Deck 30: Income Distribution and Poverty

Question 1

Perhaps the biggest problem that is faced by those administering workfare programs is

A)that most of the people on welfare are not highly employable.
B)too much money is allocated for education and training.
C)that welfare recipients have no incentive to work.
D)the states are not required to follow any guidelines in administering the program.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

A family of four with one wage earner who earns the minimum hourly wage would be

A)well below the poverty line.
B)slightly below the poverty line.
C)slightly above the poverty line.
D)well above the poverty line.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Charles Murray believed that the antipoverty programs of the 1960s and 1970s

A)drastically reduced the level of poverty.
B)slightly reduced the level of poverty.
C)had no impact on the level of poverty.
D)caused more poverty.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The main reason that college graduates earn more than high school dropouts is

A)the college graduate has learned very useful skills in college.
B)the college graduate has the personal characteristics that are useful in today's job market.
C)they have better connections.
D)they are virtually guaranteed good jobs when they graduate.

Question 5

In the 1960s and 1970s there was a large-scale

A)influx of middle-and working-class blacks into the ghettos.
B)outflow of middle-and working-class blacks from the ghettos.
C)movement of middle-and working-class blacks within the ghettos to better housing,but no large-scale movement into or out of the ghetto.

Question 6

Which statement are false?

A)Crime and drugs are central to the ghetto culture.
B)Ghetto residents are more likely to be street crime victims than middle class people.
C)A basic way to reduce crime would be to alleviate poverty.
D)None of the statements is false.

Question 7

Which statement is false?

A)Most poor women who get pregnant do so to get on welfare.
B)Most long-term poor people are black.
C)The causes of black poverty are not always the same as those of white poverty.
D)None of the statements are false.

Question 8

Which statement is true?

A)Employment discrimination plays virtually no role in determining the distribution of income.
B)Training,education,and intelligence play a very large role in determining the distribution of income.
C)In our society,it's basically who you know,rather than what you know that determines the distribution of income.
D)None of the statements is true.

Question 9

The rich receive _____ all property income.

A)nearly
B)about one-half of
C)about one-quarter of
D)a very small percentage of

Question 10

If getting people off welfare could be described as a carrot-and-stick approach,it would be fair to say that

A)liberals and conservatives both favor the stick.
B)liberals and conservatives both favor the carrot.
C)liberals favor the carrot and conservatives favor the stick.
D)liberals favor the stick and conservatives favor the carrot.

Question 11

Most Americans agree that

A)a certain amount of income redistribution is called for.
B)absolutely no income redistribution should be carried out.
C)we need completely equal distribution of income.

Question 12

About 1 out of every _____ black Americans is poor.

A)12
B)7
C)4
D)2

Question 13

Which statement are true?

A)There is no evidence whatsoever to support the contention that women,blacks,Hispanics,and other minorities are victims of employment discrimination.
B)The relatively lower wages earned by women and minorities can be explained entirely by employment discrimination.
C)The poverty of women,blacks,and Hispanics can be explained almost entirely by their low earnings.
D)None of the statements is true.

Question 14

Which statement is false?

A)During the Great Depression millions of working-class and middle-class people demanded welfare payments.
B)Until the 1930s the prevalent theory of poverty was that the poor were lazy.
C)The heritage of slavery theory explains most poverty in this country.
D)None of the statements are false.

Question 15

Each of the following has contributed to the growing number of homeless people except

A)the rising crime rate.
B)gentrification of the cities.
C)the decline in the number of entry-level factory jobs.
D)the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill.
E)the decline in the availability of cheap housing.

Question 16

Since 1960 the distribution of income in the United States has

A)become more equal.
B)become less equal.
C)remained about the same.

Question 17

Which statement are true?

A)There are at least a dozen different theories of poverty.
B)The liberals and conservatives are in basic agreement about the causes of poverty.
C)The liberals and conservatives are in basic agreement about how to solve the poverty problem.
D)None of the statements is true.

Question 18

Traditionally blacks have earned about _______% of what whites have earned.

A)20
B)40
C)60
D)80

Question 19

Which statement about public assistance is false?

A)It is aimed solely at the poor.
B)It has failed completely.
C)It has not ended poverty.
D)It has fostered a permanent underclass.

