Deck 9: Welfare and Social Security Policy

Question 1

Which of the following proposals to reform Social Security financing would lead to increased revenues to the program?

A) increasing the retirement age
B) reducing or delaying cost-of-living adjustments
C) lifting the cap on the amount of wages subject to the Social Security tax
D) privatization of investments

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The ______ provides funds for the purchase of food to ensure nutritional requirements.

A) food stamp program
B) Medicaid program
C) school lunch program
D) nutrition labeling program

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Who is entitled to receive Social Security benefits?

A) retirees age 66 and up, people with certain disabilities, and certain family members
B) retirees age 70 and up and their dependents
C) the poor and the elderly age 65 and up
D) retirees age 66 and up only

Answer 3

A

Question 4

One of the largest federal programs for the poor is SNAP. What does it provide?

A) financial resources to purchase food
B) welfare assistance for children
C) retirement pensions for older adults
D) free education to families in poverty

Question 5

Social Security is called a "pay as you go" system. This means that ______.

A) benefits that the U.S. government currently pays out are funded through currently collected taxes
B) individuals control the investment of their Social Security dollars (also called privatized)
C) it is a means-tested program
D) money taken out for Social Security today will pay for benefits in the future

Question 6

One of the challenges to reforming the social security program is the influence of strong advocacy groups such as ______, an active group representing the interests of ______.

A) AARP (American Association for Retired People); older adults
B) ARA (American Retiree Advocates); older adults
C) the Tea Party; conservatives
D) Citizens United; young adults

Question 7

The highest quintile (20%) of the U.S. population earns about ______ of the total income in the country.

A) 20%
B) 30%
C) 40%
D) 50%

Question 8

There are approximately ______ people living in poverty in the United States in 2010.

A) 43 million
B) 55 million
C) 60 million
D) 90 million

Question 9

According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, what was the effect of the Social Security program on the poverty rates of older adults?

A) Almost half of older adults were kept out of poverty by the social security program.
B) The program was ineffective on many measures.
C) One in 10 older adults was kept out of poverty by Social Security.
D) The situation is too complex to determine impacts.

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT a prominent proposal to reform the social security program?

A) privatizing
B) removing the cap on payroll taxes, so that people with higher level wages pay more taxes.
C) reducing benefits by raising retirement age to 70
D) requiring recipients to undergo employment training and obtain jobs

Question 11

Redistributive policies and programs are those through which ______.

A) government redistributes tax laws to affect different sets of individuals
B) government provides grants or programs without collecting money from other individuals
C) government initiates educational programs to influence public behavior
D) government provides benefits to one group of individuals by collecting money from other individuals

Question 12

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable federal income tax for working individuals and families that is intended to ______.

A) encourage people to work
B) reduce the culture of poverty
C) encourage people to file income taxes
D) reduce the TANF caseload

Question 13

The Gini coefficient measures ______.

A) tax rates
B) income inequality
C) poverty rates
D) welfare spending

Question 14

By the year 2037, it is estimated that only ______ workers will be paying for each Social Security beneficiary.

A) four
B) three
C) two
D) five

Question 15

The welfare reform act of 1996 (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]) emphasized ______.

A) personal responsibility and subsidies for the elderly
B) welfare subsidies for families with children and children's health care
C) personal responsibility and work for those receiving subsidies
D) expansion of the federal food assistance programs

Question 16

______ is the largest expenditure for a domestic program in the United States.

A) Social Security
B) Education
C) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
D) Environment

Question 17

Which new program, enacted in 1996, ended the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program?

A) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
B) Federal Anti-Poverty Program
C) National Unemployment Aid Program
D) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Question 18

With the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program became ______.

A) work for impoverished families
B) welfare to work
C) temporary assistance for needy families
D) subsidy for needy children

Question 19

Recent changes to Social Security mean that individuals can retire with full benefits at age ______.

A) 67
B) 63
C) 65
D) 62

Question 20

Privatization of Social Security is one of the major proposals for reform. Privatization refers to ______.

A) the government contracts with private organizations to manage the trust fund
B) private individuals are responsible to monitor the benefits for which they are eligible
C) the federal government subsidizes poor individuals who have worked in the private sector
D) the government provides funds to individuals that they are responsible to invest

Question 21

One of the major criticisms of the federal poverty level is that ______.

A) it is too high
B) its benefit calculation formula is seriously outdated and has been used since the 1950s
C) it doesn't take into account the "culture of poverty"
D) it relies too heavily on the Gini coefficient

Question 22

Poverty in the United States came to a head during ______.

A) 1950s
B) 1960s
C) 1970s
D) 1980s

Question 23

Welfare programs consume enormous amounts of public funding during a time of recession. Other than cutting benefits and restricting eligibility, what is the most effective long-term method a government can use to reduce the spending on these programs?

A) consolidate all of the subsidy programs
B) get the economy growing again, so that fewer people will need the benefit
C) reduce fraud and waste in current programs
D) expand benefits of these programs

Question 24

The main problem with the social security program is that ______.

A) it will soon run out of money since, as a welfare program, it is politically unpopular
B) it will soon run out of money to pay benefits because too few workers will be paying into the system
C) it will soon run out of money; it's financed through taxes at a time when governments are reducing taxes
D) it will soon run out of money because of the increase in employed workers trying to access benefits

Question 25

For 2016, the federal government placed a family of four below the poverty line if its annual income was less than ______ in the 48 contiguous states.

A) 24,300
B) 26,800
C) 30,300
D) 35,000

Question 26

Children make up only 25% of the population, but they comprise ______% of the nation's poor.
A. 15
B. 35
C. 46
D. 55

Question 27

One of the major criticisms of the Federal Poverty Level is that ______.

