Deck 7: Poverty

Question 1

A standard of living below the minimum needed for the maintenance of adequate diet,health,and shelter,known as __________,is a significant social problem even in wealthy countries.

A) old poor
B) new poor
C) working poor
D) poverty

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Immigrants who become citizens have __________ immigrant noncitizens in the United States.

A) higher rates of poverty than
B) lower rates of poverty than
C) the same rates of poverty as
D) no poverty at all, similar to

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The census generally __________.

A) overestimates the number of poor
B) underestimates the number of poor
C) overcounts illegal immigrants
D) overcounts the homeless

Answer 3

B

Question 4

__________ is a reason for the high poverty rate among women.

A) The lower intelligence of women
B) The high frequency of divorce
C) A small number of never-married women with children
D) Good job and earnings opportunities for women

Question 5

People who work but are still below the poverty line are the __________ poor.

A) working
B) near
C) new
D) old

Question 6

In 2010,one out of every __________ children under age 6 was poor.

A) four
B) ten
C) twenty
D) twenty-five

Question 7

The __________,those whose incomes are at half the poverty line or less,make up over 6 percent of the U.S.population.

A) working poor
B) old poor
C) new poor
D) severely poor

Question 8

The U.S.Census data show that approximately __________ people work full time and yet still find themselves below the poverty line.

A) 100,000
B) 500,000
C) 1.5 million
D) 2.5 million

Question 9

The new poor __________.

A) have it easier than the old poor
B) have it harder than the old poor
C) have the same chance as the old poor of breaking out of poverty
D) have a greater likelihood of breaking out of poverty

Question 10

The __________ poor are the poor of an earlier generation who had hopes of breaking out of poverty because unskilled and semiskilled jobs were plentiful.

A) working
B) old
C) new
D) severely

Question 11

Though this is not a new phenomenon,the trend for contemporary women to be more economically vulnerable than men is known as __________.

A) the working poor
B) the severely poor
C) the feminization of poverty
D) wealthfare

Question 12

Bill lives in a(n)__________ where over four out of every ten of his neighbors is in poverty.

A) project
B) extreme-poverty neighborhood
C) inner-city
D) suburb

Question 13

Which of the following are critiques of the government poverty measure?

A) It varies from region to region
B) It does not keep up with inflation.
C) Housing costs take up less of the family budget than food.
D) It has never changed.

Question 14

The __________ is an arbitrary line computed by multiplying the cost of a basic nutritionally adequate diet by three.

A) official poverty line
B) feminization of poverty
C) working poor
D) regressive tax

Question 15

People may be missed by the census because they __________.

A) are homeless
B) have been at the same address for too long
C) live in poor areas
D) live in a gated community

Question 16

Megan has no real hope of getting out of poverty.She is willing to work hard,but lacks the necessary education and training to get a good job in an information and service economy.Sociologists would classify her as a member of the __________ poor.

A) near
B) working
C) new
D) old

Question 17

Mary lives on the streets.She begs for money and food and often goes hungry.She is __________.

A) living below the poverty line
B) a member of the old poor
C) experiencing institutional discrimination
D) taking part in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

Question 18

Mark's parents grew up poor but saved and worked hard and experienced some upward mobility,mostly through Mark who worked his way through college and landed a good job.They are an example of the __________.

A) near poor
B) working poor
C) new poor
D) old poor

Question 19

The poor who are displaced by new technologies or whose jobs have moved away to the suburbs,other regions,or out of the country,are classified as the __________

A) working poor
B) old poor
C) new poor
D) severely poor

Question 20

People whose incomes are above the poverty threshold but below 125 percent of that threshold are the __________.

A) working poor
B) near poor
C) new poor
D) old poor

Question 21

The poor __________.

A) use a small amount of their income for housing
B) pay less for day-to-day products like milk and bread
C) are exploited by payday loans
D) receive the greatest amount of government aid

Question 22

When a prophecy is fulfilled because people's behavior conforms to the prediction,this is known as __________.

A) a self-fulfilling prophecy
B) blaming the victim
C) institutional discrimination
D) social Darwinism

Question 23

"Social Darwinism" refers to the theory that the poor are poor because __________.
A) societal structures limit their opportunities

A) they are unfit
B) they are subject to institutional discrimination
C) they are discriminated against

Question 24

Welfare reform in 1996 __________.

A) required those on welfare to get a job immediately
B) capped welfare assistance at fifteen years
C) made large cuts in funding to the poor
D) created new education programs for poor children

Question 25

A tax rate that remains the same for all people rich or poor is an example of a __________.