Question 20

The typical public assistance grant in the United States

A)leaves the family well below the poverty line.
B)leaves the family just below the poverty line.
C)puts the family just above the poverty line.
D)puts the family well above the poverty line.

Question 21

Which group has the highest poverty rate from among these groups?

A)Children under 18
B)Persons over 65
C)White males
D)Members of working class families

Question 22

William Gates and Warren Buffet,each has a personal fortune worth more than

A)$45 million.
B)$5 billion.
C)$45 billion.
D)$400 billion.

Question 23

The poverty line in 2008 for a family of four was slightly more than $_____.

A)9,500
B)14,750
C)22,000
D)26,500
E)31,350

Question 24

Which statement is true?

A)The lower incomes that women earn relative to those earned by men is explained entirely by employment discrimination.
B)Although there are many theories of poverty,few have any validity.
C)Much of black poverty is caused by black male joblessness.
D)None of the statements are true.

Question 25

A study by Kathryn Edin and Laura Lein found that

A)virtually all single mothers-whether working or receiving public assistance-had to supplement their income with money from relatives,boyfriends,or the absent father of their children.
B)most welfare families lived very comfortably on their public assistance checks,supplemented by Medicaid,public housing,and food stamps.
C)only half the number of Americans officially below the poverty line were actually poor.
D)government assistance hurt the poor much more than it helped the poor.

Question 26

The conservative theory of poverty blames _____ for welfare dependency.

A)the poor
B)the government
C)both the poor and the government
D)neither the poor nor the government

Question 27

Which goes exclusively to the poor?

A)Medicaid
B)Medicare
C)Social Security
D)Unemployment insurance benefits

Question 28

Which statement is true?

A)Income is fairly evenly distributed in the U.S.
B)The richest 1% of our population has nearly 50% of the income.
C)The percentage of Americans below the poverty line has been falling steadily (except for recession)since the 1950s.
D)Eleven percent of the children under six living in a two parent home are poor.

Question 29

Which statement is true?

A)The poverty line is raised each year.
B)The poverty line is lowered each year.
C)The poverty line stays the same from one year to the next.
D)None of the statements are true.

Question 30

Which statement are false?

A)The unemployment rate for blacks has consistently been double that of whites.
B)The largest source of income is property income.
C)Women have traditionally earned 60% of what men have earned.
D)None of the statements is false.

Question 31

Which statement is true?

A)Blacks have a lower poverty rate than Hispanics.
B)Blacks have a poverty rate of about three times that of whites.
C)Members of white families headed by females have a higher poverty rate than all black families.
D)None of the statements are true.

Question 32

Lorenz curves tell us about the

A)absolute distribution of income.
B)poverty line.
C)incidence of malnutrition.
D)relative distribution of income.
E)inverse relationship between price and the quantity demanded.

Question 33

Which statement is false?

A)The poverty rate was lower in 2009 than it was in 2000.
B)The poverty rate for children under 18 is higher than the poverty rate for people over 65.
C)The poverty rate today is higher than it was in 2006.
D)The poverty rate for Hispanics is three times that of whites.

Question 34

Between 1960 and 1973 the poverty rate _____________;between 1973 and 1983 the poverty rate ________________.

A)rose;rose
B)fell;fell
C)rose;fell
D)fell;rose

Question 35

Conservatives and liberals ___ on the causes of poverty and ___ on how to solve the poverty problem.

A)agree;agree
B)agree;disagree
C)disagree;agree
D)disagree;disagree

Question 36

The lowest two-fifths of our population receives about _______% of our total income.

A)5
B)9
C)12
D)18
E)25

Question 37

Which statement is true?

A)Virtually all of the poor receive public assistance,but not food stamps.
B)Virtually all of the poor receive food stamps,but not public assistance.
C)Virtually all of the poor receive public assistance and food stamps.
D)None of the statements are true.

Question 38

Of every 10 female-headed households with children under 6,over _____ have an income nearly below the poverty line.

A)2.4
B)4.1
C)5.3
D)8.7

Question 39

Which statement is true?

A)College graduates earn much more than high school graduates mainly because of what they learn in college.
B)The bulk of all property income goes to the middle class.
C)Most government transfer payments go to the poor.
D)The bulk of all property income goes to the rich.

