed conflict are unemployed. "They don't have education opportunities and they don't really see what the future holds for them other than war and misery." -Mkapa said that "countries with impoverished, disadvantaged and desperate populations are breeding grounds for present and future terrorists". -UN said that the most effective conflict prevention strategies are those aimed at achieving reductions in poverty and inequality, full and decent employment for all, and complete social integration. -War also contributes to poverty. War devastates infrastructures, homes, businesses, and transportation systems. In the wake of war, populations often experience hunger and homelessness. -In the U.S., the widening gap between the rich and the poor may lead to class warfare. Briggs asked how long the U.S. can maintain social order "when increasing numbers of persons are left out of the banquet while a few are allowed to gorge?" Although Marx predicted that the have-nots would revolt against the haves, Briggs did not foresee a revival of Marxism. "The means of surveillance and the methods of suppression by the governments of industrialized states are far too great to offer any prospect of success for such endeavors". Instead, Briggs predicted that American capitalism and its resulting economic inequalities would lead to social anarchy--a state of political disorder and weakening of political authority.

Family Structure and Poverty?

-Poverty is more prevalent among female-headed single-parent households than among other types of family structures. -In other industrialized countries, poverty rates of female-headed families are lower than those in the U.S. -Unlike the U.S., other developed countries offer a variety of supports for single mothers, such as income supplements, tax breaks, universal child care, national health care, and higher wages for female-dominated occupations. -Lesbian couples and their families are more likely to be poor than heterosexual couples and their families -Gay male couple families have the lowest poverty rate of all family structures. -Children in same-sex couple families are twice as likely to be poor as children of married heterosexual couples.

Race or Ethnicity and Poverty?

-Poverty rates are higher among blacks, Hispanics, and Asians than among non-Hispanic whites. -Past and present discrimination has contributed to the persistence of poverty among minorities. -Other contributing factors to poverty among minorities include the loss of manufacturing jobs from the inner city, the movement of whites and middle-class blacks out of the inner city, and the resulting concentration of poverty in predominantly minority inner-city neighborhoods. -Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to live in female-headed households with no spouse resent--a family structure that is associated with high rates of poverty.

Myth 4: Immigrants place a huge burden on our welfare system.

-Reality: In 2006, only 5.9% of adult recipients of TANF and 1.2% of child TANF recipients were qualified immigrants

Myth 1: People who receive welfare are lazy, have no work ethic, and prefer to have a "free ride" on welfare rather than work.

-Reality: Most recipients of TANF and SNAP benefits are children and therefore are not expected to work. In 2006, 1 in 5 TANF recipients worked, earning an average monthly salary around $703. -Unemployed adult welfare recipients experience a number of barriers that prevent them from working, including poor health, job scarcity, lack of transportation, lack of education, and/or the desire to stay home and care for their children (which often stems from the inability to pay for child care or the lack of trust in child care providers). -Welfare recipients who stay home to care for children are doing very important work: parenting. Raising children is work; it requires time, skills, and commitment. While we as a society don't place a monetary value on it, it is work that is invaluable--and indeed, essential to the survival of our society. -It is also important to note that many adults receiving public assistance do earn an income or are participating in work activities, including job training or education, job searches, and employment. However, many do not work because there are not enough jobs available. In fall 2011, there were more than 4 unemployed workers for every available job. -Finally, most adult welfare recipients would rather be able to support themselves and their families than rely on public assistance. The image of a welfare "freeloader" lounging around enjoying life is far from the reality of the day-to-day struggles and challenges of supporting a household on a monthly TANF check of $372, which was the average monthly cash and cash-equivalent assistance to TANF families in 2006.

Housing Assistance?