A) tax expenditure
B) progressive tax
C) regressive tax
D) medical tax

Question 26

The 1996 welfare reform legislation was officially called the __________.

A) Personal Welfare Reform and Reconciliation to Work Opportunities Act
B) Personal Welfare Ongoing Reform and Responsibility Act
C) Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
D) End of Government Welfare Act

Question 27

Which of the following is a claim made by modern-day Social Darwinists Jensen,Herrnstein,and Murray?

A) African Americans are more well endowed mentally than Whites.
B) Mental ability is inherited, and success depends on mental ability.
C) The poor are poor because they lack the same values as their better-off peers.
D) Differences in success are due solely work ethic.

Question 28

Institutional discrimination is __________.

A) found in tracking in education and the system of school funding based on property taxes
B) an example of a deficiency theory
C) the same as the culture-of-poverty hypothesis
D) what occurs when the poor have brought poverty on themselves

Question 29

Most government subsidies go to the non-poor.These are known as __________.

A) welfare
B) warfare
C) wealthfare
D) regressive taxes

Question 30

Sometime,the poor receive government funds and subsidies,known as __________,in order to help them get by at a minimum level.

A) welfare
B) wealthfare
C) regressive taxes
D) the official poverty line

Question 31

The "hidden welfare system" refers to government aid that goes to the non-poor in the form of __________.

A) tax increases on wealthy individuals
B) direct subsidies to corporations
C) low-cost credit to people below the poverty line
D) increased scrutiny and oversight for corporate lending

Question 32

Those who believe in the __________ believe that the poor are qualitatively different in values and lifestyles from the rest of society.

A) blaming the victim approach
B) self-fulfilling prophecy
C) culture-of-poverty
D) feminization of poverty

Question 33

__________ is the belief that where people end up in terms of wealth and class is a function of their natural ability.

A) Self-fulfilling prophecy
B) Culture-of-poverty
C) Blaming the victim
D) A regressive mindset

Question 34

The culture-of-poverty hypothesis __________.

A) is based on the belief that the poor have a deviant cultural pattern that is transmitted from generation to generation
B) argues that those who are poor are unfit
C) is an example of institutional theory
D) is the commonly accepted explanation of poverty within sociology

Question 35

According to the text,__________.

A) the poor can lift themselves out of poverty
B) volunteers can lift the poor out of poverty
C) the private sector can lift the poor out of poverty
D) institutional discrimination keeps the poor in poverty

Question 36

The number of those who are severely poor __________.

A) is on the rise
B) is on the decline
C) has stayed the same since 1979
D) is lower in the United States than any other country

Question 37

When the social arrangements and accepted ways of doing things in society disadvantage minority groups it is known as __________.

A) individual discrimination
B) blaming the victim
C) institutional discrimination
D) the feminization of discrimination

Question 38

__________ are legal tax loopholes that allow the affluent to escape paying certain taxes and receive a subsidy.

A) Regressive taxes
B) Tax expenditures
C) Welfare taxes
D) Poverty thresholds

Question 39

Which of the following is a characteristic of the capitalist system that contributes to the persistence of poverty?

A) Employers keeping wages so low that many full-time workers live below the poverty line
B) The practice of ensuring high wages, which requires that there be a surplus of unemployed laborers
C) Employers making investment decisions while consulting their employees
D) Corporate profits being diverted into employee retirement programs, so they do no good immediately.

Question 40

Jeff is a part of a hidden system of tax breaks and advantages given to his corporation directly in the form of subsidies and indirectly in the form of tax loopholes.Jeff benefits from __________.

A) welfare
B) wealthfare
C) institutional discrimination
D) the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

Question 41

The census generally __________ the number of poor.

Question 42

The new poor are __________ off than the old poor.

Question 43

One of the primary ways that people without insurance access healthcare is by using __________ medical services that are less efficient and more costly.

Question 44

A cultural inferiority argument is a type of __________ theory.

Question 45

Karl believes that poverty is inherent in capitalism.The drive for profit works to ensure that some people will always be poor,he says.This is known as __________.

A) structural theory
B) institutional discrimination theory
C) a culture-of-poverty hypothesis
D) a political economy approach to poverty

Question 46

Which of the following is a form of institutional discrimination that adversely affects the poor?

A) Most good jobs require a college degree, and the poor receive financial aid.
B) Most college scholarships go to the best-performing schools, and poor children most often do not perform well in school.
C) Government grants for college, which provide sufficient money to allow anyone to go to college if they want, are often rejected by the poor because of their distrust of the government.
D) Low-end jobs, for which the wealthy are most qualified because they lack education, pay low wages so that the poor have no way to improve their conditions.

