Poverty and Economic Disparity

Question 1

The US is the most technologically and economically advanced country in the world but one must have enough economic resources to take advantages of the conveniences available.

Answer 1

true

Question 2

This uses a dollar amount that is firmly set, anyone who earns less than that amount is officially categorized as poor.

Answer 2

Absolute Poverty

Question 3

• Uses Comparisons to determine who is poor and who is not
• Begins with agreement about the level of economic resources that the average person should have, then compares against that standard

Answer 3

Relative Poverty

Question 4

The definition of poverty used by the government is

Answer 4

Absolute Poverty

Question 5

Personal and social values play a large role in defining

Answer 5

who is poor

Question 6

According to the US census how many people were living in poverty in 2003?

Answer 6

35.9 million or 12.5%

Question 7

People living in poverty are more likely to be…

Answer 7

Children and living with an adult single female

Question 8

The tendency for children to be over represented in poverty statistics is.

Answer 8

Juvenilization of poverty

Question 9

The tendency of women to be poor more frequently than men

Answer 9

The femenization of poverty

Question 10

The Causes of Poverty

Answer 10

• the theory of a ‘culture of poverty’ states that people learn to be poor from growing up in impoverished areas
• the theory of ‘functional poverty’ states that poverty plays an important role in economic structure, providing a pool of low-wage workers.

Question 11

Values and Blaming the Victim

Answer 11

• Discussions of poverty in the US have for a long time blamed the victim for their problems
• If poverty is the victims fault, society does not have to struggle with the situation of many in society not having enough

Question 12

Employment and Income Levels

Answer 12

• Staying out of poverty requires adequate employment and income, not merely having a job.
• The way income is distributed across the population affects poverty

Question 13

Jobs

Answer 13

-Americans expect adults to work, and work is a key component of participation in society, helping define who people are

Question 14

Jobs in July 2005

Answer 14

-In july of 2005, 5% of adults ( about 7.5 million people) were counted as unemployed, meaning they were physically able to work but could not find employment

Question 15

Jobs Adequate Employment

Answer 15

-for people in poverty, achieving adequate employment is a struggle for an adequate income and an identity in society

Question 16

Underemployed and Working Poor

Answer 16

Many people fall into this category

• These are people who do not work enough hours or earn enough money to support themselves and their families.
• Most jobs are covered by the minimum wage

Question 17

Federal Minimum Wage

Answer 17

$5.15 per hour

$10,712 per year, below the poverty threshold for a family of two

Question 18

The Income Gap

Answer 18

• Those in the top 20% of the income scale earn almost half of all the household income in the US
• In 1980 the top 20% of all income earners had earned 10X more income than the bottom one fifth
• By 2000 that had grown to 14X more

Question 19

When tax cuts are provided for those at the top often there is a corresponding ___ __________ for those at the bottom

Answer 19

Assistance Cut

Question 20

Race and Governmental Assistance

Answer 20

• Race is one of the most significant factors affecting income wealth in the US
• Families of color earn less and have higher unemployment rates than white families

Question 21

The Cost of Poverty

Answer 21

• Poverty has personal and societal costs
• Children growing up have lower educational achievement and sense of self
• In adults, poverty contributes to depression, anger and low self esteem

Question 22

Homelessness and Housing

Answer 22

• Since the 1980s the Numbers of, and especially the children and the families who are homeless, have increased.
• Lack of affordable housing contributes to this problem

Question 23

Effects of “Urban Renewal”

Answer 23

Decreased affordable housing

increased homelessness

Question 24

Overcoming Homelessness

Answer 24

in a national study of homeless families, at least 40% returned to shelters 2 or more times, and many who leave cannot secure a permanent residence.

Question 25

Barriers faced by homeless

Answer 25

• Homeless often have no clothing or showers for interviews to help overcome circumstances
• No phone number, or address for contact

Question 26

Personal Costs of Poverty

Answer 26

-Intervening to alleviate the problems due to poverty is one of the greatest challenges of social work practice

Question 27

Poverty is related to

Answer 27

• Inadequate health
• Substandard Housing
• Low Educational Achievement
• Drug Use
• Dangerous Living Situations

Question 28

Consequences of poverty

Answer 28

• Shortened Life
• Inferior education
• Poor health
• Hunger
• Lack of Opportunity

Question 29

Two major programs in which the poor have been assisted

Answer 29

SSI and TANF

Question 30

Individual assistance for the poor

Answer 30

-Focuses on treatment of psychosocial conditions

Question 31

Local Assistance for the poor

Answer 31

Termed Grassroots Movements

-have been effective

Question 32

SSI

Answer 32

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides cash assistance for people who are poor and over 65, blind or disabled
• -the max payment for a person without any other kind of income is approximately $552 per month
• in 2002, 9 million people received federal payments through SSI

Question 33

TANF

Answer 33

• Temporary AID to Needy Families (TANF) is the version of AFDC that came out of welfare reform act of 1996
• Allows poor families to get cash assistance for no more than 24 consecutive months and a lifetime total of 5 years
• All adult participants must spend 20 hours a week in a job or job-related activity
• TANF is a federal block grant program, meaning the states get a set amount of funding for the program and when it runs out, no more benefits will be paid until the next year
• *THERE IS GREAT VARIABILITY BETWEEN THE STATES**

Question 34

Food Stamp Program

Answer 34

• Provides coupons for the poor that can be redeemed for goods at commercial grocery stores
• Eligibility is set by the federal government and is standard across the nation, but benefits vary by state

Question 35

Psychosocial Interventions

Answer 35

• Living in poverty is stressful, and social workers can intervene with a variety of approaches
• Strength-based perspectives can be applied at the individual, group and community levels
• Individual-level work may involve solution-focused interventions that emphasized solutions rather than problem analysis
• Social workers can help people improve their employability

Question 36

Advocacy

Answer 36

-Advocacy work with the poor is most effective when the community organizes from within, and natural leaders come forward to take a role in variety of activities encouraging economic development and other types of political advocacy.