Chapter 4 Jouranl

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Social Problems, 13e
D. Stanley Eitzen
Maxine Baca Zinn
Kelly Eitzen Smith

Chapter 7

Poverty

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Poverty

CHAPTER 7

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Learning Objectives

7.1 Understand the extent of poverty in America.

7.2 Explain the myths and misperceptions about poor people.

7.3 Compare/contrast the various explanations for poverty: individual, cultural, and structural.

7.4 Explain the costs to society of having a significant portion of the population living in poverty.

7.5 Describe how poverty might be eliminated in the U.S. and what programs are needed to adequately address the needs of the poor population.

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7.1 - Extent of Poverty

  • Racial/Ethnic Minorities
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Place
  • The New Poor
  • The Working Poor
  • The Near Poor
  • The Severely Poor

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7.1 - Extent of Poverty continued

  • Poverty threshold

  • Official poverty line
  • Three times the economy food plan of 1955
  • Adjusted for inflation

  • 15.1 percent lived in poverty in 2010

  • One-size-fits-all measurement is a problem

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LO 7.1

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LO 7.1

Poverty does not hit all groups equally.

Chapter 7, Activity 3

Inequality

Using the wealth quintile breakdowns in the United States, divide up the classroom and distribute students proportionately (e.g., 20 percent of students end up with 85 percent of classroom space). Ask students if they would be okay holding class this way every day, where the bottom 20 percent of students are crammed up against the wall and are forced to stand. After all, don’t all the students have what they need to do well in the class? They can all see, they can all hear, etc. Use this as a way to discuss relative inequality versus absolute deprivation. Have global and comparative country quintiles handy and have students move to represent those as well. Which one do they like best?

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LO 7.1 - Racial/Ethnic Minorities

  • Poverty rates by race (2010):
  • Whites: 9.9%
  • Asian Americans: 12.1%
  • Latinos: 26.6%
  • African Americans: 27.4%

  • Real median income declined for every racial/ethnic category from 2009-2010

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LO 7.1 - Gender

  • Women are more likely than men to be poor

  • On average, women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men

  • Feminization of poverty

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LO 7.1 - Age

  • Children in female-headed households are four times more likely to live in poverty

  • A high proportion of the elderly live just above the poverty line

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LO 7.1 - Place

  • Persistent poverty counties

  • Extreme-poverty neighborhoods

  • Problems of spatial concentration of poverty:

Limited educational opportunities

Reduction in services and elimination of jobs

Increased burden on services

Lowering of home values

Higher incidence of health problems

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Neighborhoods like this one in Detroit, Michigan, have been
hard-hit by the economic recession.

LO 7.1

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LO 7.1 - The New Poor

  • Longtime workers in poverty

  • New versus old poor

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Since December 2007, the number of foreclosures in the United States has skyrocketed.

LO 7.1

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LO 7.1 - The Working Poor

  • In 2010, 2.6 million full-time workers were in poverty

  • Dirty work for low pay

  • Little government assistance

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LO 7.1 - The Near Poor and
The Severely Poor

  • Near poor are slightly above threshold

  • Severely poor are at or below half of the threshold

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7.2 - Myths About Poverty

  • Just “Get a Job”

  • Welfare Dependency

  • The Poor Get Special Advantages

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LO 7.2 - Just “Get a Job”

  • A job is not a ticket out of poverty

  • Minimum wage is not a ticket out of poverty

  • Housing is the main expense

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LO 7.2

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LO 7.2

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LO 7.2 - Welfare Dependency

  • Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)

  • Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)

  • Prior to 1996, what did welfare look like?
  • Why change?

  • Welfare versus wealthfare

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LO 7.2

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LO 7.2 - The Poor Get Special Advantages

  • The poor pay more than the non-poor for many services
  • food
  • hospitals
  • check-cashing centers
  • regressive tax

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7.3 - Causes of Poverty

  • Deficiency Theories

Innate Inferiority

Cultural Inferiority

  • Structural Theories

Institutional Discrimination

Political Economy of Society

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LO 7.3 - Deficiency Theory
Innate Inferiority

  • Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism
  • The poor are unfit

  • Jensen-Herrnstein-Murray and IQ

  • Blaming the victim

  • Self-fulfilling prophecy

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Programs targeting poor children such as Head Start claim to result in numerous positive outcomes like higher graduation rates and lower rates of delinquency.

LO 7.3

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  • Culture of poverty
  • The poor are qualitatively different in values and lifestyle

  • The poor are less likely to defer gratification

  • The behaviors of the poor keep them poor

LO 7.3 - Deficiency Theory continued
Cultural Inferiority

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LO 7.3 - Structural Theory
Institutional Discrimination

  • The structural conditions of society create poverty
  • Inequalities in schooling

  • Inequalities in the job market

  • Inequalities in healthcare

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  • Capitalism promotes poverty
  • Employers pay workers the least possible wage
  • Labor surplus maintained to keep wages low
  • Investment decisions made without regard for impact on employees

LO 7.3 - Structural Theory continued
Political Economy of Society

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The Occupy Wall Street Movement opposes wealth and power disparity.

LO 7.3

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7.4 - Costs of Poverty

  • Family Problems
  • Health Problems
  • Problems in School
  • Economic Costs

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LO 7.4 - Family Problems

  • Divorce
  • Marriage
  • Teen pregnancy

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LO 7.4 - Health Problems

  • In 2010, 49.9 million people (7.3 million children) had no private or public health insurance

  • Emergency medical service

  • Infant mortality rate

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LO 7.4 - Problems in School

  • Drop-out rates

  • Lack of resources

  • Graduation rates

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LO 7.4 - Economic Costs

  • $500 billion per year

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7.5 - Elimination of Poverty
Seven Assumptions

  • Assumption 1: Poverty is a social problem and the source of other social problems; therefore, it must be eliminated

  • Assumption 2: Poverty can be eliminated in the United States

  • Assumption 3: Poverty is caused by a lack of resources, not by a deviant value system

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LO 7.5

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  • Assumption 4: Poverty cannot be eliminated by the private sector of the economy

  • Assumption 5: Poverty will not be eliminated by a rising economy

  • Assumption 6: Volunteer help from well-meaning individuals, groups, and organizations will not eliminate poverty

  • Assumption 7: Poverty is a national problem and must be attacked with massive, nationwide programs financed largely and organized by the federal government

7.5 - Elimination of Poverty continued
Seven Assumptions

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In 2001, former President George W. Bush proposed a faith-based initiative, where religious charities could compete for federal money to serve the poor.

LO 7.5

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LO 7.5
Question for Discussion

Using the explanations of poverty presented in the textbook to guide your answer, how would you advise that poverty be eliminated?

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