-The biggest expense for most families is housing. -Half of the working poor spend at least 50% of their income on housing. -Federal housing assistance programs include public housing, Section 8 housing, and other private project-based housing. -The public housing program, initiated in 1937, provides federally subsidized housing that is owned and operated by local public housing authorities (PHAs). To save costs and avoid public opposition, high-rise public housing units were built in inner-city projects. These have been plagued by poor construction, managerial neglect, inadequate maintenance, and rampant vandalism. Poor quality housing has serious costs for its residents and for society: "Distressed public housing subjects families and children to dangerous and damaging living environments that raise the risks of ill health, school failure, teen parenting, delinquency, and crime---all of which generate long-term costs that taxpayers ultimately bear...These severely distressed developments are not just old, outmoded, or run down. Rather, many have become virtually uninhabitable for all but the most vulnerable and desperate families. -Section 8 housing involves federal rent subsidies provided either to tenants (in the form of certificates and vouchers) or to private landlords. Unlike public housing that confines low-income families to high-poverty neighborhoods, the aim with Section 8 housing is to disperse low-income families throughout the community. However, because of opposition by residents in middle-class neighborhoods, most Section 8 housing units remain in low-income areas. -The level of housing assistance available is sorely inadequate to meet the housing needs of low-income Americans. For every low-income family that receives federal housing assistance, three eligible families are without it. -Lack of affordable housing is not just a problem for the poor living in urban areas: The problem has climbed the income ladder and moved to suburbs, where service workers cram their families into overcrowded apartments, college graduates have to crash with their parents, and firefighters, police officers, and teachers can't afford to live in the communities they serve. -A major barrier to building affordable housing is zoning regulations that set minimum lot size requirements, density restrictions, and other controls. Such zoning regulations serve the interests of upper-middle-class suburbanites who want to maintain their property values and keep out the "riffraff"--the lower-income segment of society who would presumably hurt the character of the community. -Thus, one answer to the housing problem is to change zoning regulations that exclude affordable housing. Fairfax County, Virginia is one of more than 100 communities that have adopted "inclusionary zoning", which requires developers to reserve a percentage of units for affordable housing.

Medicaid?

-The largest U.S. public medical care assistance program is Medicaid, which provides medical services and hospital care for the poor through reimbursements to physicians and hospitals. -However, many low-income individuals and families do not qualify for Medicaid and either cannot afford health insurance or cannot pay the deductible and co-payments under their insurance plan. -In the earlier AFDC welfare program, all recipients were automatically entitled to Medicaid. Under the TANF program, states decide who is eligible for Medicaid. A provision of the 1996 welfare reform legislation guarantees welfare recipients at least one year of transitional Medicaid when leaving welfare for work.

Food Assistance?

-The largest food assistance program in the U.S. is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program), followed by school meals and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). -SNAP issues monthly benefits through coupons or a plastic card similar to a credit card. -To supplement SNAP, school meals, and WIC, many communities have food pantries (which distribute food to poor households), soup kitchens (provides cooked meals on site), and food assistance programs for the elderly (Meals on Wheels). -Despite the various forms of food assistance, a significant share of poor U.S. children receive no food assistance.

Microcredit Programs?

-The old saying "it takes money to make money" explains why many poor people are stuck in poverty: They have no access to financial resources and services. -Microcredit programs refer to the provision of loans to people who are generally excluded from traditional credit services because of their low socioeconomic status. Microcredit programs give poor people the financial resources they need to become self-sufficient and to contribute to their local economies. -The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, 1976, has become a model for than 3000 microcredit programs that have served millions of poor clients. To get a loan from the Grameen Bank, borrowers must form small groups of five people "to provide mutual, morally binding group guarantees in lieu of the collateral required by conventional banks". Initially, only two of the five group members are allowed to apply for a loan. When the initial loans are repaid, the other group members may apply for loans.

Family Stress and Parenting Problems Associated with Poverty?

-The stresses associated with low income contribute to substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, and neglect, divorce, and questionable parenting practices. -Economic stress is associated with greater marital discord. -Couples with incomes less than $25000 are more likely to divorce than couples with incomes greater than $50000. -Child neglect is more likely to be found with poor parents who are unable to afford child care or medical expenses and leave children at home without adult supervision or fail to provide needed medical care. -Poor parents are more likely than other parents to use harsh physical disciplinary techniques, and they are less likely to be nurturing and supportive of their children. -Another family problem is teenage pregnancy. Poor adolescent teenagers are at higher risk of having babies than their nonpoor peers. -Early childbearing is associated with increased risk of premature babies or babies with low birth weight, dropping out of school, and lower future earning potential as a result of lack of academic achievement. -Luker noted that the high rate of early childbearing is a measure of how bleak life is for young people who are living in poor communities and who have no obvious arenas for success. For poor teenage women who have been excluded from the American dream and disillusioned with education, childbearing is one of the few ways such women feel they can make a change in their lives. Having a baby is a lottery ticket for many teenagers: it brings with it at least the dream of something better, and if the dream fails, not much is lost. In a few cases it leads to marriage or a stable relationship; in many others it motivates a woman to push herself for her baby's sake; and in still other cases it enhances the woman's self-esteem, since it enables her to do something productive, something nurturing and socially responsible.

Child Support Enforcement?