A) it is too high
B) its benefit calculation formula is seriously outdated and has been used since the 1950s
C) it doesn't take into account the "culture of poverty"
D) it relies too heavily on the "Gini" coefficient

Question 28

Which statement describes how most welfare programs are financed and implemented?

A) The federal government provides much of the funding and state governments manage the programs.
B) State governments provide funding for the programs that are managed by the federal government.
C) States fund and manage the programs.
D) The federal government funds and manages the programs.

Question 29

Over the past two decades, which statement best describes the income distribution of U.S. citizens?

A) Income has become more equitably distributed.
B) Income has become more concentrated in the hands of fewer wealthy individuals.
C) Income quintiles have declined.
D) The Gini coefficient has declined.

Question 30

One major criticism of the welfare reform programs enacted during Clinton administration in the late 1990s is that the program ______.

A) has led to more welfare fraud
B) has not lifted people out of poverty due to low wages
C) requires people to work, a politically unpopular requirement
D) immediately led to dramatically increased welfare caseloads in states

Question 31

Political perspectives on the root causes of poverty vary. Conservatives tend to see poverty as a result of ______, while liberals are more likely to believe that poverty is the result of ______.

A) personal choice; economic and social conditions outside of one's control
B) welfare programs; a lack of government programs
C) government; corporations
D) a lack of education; a lack of equal opportunity

Question 32

Which of the following is currently a "means-tested" program?

A) social security
B) welfare
C) Medicare
D) farm subsidies

Question 33

The current social security program, financed by payroll taxes, is capped at just over US$118,500 of income. This is an example of ______.

A) a regressive tax
B) an unfunded mandate
C) a progressive tax
D) privatization

Question 34

When it comes to reforming Social Security financing, most objections raised by interest groups on both sides have to do with the evaluative criterion of ______.

A) effectiveness
B) technical feasibility
C) equity
D) buoyancy

Question 35

Which of the following describes what is known about the effectiveness of the TANF legislation?

A) It has reduced poverty for minorities.
B) It has reduced the number of people receiving welfare but had an unclear impact on numbers in poverty.
C) It led to a consistent decline in the child poverty level.
D) All of these.

Question 36

Put the following demographic groups in descending order of poverty rate (i.e., highest rate listed first, lowest rate last).

A) older adults, children, adults (age 18-64)
B) children, older adults, adults (age 18-64)
C) adults (age 18-64), children, older adults
D) children, adults (age 18-64), older adults

Question 37

The primary goal of all welfare and social security programs is to ______.

A) create higher wage jobs for the poor
B) reduce the number of people living in poverty
C) assist people to obtain adequate and affordable housing
D) reduce unemployment

Question 38

Social Security would typically be categorized as what type of federal spending?

A) entitlement
B) discretionary
C) interest
D) defense

Question 39

Welfare programs consume enormous amounts of public funding during a time of recession. Which of the following would lead to the largest reduction in costs of these programs?

A) consolidate all of the welfare subsidy programs
B) get the economy growing again, so that fewer people will need the benefit
C) reduce fraud and waste in current programs
D) expand benefits of these programs

Question 40

One of the major risks that opponents criticize regarding the proposal to partially privatize Social Security funding is that ______.

A) employers may fail to participate
B) individuals may not make wise investment choices for the money they are responsible to invest
C) too many individuals will participate, leading to a breakdown of the system
D) the federal government will not be able to fund even the smaller portion for which it is responsible

Question 41

______ means that those brought up in poverty learn how to be poor and work the current system to their benefit and that they choose to remain poor as adults.

Question 42

Programs that require someone to have a low income in order to participate are known as ______.

Question 43

The ______ is a measure of the income distribution in a country.

Question 44

While the privatization of Social Security has received a lot of attention and support, others oppose privatization. Discuss the pros and cons of this proposal.

Question 45

______ is the name of the major welfare program formerly known as the Food Stamp program.

Question 46

Why has there been such difference of opinion regarding entitlement programs such as Social Security and welfare? Identify which program has been popular and largely successful and which is seen as the opposite and explain the reasons.

Question 47

The ______ category posits that if an individual is receiving benefits, certain family members such as a spouse or children may also be eligible for benefits.

Question 48

Should the retirement age for Social Security be increased? Provide reasons that are used to justify both sides of this proposal, that is, in support of and against.

Question 49

The federal ______ refers to the lowest possible hourly salary that an employer can pay an employee.

Question 50

The major interest group representing seniors is ______.

Question 51

______ refers to increases made to the amount of Social Security benefits paid to an eligible individual based on inflation and increasing costs of basic goods.

Question 52

The Social Security Administration also administers the ______.

Question 53

The Social Security tax is capped at an annual income of ______.

Question 54

The ______ supplements wages of the working poor to lift recipients out of poverty.

Question 55

What is meant by "culture of poverty"?

Question 56

Social Security is often referred to as the political ______.

Question 57

Should the Social Security payroll tax be capped or limited to the first US$118,500 of wages? Provide reasons that are used to justify both sides of this proposal, that is, in support of and against.

Question 58

Describe two ways that can be used to measure poverty, the new measure that has been proposed, and implications of implementing a new measure of poverty.

Question 59

Social Security and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families are a form of program called ______, since people who meet eligibility criteria can receive benefits.

Question 60

Social Security is typically classified as a ______.

Question 61

Explain the two major perspectives on the causes of poverty. What implications do these perspectives have on preferred policy options?

Question 62

Discuss the economic, effectiveness, equity, and political issues of President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security financing.

Question 63

Has welfare reform been a success? Discuss the program's goals and what it intended to accomplish. Can the success or failure of the program be attributed to the welfare reform law? What other issues should be examined?

Question 64

Analyze the reasons for the growing income gap between the wealthy and poor in the United States. Discuss the major policy proposal that was recently proposed by President Obama to reduce this gap.