Question 47

Kyle believes that success in the world is a result of one's own ability and social class is the result of hard work and sacrifice.Kyle believes the world is characterized by __________.

A) a meritocracy
B) a bell curve
C) a culture of poverty
D) institutional discrimination

Question 48

The __________ are people living at or below half the poverty line.

Question 49

The concentration of poverty __________.

A) typically does not affect the rest of society
B) is very rare in the United States
C) is linked to health and education problems
D) is rarely considered a social problem

Question 50

The poor pay __________ than the non-poor for many goods and services.

Question 51

__________ refers to a standard of living below the minimum needed for the maintenance of adequate diet,health,and shelter.

Question 52

__________ occurs when the customary ways of doing things,the prevailing attitudes and expectations,and the accepted structural arrangements in society disadvantage the poor.

Question 53

Women are __________ likely than men to be among the working poor.

Question 54

Mark takes the position that poverty is caused not by individuals,but rather by institutions that are arranged to ensure that some groups of people remain poor while others thrive.Mark expresses a point of view in line with __________ theory.

A) deficiency
B) structural
C) institutional
D) conflict

Question 55

In order to eliminate poverty,some assumptions have to change,including assuming that __________.

A) poverty is a structural issue that cannot be fixed with a better economy or more personal responsibility
B) poverty is an isolated problem
C) poverty can be fixed with a concentrated charity effort
D) the government can do very little to alleviate poverty

Question 56

Which of the following is a critique of the culture-of-poverty hypothesis?

A) That it fails to consider that the behaviors described are a result of adaptation to poverty
B) That it blames poverty on mental capacity
C) That it blames the victims of poverty for their situations
D) That it fails to acknowledge that the poor are poor by choice

Question 57

__________ refers to the theory that the poor are poor because societal structures limit their opportunities.

Question 58

Bill does not believe the poor individually have less motivation,but does see that there are certain traits,beliefs,and habits they engage in which keep them poor and unable to move forward.Bill is a proponent of __________.

A) structural theory
B) institutional discrimination theory
C) a culture-of-poverty hypothesis
D) a political economy approach to poverty

Question 59

After looking at all of the evidence of underachievement,Karen comes to the conclusion that the poor must be lacking in some innate ability and are thus destined to remain poor.Her views are in line with __________ theories.

A) deficiency
B) structural
C) institutional
D) conflict

Question 60

The infant mortality rate in some poor urban neighborhoods __________.

A) exceeds the rates in developing countries
B) is equal to the rates in developing countries
C) is less than the rates in developing countries
D) is the same as in the suburbs

Question 61

What is the difference between the new poor and the old poor? How did the new poor come about?

Question 62

The culture-of-poverty hypothesis is based on the belief that the poor have a deviant cultural pattern that is transmitted from generation to generation.

Question 63

What are the causes and social implications of the feminization of poverty?

Question 64

Check-cashing centers are barred from poor neighborhoods.

Question 65

According to the text,the poor can lift themselves out of poverty.

Question 66

How might using the Supplemental Poverty Measure change the way people view the United States?

Question 67

Assess institutional discrimination and its consequences.Who benefits? Who suffers? How is such a system maintained?
Ideal

Question 68

Almost 10 percent of Non-Hispanic Whites are in poverty.

Question 69

Identify and discuss the myths about poverty that abound in American society.Why do these myths prevail?

Question 70

The hidden welfare system refers to government aid that goes to the non-poor in the form of tax loopholes,lower taxes,and tax avoidance by individuals; and direct subsidies and low-cost credit to corporations.

Question 71

The average recipient of government money is a poor person.

Question 72

Analyze how the basic tenets of capitalism explain the persistence of poverty.Is poverty an inherent part of capitalism?
Ideal

Question 73

Women from all socioeconomic,racial,and cultural groups are equally at risk for poverty.

Question 74

Can poverty be eliminated in the United States? Justify your answer.
Ideal

Question 75

What can the federal government do to get all people permanently above the poverty line? What assumptions have to be in place?
Ideal

Question 76

What is the Jensen-Herrnstein-Murray thesis for explaining poverty? Identify the critiques of this perspective.
Ideal

Question 77

The costs associated with childhood poverty equal about $500 billion per year.

Question 78

Summary statistics about poverty rates among various racial groups mask the differences within groups.

Question 79

The number of those who are severely poor is on the rise.

Question 80

Why is it difficult to determine the exact number of people in poverty?