-To encourage child support from absent parents, the PRWORA requires states to set up child support enforcement programs, and single parents who receive TANF are required to cooperate with child support enforcement efforts. -The welfare reform law established a Federal Case Registry and National Directory of New Hires to track delinquent parents across state lines, increased the use of wage withholding to collect child support, and allowed states to seize assets and to revoke driving licenses, professional licenses, and recreational licenses of parents who fall behind in their child support.

Providing Financial Aid and Debt Cancellation?

-To increase both economic and human development, poor countries depend on financial aid from wealthier countries. In 2010, development aid from wealthy countries reached a historic high, with the U.S. being the largest donor. -Another way to help poor countries invest in human capital and reduce poverty is to provide debt relief. In poor countries with large debts, money needed for health and education is instead spent on debt repayment. Canceling the debts of 32 of the poorest countries would cost citizens of the riches countries of the world just $2.10 a year for each citizen for 10 years.

Sex and Poverty in U.S.?

-Women are more likely than men to live below the poverty line--a phenomenon referred to as the feminization of poverty. -Women are less likely than men to pursue advanced educational degrees and tend to have low-paying jobs, such as service and clerical jobs. -Even with same level of education and the same occupational role, women still earn less than men. -Women who are minorities and/or who are single mothers are at increased risk of being poor.

What is the symbolic interactionist perspective on poverty and economic inequality?

-focuses on how meanings, labels, and definitions affect and are affected by social life. -calls attention to ways in which wealth and poverty are defined and the consequences of being labeled "poor". -individuals who are viewed as poor--especially those receiving public assistance--are often stigmatized as lazy, irresponsible, and lacking in abilities, motivation, and moral values. Wealthy individuals, on the other hand, tend to be viewed as capable, motivated, hardworking, and deserving of their wealth. -focuses on the meanings of being poor. The experience of poverty involves psychological dimensions such as powerlessness, voicelessness, dependency, shame, and humiliation. -Meanings and definitions of wealth and poverty vary across societies and across time. Although many Americans think of poverty in terms of income level, for millions of people, poverty is not primarily a function of income but of their alienation from sustained patterns of consumption and production. For indigenous women living in the least developed countries, poverty and wealth are determined primarily by access to and control of their natural resources and traditional knowledge, which are the sources of their livelihoods. -Dinka, largest ethnic group in Sudan, are among the poorest of the poor and are among the least modernized in the world. In their culture, wealth is measured in large part by how many cattle a family owns. Dinka view themselves as wealthy.

The Housing Crisis?

-has caused financial ruin for people in U.S. -contributed to a global financial crisis that exacerbated poverty around the world. -In the 1990s and early 2000, inflated housing values enabled middle-class homeowners with maxed-out credit cards to keep spending by refinancing their mortgages. At the same time, there was an increase in subprime mortgages. -Subprime mortgage lending enabled low-wage earners to buy a house, and the increased housing demand raised house values further. When the housing bubble burst and house values fell in 2007/08, millions of people were stuck with "upside-down mortgages", in which the amount owed on a mortgage is more than the value of the property. Many homeowners with subprime mortgages could not make their payments, and foreclosures skyrocketed. In this housing crisis, millions of people have lost their homes and their credit, and renters in foreclosed dwellings lost their lease with little notice.

From 1979 to 2007, Americans in the top 10% of the income distribution received nearly ____ of gains to overall incomes: the top 1% alone received _____ of overall gains in income.

2/3; 38.7%

What is the structural functionalist perspective economic inequality?

Economic inequality within a society can be beneficial for society, as a system of unequal pay motivates people to achieve higher levels of training and education and to take on jobs that are more important and difficult by offering higher rewards for higher achievements. But this argument is criticized on the grounds that many important occupational roles, such as child care workers and nurse assistants, have low salaries, whereas many individuals in nonessential roles (stars) earn outrageous sums of money.

public housing

Federal housing assistance programs include public housing, Section 8 housing, and other private project-based housing. -The public housing program, initiated in 1937, provides federally subsidized housing that is owned and operated by local public housing authorities (PHAs). To save costs and avoid public opposition, high-rise public housing units were built in inner-city projects.

the structural functionalist argument that CEO pay is high to reward high performance is shattered by the fact that CEOs are paid huge salaries and bonuses even when they contribute to the economic failure of their corporation and/or the problem of unemployment:

In 2009, CEOs of the 50 companies that laid off the most workers since the economic crisis earned 42% more than the average CEO pay at S&P 500 companies.

wealthfare

Laws and policies that favor the rich, such as tax breaks that benefit the wealthy.

living wage laws

Laws that require state or municipal contractors, recipients of public subsidies or tax breaks, or, in some cases, all businesses to pay employees wages that are significantly above the federal minimum, enabling families to live above the poverty line

What is the conflict perspective on poverty and economic inequality?

