Chapter 16: Social Safety Nets

Welfare State

A government with a board set of safety net programs

Market Economy

An economic system characterized by private ownership of productive assets; decisions about how to use these assets are made by individuals and firms operating in a market rather that by government

Cost-Of-Living Adjustment (COLA)

Automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment made to Social Security benefits

Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)

Federal entitlement program that provided income support for poor families until it was repaved by TANF in 1996

Medicare

Federal health insurance program for the elderly and the disabled

Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Federally regulated program that allocates money to the states to help them pay for medical services

Entitlements

Government benefits that are distributed automatically to citizens who qualify on the basis of a set of guidelines set by law; for example, Americans over the age of 65 are entitled to Medicare coverage

Safety Nets

Government programs that protect the minimum standard of living of families and individuals against loss of income

Social Insurance

Government programs that provide services or income support in proportion to the amount of mandatory contributions made by individuals to a government trust fund

Means-Tested

Meeting the criterion of demonstrable need

Medicaid

Program administered by the states that pays for health care services for the poor; jointly funded by the federal government and the states

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

Program designed to help needy families achieve self-sufficiency. States receive block grants to design and operate programs that accomplish one of the purposes of the TANF program.

Unemployment Insurance

Program funded by taxes on employers to provide short-term income support to laid-off workers; also called unemployment compensation

Public Assistance

Programs funded by general tax funds that provide money or services for the poor

Social Security

Social insurance program that provides income support for the elderly, those with disabilities, and family survivors of deceased working Americans

Poverty Line

The federal government's calculation of the amount of income families of various sized need to stay out of poverty

Great Depression

The period of economic crisis in the United States that lasted from the stock market crash of 1929 to America's entry into WWII

New Deal

The programs of the administration of President F.D.R.