Question 40

The lowest the poverty rate has been during the last 50 years was in

A)1960.
B)1967.
C)1973.
D)1979.
E)1988.

Question 41

Which statement is true?

A)There is no one single cause of homelessness.
B)Most of the homeless have jobs.
C)There are fewer Americans homeless than ten years ago.
D)People are homeless because they want to be.

Question 42

If we were on curve J,the lowest three quintiles received about _______% of income.

A)20
B)40
C)50
D)60
E)80

Question 43

The line of perfect income equality is

A)X.
B)Y.
C)Z.
D)not shown on this graph.

Question 44

The percentage share of income of the top quintile on curve X is

A)27.
B)45.
C)55.
D)73.
E)80.

Question 45

The percentage share of income of the bottom quintile on curve X is

A)0.
B)5.
C)10.
D)15.
E)20.

Question 46

The Lorenz curve showing perfect income equality would be

A)I.
B)J.
C)K.
D)L.
E)M.

Question 47

Since 1973 the incidence of poverty has generally increased for

A)children.
B)the elderly.
C)married couples.
D)All of the choices are true.

Question 48

If we were on Lorenz curve M,the top income quintile receives about _______% of income.

A)24
B)40
C)58
D)80
E)There is not enough information.

Question 49

If the value of non-cash assistance to the poor were included in their income

A)the official number of persons classified as poor would be higher.
B)the official number of persons classified as poor would be lower.
C)the poverty income threshold would decrease.
D)the poverty income threshold would increase.
E)there would be no effect on the official number of persons classified as poor.

Question 50

During the decade of the 1980s our Lorenz curve

A)moved inward,toward the line of perfect equality.
B)moved outward,away from the line of perfect equality.
C)stayed about the same distance from the line of perfect equality.
D)crossed the line of perfect equality.
E)became the line of perfect equality.

Question 51

If we were on curve K,the upper two quintiles received about _______% of income.

A)25
B)35
C)45
D)55
E)65

Question 52

Because the value of non-cash benefits to the poor is not counted when calculating the official poverty rate in the U.S. ,the official statistics

A)underestimate the poverty rate.
B)overstate the real income of the poor.
C)accurately measure the poverty rate.
D)overestimate the poverty rate.

Question 53

Which statement is true?

A)Income is more evenly distributed along curve X than curve Y.
B)Income is more evenly distributed along curve Y than curve X.
C)Income is equally distributed along curves X and Y.
D)It is impossible to determine income distribution by observing these curves.

Question 54

If we were on curve K,the poorest quintile received about _______% of income.

A)3
B)6
C)13
D)20
E)There is not enough information.

Question 55

According to official statistics in the United States,a person is classified as poor

A)if the person's money income is below the poverty income threshold.
B)only if the person's money income is below the poverty income threshold AND the person is not working.
C)only if the person's money income is below the poverty income threshold AND the person is homeless.
D)if the person's money income and the value of non-cash transfers is below the poverty income thresholD.

Question 56

"In-kind" rather than cash transfer payments are represented by

A)public assistance payments.
B)unemployment insurance benefits.
C)social Security benefits.
D)the negative income tax.
E)food stamps.

Question 57

In determining the number of persons who are poor in the U.S.when calculating family income

A)only earnings are counted.
B)only earnings are counted,while cash transfers from the government are excluded.
C)money income,including cash transfers received from the government,is counted.
D)both earnings and the value of medical services,food stamps,and housing received are counteD.

Question 58

In which of the following groups of people in the U.S.would the incidence of poverty be the greatest?

A)Black families with a female head
B)All families of seven or more members
C)Farmers and farm laborers
D)Families whose head is age 65 or over

Question 59

A tax that fell very heavily on the rich and the upper middle class might shift the Lorenz curve from

A)J to K.
B)K to L.
C)L to K.
D)I to J.
E)J to I.

Question 60

The Lorenz curve shows the distribution of

A)wealth.
B)income.
C)poverty.
D)jobs.
E)unemployment.

