Lecture 6-8 Flashcards
What is Human Capital?
The skills, education, health, and training of individuals.
What is Human Capital theory?
It is believed that increasing human capital increases productivity in the labor market and thus increases earnings.
What is the “cycle of poverty” ideology?
“The poor were poor because they perpetually misbehaved.”
What did Gilder suggest?
The only dependable route from poverty is always work, family and faith.
What did Gilder emphasize about family structure?
He felt that we needed to discipline the male sex drive to cause men to amend their behavior to become “future-oriented” through a desire to support their children.
Who emphasized the sociological view of poverty?
William Julius Wilson.
What was the sociological view first concerned with?
Concerned with explaining the run-up in extreme poverty in black urban centers, by looking at multiple historical, demographic and labor market factor to understand the deepening disadvantage
What did the sociological view focus on? (2)
- The role of neighborhoods, community, “norms” 2. The sociological work that undergirds modern poverty research.
What does sociological research pay a lot of attention on? (4)
It pays a lot of attention to 1. The role family structure. 2. Non-marital childbearing. 3. Debate about changing norms in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. 4. Culture
What is an example of a defined benefit?
Social Security.
What Hacker find out about earnings?
That Americans experience far more income volatility over the life course now than 30 years ago.
What is a Relative Poverty Measure?
Standing relative to some central tendency (for ex., 50% of median national income).
What is an Absolute Poverty Measure?
Measure calculated based on assumptions of costs for purchasing bundle of goods considered “necessary.”
What is an example of an absolute poverty measure?
The U.S. Federal Poverty Threshold.
What are the advantages of an absolute poverty measure? (2)
- Easy to measure. 2. Easy to see trends.
What are the advantages of a relative poverty measure? (2)
- Reflects that individuals live in social contexts (inequality; social distance; social inclusion). 2. Allows for direct international comparison.
What are the disadvantages of an absolute poverty measure? (3)
- Doesn’t include in-kind benefits. 2. Which income do you count? 3. What about changing standard of living?
What are the disadvantages of a relative poverty measure? (2)
- Can never “end” poverty. 2. No sense of need.
What are the two slightly different versions of the federal poverty measure?
- Poverty thresholds. 2. Poverty guidelines.
How were the poverty thresholds originally developed? By whom?
- Based on the economy food plan. 2. Developed by Mollie Orshansky.
Do poverty thresholds change by geographic region?
No.
Do poverty thresholds change by family size
Yes.
Are poverty thresholds adjusted for inflation?
Yes.
What are poverty thresholds used for?
Mainly statistical purposes. For ex., preparing estimates of the number of Americans in poverty each year and all official poverty population figures are calculated using the poverty thresholds.