Marx proposed that economic inequality results from the domination of the bourgeoisie (owners of the factories, or means of production) over the proletariat (workers). -The bourgeoisie accumulate wealth as they profit from the labor of the proletariat, who earn wages far below the earnings of the bourgeoisie. -Modern conflict theorists recognize that the power to influence economic outcomes comes not only from the ownership of the means of production but also from management position, interlocking board memberships, control of media, and financial contributions to politicians. -Wealthy corporations use financial political contributions to influence politicians to enact policies that benefit the wealthy (wealthfare) -Corporate welfare---Many large, profitable corporations take advantage of tax shelters to avoid paying taxes. U.S. corporate tax rate is 35%. 100 fo the largest U.S. companies paid less than 10% of pretax profits in federal income tax in 2010. If these 100 companies had paid the 35% official corporate tax rate, an additional $150 billion would have been collected--an amount equal to the total budget deficits for all 50 states. -Throughout the world "free market", economic reform policies have been hailed as a solution to poverty. Yet although such economic reform has benefited many wealthy corporations and investors, it has also resulted in increasing levels of global poverty. As companies relocate to countries with abundant supplies of cheap labor, wages decline. Lower wages lead to decreased consumer spending, which leads to more industries closing plants, going bankrupt, and/or laying off workers (downsizing). These actions result in higher unemployment rates and a surplus of workers, enabling employers to lower wages even more.

What is the structural functionalist perspective on poverty?

Poverty results from institutional breakdown: economic institutions that fail to provide sufficient jobs and pay, educational institutions that fail to equip members of society with skills they need for employment, family institutions that do not provide sufficient public support

Myth 3: Welfare benefits are granted to many people who are not really poor or eligible to receive them.

Reality: Although some people obtain welfare benefits through fraudulent means, it is much more common for people who are eligible to receive welfare not to receive benefits. Fewer than one in five individuals living below the poverty line receive cash assistance and fewer than half receive food stamps. -A main reason for not receiving benefits is lack of information; people do not know they are eligible. Many people who are eligible for public assistance do not apply for it because they do not want to be stigmatized as lazy people who just want a "free ride" at the taxpayers' expense--their sense of personal pride prevents them from receiving public assistance. Other have difficulty navigating the administrative process of applying for assistance. -Some individuals who are eligible for public assistance do not receive it because it is not available. In cities across U.S., thousands of eligible low-income households are on waiting lists for public housing assistance because there are not enough public housing units available, and some cities have even stopped accepting housing applications.

Myth 2: Most welfare mothers have large families with many children.

Reality: The average number of individuals in TANF families is 2.3, including an average of only 1.8 children.

The largest food assistance program in the U.S. is the ___________________ (SNAP); they issues monthly benefits through coupons or a plastic card similar to a credit card.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

subprime mortgages

high-interest or adjustable-rate mortgages that require little money down and are issued to borrowers with poor credit ratings or limited credit history

Section 8 housing

housing that involves federal rent subsidies provided either to tenants (in the form of certificates and vouchers) or to private landlords

Occupy Wall Street

movement that called attention to the very high pay that goes to the leaders of large corporations (rising CEO pay is one dimension of economic inequality)— claimed that: too much corporate influence on the operation of this country's political system, and too much income inequality were all serious social problems

the current poverty measure is a ________ that does not reflect the significant variation in the cost of living from state to state and between urban and rural areas.

national standard

progressive taxation

this reduces income inequality most effectively; policy that raises tax rates as income increases— government takes from the rich and gives to the poor in the form of benefits and assistance

intergenerational poverty

type of poverty that means it is transmitted from one generation to the next

Extreme poverty

type of poverty that means living on less than $1.25 a day.

Absolute Poverty

type of poverty that means the lack of resources necessary for material well-being: food, water, housing, land, and health care.

Median net worth is much higher among _____________ than among African Americans and Hispanic Americans.

white Americans

What are the 8 Millennium Development Goals?

(1) Eradicated extreme poverty and hunger (2) Achieve universal primary education (3) Promote gender equality and empower women (4) Reduce child mortality (5) Improve maternal health (6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases (7) Ensure environmental sustainability (8) Develop a global partnership for development