Question 61

William Julius Wilson believes that the rise of black urban poverty was caused by each of the following except

A)the rise of welfare dependency.
B)racism.
C)the decline of smokestack industries.
D)the exodus from the ghettos of the black middle and working classes.

Question 62

The argument that money should be given instead of in-kind help to welfare recipients is based on the idea that

A)welfare recipients cannot be trusted to use the in-kind help properly.
B)in-kind help is not wanted.
C)money allows more options and maximizes individual freedom.
D)in-kind assistance does not go through the market system.

Question 63

The government defines the poverty line as

A)the lowest income quintile (20%).
B)those receiving public assistance or eligible for public assistance.
C)anyone who does not have to pay federal income tax.
D)a minimum dollar amount of income,depending on family size.

Question 64

The poverty line is higher than the welfare eligibility income in

A)no states.
B)a few states.
C)most states.
D)all states.

Question 65

Statement I.There is no basis for saying that in the U.S.the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
Statement II.The U.S.has one of the most equal distributions of income in the world.

A)Statement I is true and statement II is false.
B)Statement II is true and statement I is false.
C)Both statements are true.
D)Both statements are false.

Question 66

Since 1994 the number of people on the welfare rolls has

A)risen substantially.
B)risen slightly.
C)stayed about the same.
D)fallen slightly.
E)fallen substantially.

Question 67

Cutting the poor off welfare is

A)the liberal position.
B)the conservative position.
C)both the liberal and the conservative position.
D)neither the liberal nor the conservative position.

Question 68

In general in the U.S. ,persons classified as poor have money income that amounts to

A)less than half the median income.
B)three quarters of the median income.
C)the median income.
D)half the median income.

Question 69

The U.S.poverty rate over the last 10 years has been between _______%.

A)6-11
B)11-16
C)16-21
D)21-26
E)26-31

Question 70

What fraction of the world's population lives on no more than $2 a day?

A)1/10
B)1/4
C)1/2
D)3/4
E)9/10

Question 71

Government assistance to the poor in the United States

A)has eliminated poverty in the nation.
B)is available to all persons whose income is below the poverty income threshold.
C)is available in most cases only to the poor who are elderly,disabled,or families with children.
D)is always in the form of cash.

Question 72

Which of the following groups has the lowest median income in the United States?

A)Married couples with both spouses working
B)Female-headed families with no husband present
C)Male-headed families with no wife present
D)Married couple families with the wife not working

Question 73

If a nation's Lorenz curve lies on the line of income equality

A)proportionately more of the nation's income is received by the lowest 20% of families than the highest 20%.
B)income is unequally distributed.
C)proportionately more of the nation's income is received by the highest 20% of families than the lowest 20%.
D)the income received by each 20% of families is 20% of the total income.

Question 74

Which statement is true?

A)Poor people generally receive Social Security benefits.
B)Medicaid is an "in-kind" benefit paid to poor people.
C)Nearly all of the poor receive public assistance.
D)None of the statements are true.

Question 75

The person most closely associated with a conservative theory of poverty is

A)Charles Murray.
B)William Julius Wilson.
C)Frances Fox Piven.
D)Barbara Ehrenreich.
E)Michael Harrington.

Question 76

The poverty line

A)is shifted downward from year-to-year.
B)is constant.
C)is raised from year-to-year.
D)is tied to the unemployment rate.

Question 77

Statement I: The number of people receiving public assistance remained very steady from 1975 to 1992.
Statement II: Public assistance payments are virtually the same in all states.

A)Statement I is true and statement II is false.
B)Statement II is true and statement I is false.
C)Both statements are true.
D)Both statements are false.

Question 78

Which statement is true?

A)Welfare payments are set by the federal government and are the same for all states.
B)Only the industrial states of the northeast,Midwest,and the far west have welfare programs.
C)Most people receiving welfare benefits are black.
D)Each state sets its own welfare payments.

Question 79

Poverty is

A)an absolute,not a relative concept.
B)a relative concept,not an absolute.
C)both an absolute and a relative concept.
D)neither an absolute nor a relative concept.

Question 80

The maximum welfare benefit levels in most states

A)by law are 1.5 times the poverty income threshold.
B)by law must equal the poverty income threshold.
C)are significantly above the poverty income threshold.
D)are significantly below the poverty income thresholD.