Psychology assignment.

Sociology of Poverty HANDOUT #1

! You will use theses graphs and statistics to support your answers for some questions. ! Question I: Structural Perspective Explanation of Power !

!! Table 1 reveals that a household needed to earn only $100,241 in yearly income in 2012 to make it into the highest quintile. Other highlights of household income delve further in quintiles, identifying the top 10 percent, top 5%, or the top one (1) percent. ! As shown in Table 1, without question, the U.S. distribution of income is highly unequal. The top 20 percent household income is more than 14 times larger than the lowest (bottom 20%) quintile. !

! Table 1 The Quintile Distribution of Household Income

Quintile Income Range Income Shares

Top Five Percent $191,157 or more 22.1%

Highest $ 104,097 or more 49.9%

Fourth $ 64,583 – 104,096 22.9%

Third $ 39,765 – 64,582 14.8%

Second $ 20,600 – 39,764 9.0%

Lowest $ below – 20,599 3.4% ! Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012

Table 2: Global Comparisons of the Percentage of Income Share

Country Bottom 10% Top 10%

Industrialized Nations

Australia 2.0 25.4

Canada 2.8 23.8

Germany 3.3 23.7

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!!! Table 2 shows provides comparisons of the percentage of income shares among industrialized nations, the United States appears to be the least equal in how the pie is sliced (see Figure 1 below). Inequality is generally more severe in poor nations (smaller middle class and a huge working and peasant classes). China has an income share very close that of the United States (see Figure 2). !!

! Figure 1: Pie Chart of Global Income Shares among Industrialized Nations

Japan 4.8 21.7

Sweden 3.7 20.1

United Kingdom 2.6 27.3

United States 1.8 30.5

Developing Nations

Brazil 1.0 47.6

China 2.4 30.4

Ethiopia 3.0 33.7

India 3.5 33.5

Philippines 2.3 36.6

Zimbabwe 1.8 46.9

Australia

Canada

Germany

Japan

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

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! Figure 2: Pie Chart of Global Income Shares among Developing Nations !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brazil

China

Ethiopia

India

Philippines

Zimbabwe

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Table 3: Median Incomes by Race and Family Structures !

! Source: US Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2008 (Table 1) The median of white families ($55,530) substantially exceeds that of minority families (Blacks $34,218, and Hispanics $37,913). Married couples have the highest median incomes ($73,010), followed by father-only families ($49,186), and mother-only families ($33,073). Mother-only families make less than half of the income of married couples. ! In 2007, women earned 77.5 cents for each dollar earned by men, statistically unchanged from 2005. Real median earning of both men and women who worked full-time, year-round declined between 2005 and 2006. The median earnings for men fell 1.1 percent to $42,300; for women, the corresponding numbers were 1.2 percent and $32,500. ! Source: United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 7, 2010 from http://www.census.gov/Press- Release/www/releases/income_wealth/010583 !!!!!!!

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Question II: The Absolute Approach Hypothetical Minimum Needs ! Table 4 Hypothetical Minimum Needs

CATEGORY AMOUNT Minimum Food Requirements 2,471 calories per day Minimum Fuel Requirements 37 kilowatt hours Minimum Shelter Requirements 60 board feet Minimum Clothing Requirements 4 pounds Minimum Transportation Requirements 7 miles !!!

Question III: President Council of Economic Advisor (CEA) Poverty Budget (1963) ! Table 5 The CEA Poverty Budget, 1963

Food Budget $2.736 per day X 365 days = $ 998.64 Nonfood Budget 2 X food budget = 1,997.28 Total Budget 2,995.92 !

Glaring Error in the C.E.A. Estimation Procedures ! The husband in Family 1 is 37 years old and supports six children and a pregnant wife on

his income of $3,200 a year. ! Family 2 consists of a soon-to-be-retried couple, both in their mid-sixties. The wife does

not work and the husband’s earnings amount to $2,800 per year. They own their home, having mad the final mortgage payment last Christmas.

Family 3 consists of a struggling graduate student, his working wife, and their three month-old child. They both work at the college carry-out store in their spare time. Their combined earnings, including overtime and tips, amount to $2,400 a year. ! How did these three families place in the CEA’s census of poor Americans? Family 1, consisting of eight and one-half persons, was officially classified as non-poor. Families 2 and 3 were counted as poor, as their incomes were under $3,000 limit. But how many people would be willing to accept CEA’s classification of these families? Family 1 was clearly desperate, while Family 2 was living a quiet and perhaps comfortable life. Our graduate-student family was not exactly affluent, but they were not desperate on $200 a month. !

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The Social Security Administration (SSA) by Ms. Orshansky !

!!

! Table 6 Poverty Standard by Household Size

Size of Family 2006 2007 2010

One member $9800 $10,210 $10,830

Two members $13,200 $13,690 $14,570

Three members $16,600 $17,170 $18,310

Four members $20,000 $20,650 $22,050

Five members $23,000 $24,130 $25,790

Six members $26,800 $27,610 $29,530

Seven members $30,200 $31,090 $33,270

Eight members $33,600 $34,570 $37,810 SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Register, vol. 72, no. 15 January 24, 2007, pp. 3147–3148. SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Register, vol. 75, no. 148 August 3, 2010 pp. 45628–45629.

U.S. Census Bureau Poverty Thresholds, 2012

Size of Family Unit Poverty Threshold

One person (unrelated individual) $11,720

Under age 65 11,945

Age 65 or older 11,011

Two people 14,937

Householder under age 65 15,450

Householder age 65 or older 13,892

Three people 18,284

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Four people 23,492

Five people 27,827

Six people 31,471

Seven people 35,743

Eight people 39,688

Nine people or more 47,297

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Weighted Average Poverty Thresholds, 2012, released in September 2013.

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