Deck 10: Poverty and Public Policy

Question 1

"Means-tested" public assistance programs are ______.

A) only available to people with income below a specified threshold
B) only available to middle-income families once low-income families have received help
C) only available to people whose net worth is below a certain threshold
D) only found in Western European countries

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) would be an example of a(n) ______.

A) entitlement program
B) means-tested program
C) public assistance program
D) all of these

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following programs were initiated during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations?

A) Medicare
B) Medicaid
C) the food stamp program
D) all of these

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which individual, working as an economist with the Social Security Administration in 1974, developed a measure of poverty that would become the official federal standard?

A) Mark Orshansky
B) Mollie Orshansky
C) Mary O'Neil
D) Martin Simpson

Question 5

By 2018, the poverty line for a family of four was about ______.

A) $16,000
B) $20,000
C) $22,000
D) $25,000

Question 6

The most powerful anti-poverty program for seniors is ______.

A) public assistance
B) Medicaid
C) Social Security
D) Earned Income Tax Credit

Question 7

Many Americans experience poverty temporarily due to ______.

A) parking tickets
B) physical injury
C) illegal immigration
D) welfare fraud

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT one of the three factors that may help us account for the current rate of poverty?

A) economic change
B) a society-wide revolution in family patterns
C) shifts in federal policy
D) the increase in the number of poor immigrants

Question 9

When was the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) enacted?

A) late 1970s
B) late 1960s
C) early 1990s
D) early 1950s

Question 10

President Lyndon Johnson identified his ______ as one of the top priorities of his administration.

A) New Deal
B) Brave New World
C) War on Poverty
D) War on Drugs

Question 11

Using government statistics for 2018, we learn all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A) a high proportion of the poor are children
B) a high proportion of the poor are elderly
C) there are many more White poor than Black or Hispanic poor
D) the majority of the poor are spread out among suburbs, small towns, and rural areas

Question 12

The highest unemployment rate the United States suffered during the Great Recession was ______.

A) 25%
B) 20%
C) 15%
D) 10%

Question 13

Which one of the following is NOT a policy the American government could choose to adopt that would help decrease persistent poverty?

A) provide quality child care for free or at a low cost
B) provide free postsecondary education
C) maintain the minimum wage at its current rate
D) increasing the EITC program

Question 14

What established a national social insurance program?

A) 1935 Social Security Act
B) 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
C) Aid to Families with Dependent Children
D) New Deal

Question 15

What type of public assistance programs is only available to people with incomes below a specified threshold?

A) entitlement
B) earned
C) means-tested
D) welfare

Question 16

What did Mollie Orshansky, an economist with the Social Security Administration, develop a measure of?

A) food insecurity
B) poverty
C) homelessness
D) welfare rates

Question 17

What programs did the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act scale back or replace?

A) Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
B) food stamps
C) Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
D) all of these

Question 18

What resulted from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act?

A) Persistent poverty levels decreased.
B) fewer people on welfare
C) The proportion of out-of-wedlock births fell.
D) Marriage rates increased.

Question 19

Aside from Social Security, the largest single federal outlay on behalf of the poor is ______.

A) food stamps
B) Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
C) Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
D) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Question 20

In November 2007, before the Great Recession, the unemployment rate was ______.

A) 2.2%
B) 3.7%
C) 4.6%
D) 8%

Question 21

In 1996, AFDC lost its entitlement status and became known as ______.

A) Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
B) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
C) Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
D) food stamps

Question 22

What is not one of the main reasons people fall into poverty in any given year?

A) job loss
B) eviction
C) physical injury
D) divorce

Question 23

The beginnings of welfare, or direct relief, came under which administration?

A) Franklin D. Roosevelt
B) John F. Kennedy
C) Bill Clinton
D) George W. Bush

Question 24

In 1996, TANF replaced what program?

A) food stamps
B) Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
C) Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
D) Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Question 25

Approximately what percentage of American children live in food insecure households?

A) 5%
B) 10%
C) 15%
D) 20%

Question 26

The official poverty line is adjusted annually for inflation and takes into account standard of living.

Question 27

By 2018, the poverty line for a family of four was about $35,000.

Question 28

The official poverty measure probably underestimates the number of Americans in poverty.

Question 29

There are many more White poor than Black or Hispanic poor.

Question 30

Only a minority of the poor live in suburbs, small towns, and rural areas; the majority live in the central cities of metropolitan areas.

Question 31

Divorce and unwed motherhood are no longer stigmatized as they once were.

Question 32

According to 2018 data, between 10 and 15 million Americans are poor.

Question 33

The welfare reform of 1996 has been highly successful in reducing poverty.

Question 34

The most powerful anti-poverty program for seniors is Social Security.

Question 35

The research of Ornati and Rainwater supported the idea that a minimum living standard is relative.

Question 36

The labor market has improved somewhat for women.

Question 37

The Earned Income Tax Credit became the biggest cash transfer program for needy parents and children.

Question 38

Great Recession followed the same pattern as seen in 20th-century recessions.

Question 39

"Food insecurity" remained stable between 2007 and 2012.

Question 40

Using the relative poverty standard, approximately one in five Americans is poor.

Question 41

By the comprehensive SPM measure of poverty, 1.6 million Americans were in deep poverty in 2018.

Question 42

The per capita output of the American economy has nearly doubled since 1975.

Question 43

Almost 15% of children live in food insecure households in the United States.

Question 44

Over 100 million Americans were poor in 2018 according to federal definitions.

Question 45

Most sociologists believe that the government should adopt an explicitly relative poverty standard that would change with the changes in the average standard of living.

Question 46

Explain the formula used by the federal government to determine the number of poor in the United States.

Question 47

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act was passed in 1996. What changes in which programs occurred as a result of this legislation?

Question 48

"Welfare" started with FDR's administration. Explain this.

Question 49

List three policies that could be adopted by the American government that would decrease persistent poverty. Explain how each of the policies would achieve that goal. Use concrete examples wherever possible.

Question 50

How does the poverty rate change based on what standard is used?