Poverty: National and International Issues Flashcards
10% own __% of total global wealth.
86.
__% live on less than $2 per day.
25.
What do inequities look at?
- Concentration of wealth in 1%.
- Social and economic inequality.
- Making economic structures and power relations in society fairer.
Poverty Penalty
Penalized for being poor: phenomenon that poor people tend to pay more to eat, buy, and borrow than the wealthy.
Problems with the homeless count.
- Point in time “count” - accurately captures homelessness in its various manifestations.
- Individuals must self-identify.
- Concealed homeless.
- Is one day representative?
Trends in homelessness.
- More men than women.
- Aging homeless population.
What did Hans-Georg Gadamer say?
We are condemned to make meaning.
Empathy
The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another person or group.
What did the game “Spent” demonstrate?
That poverty is a no win situation, and the poverty penalty, where money is lost no matter what you do.
Poverty is multidimensional. Explain.
Includes dimensions of:
- Food insecurity.
- Poor housing.
- Unemployment.
- Psychological distress.
- Powerlessness.
- Hopelessness.
- Lack of access to health care, education, transport.
- Vulnerability.
What is demonstrated by the song “Date With Poverty” by Metal Church?
How poverty is multidimensional.
What is the purpose of cheques in “Date With Poverty” by Metal Church?
Buying time.
Social Inequality
Groups do not have equal social status, class, and networks.
What needs to be understood to understand social inequality? Just know the two broad groups.
Income, wealth, power, occupational prestige, schooling, and ancestry, gender, race/ethnicity.
Social Class
“Social classification.”
What is the Marxist understanding of poverty.
Social class tied to ownership of means of production and authority and expertise, and exploitation of workers.
Why does social class have to be understood differently today than in the past?
New forms of: commercial goods and services (i.e. digital, entertainment, sports) & social mobility.
Social Mobility
Moving up or down in social class.
Social Stratification
Classification of people into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions.
Socio-Economic Status
The combination of economic and social circumstances that shape one’s experiences as a member of a given class.
What affects socio-economic status?
Occupation (prestige), education, income, power (wealth).
Higher ___ and status in a social hierarchy are likely to coincide.
Income.
Greater ___ for those with higher SES.
Privileges.
Greater ___ for those with lower SES.
Risk.
SES is now more ___ than ever before.
Empirical.
Characteristics and rates of poverty depend on how poverty and economic inequality are ___.
Defined.
Poverty
Traditionally defined as the lack of resources necessary for material well-being.
Absolute Poverty
Chronic absences of the basic necessities of life.
Relative Poverty
Deficiency in material and economic resources compared with some other population.
Measures of Human Poverty
Tell us how many or what percentage of people are living in poverty in a given year.
Statistics does/doesn’t like to use the word ‘poverty line.’
Doesn’t.
What tries to measure the multi-dimensionality of poverty?
United Nations “Human Poverty Index.”
United Nations “Human Poverty Index.”
- Composite measure of poverty.
- Complement to income measures of poverty.
What are the 4 measures of deprivation in the United Nations “Human Poverty Index?”
- Life.
- Knowledge.
- Living standards.
- Social exclusion.
What are the 2 relative measures of poverty in Canada?
- Low Income Cut-Off (LICO).
- Low-Income Measure (LIM).
What is the absolute measure of poverty in Canada?
Market Basket Measure (MBM).
The way poverty is defined has serious practical consequences, as it determines…
- Who will receive help and who will not.
- What types of social policies and programs are thought necessa
What is the income threshold under the LICO?
If a family spends more than 63% of pre-tax income on food, clothing, and shelter ten they are in financial difficulty.
What does the LICO answer?
How many Canadians live in families spending a share of their total post-tax income on food, clothing and shelter twenty percentage points higher than average families of the same size living in communities of comparable size?
What does the MBM answer?
How many people in Canada live in families which lack the disposable income to purchase the goods and services in the ‘Market Basket’ within their community or community size?
What does the LIM answer?
How many Canadians have an after-tax income lower than 50% of the adjusted median income for all Canadian economic
families in a given year?
There is lower ___ ___ and higher ___ in more equal countries.
Health problems, trust.
What does the SF perspective say about poverty?
Poverty is unavoidable and functional. Meritocracy.
Meritocracy
Higher pay motivates and rewards the talented and skilled.
Which perspective says that poverty provides employment for the poverty industry?
SF perspective.
Poverty Industry
Jobs, markets for used goods.
Is meritocracy absolutely false?
Likely not.
Critique of SF perspective.
- Important and valued work like child care is poorly paid, but sports and entertainment?
- What about inherited wealth? Affects the distribution of rewards.
Conflict Perspective on poverty:
- Owners exploit workers.
- Education system ‘sells’ idea of equal opportunities through hard work.
- Laws & policies benefit the wealthy.
Corporate Welfare
Laws, politice, & regulations economically favour the wealthy — tax breaks, subsidies, low-interest loans.
SI Perspective on poverty:
- Labels, meanings, and definitions affect and are affected by social life.
- Stigma of poverty.
Stigma of Poverty
Labelled as “poor” equated with being lazy, irresponsible, unmotivated, no moral values.
What perspective looks at the psychological consequences of poverty?
SI Perspective.
What perspective looks at the culture of poverty and the underclass?
SI Perspective.
Culture of Poverty
Norms, values, beliefs, self-concepts that contribute to persistence of poverty in underclass.
Underclass
Persistently poor, socially disadvantaged.
How does a gender-based analysis look at poverty under the feminist perspective?
- Gender is a key feature of vulnerability.
- Seek to understand social structures that contribute to women’s poverty.
How does a narrative analysis look at poverty under the feminist perspective?
Focus on women’s experiences, with a symbolic approach to data interpretation.
Feminization of Poverty
Women overrepresented among the poor of the world. More likely than men to live below the poverty line.
Give statistics that supports the idea of the feminization of poverty.
- 16.3% of households were lone parent.
- 4:1 ratio of females to males in lone parent households.
- More than 50% of lone parent households living in high poverty.
Complex Intersectionality
People live at the intersection of different contexts.
Racialized labour market leads to…
“Economic Apartheid.”
Who is most vulnerable in economic apartheid?
Women in low-end, low income, temporary service sectors.
Racialization of Poverty
Racialized labour market leading to “Economic Apartheid.”
Working Poor
Individuals who participate in the labour force (work), but still live in poverty.
Intergenerational Poverty
Cycle of poverty — transmitted from one generation to the next.
Underclass
Persistently poor & socially disadvantaged population.
‘Mincome’ Experiment conclusions:
- Only new mothers and teenagers worked less.
- Increased high school graduation rate.
- Hospital visits dropped by 8.5%.
- Fewer emergency room visits due to domestic abuse.
- Reduction in psychiatric hospitalization.
What happened during the ‘Mincome’ Experiment?
All families in Dauphin, Manitoba were given 60% of LICO. Guaranteed minimum income.
What are the 2 international responses to poverty?
- Promoting economic growth.
2. Investing in human capital.
Promoting Economic Growth Perspective
- Dominant perspective.
- Muhammad Yunus.
- Micro-credit loans model.
Investing in Human Capital Perspective
- Developing skills, opportunities, so that people can make the best possible life for themselves.
- Amartya Sen.
