DEFINING POVERTY

SLWK 710Class 3

Assignment, website, and readings..

1st-topics for essays 2nd-idea for your final paper 3rd-Discussion: What are some lessons learned re:

websites 4th -The challenge of defining US Family poverty….How did

you approach this? Quantitatively, social construction, relative vs absolute…implications of poverty

5th http://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-money/

marketplace-money-friday-october-5-2012-50  http://

www.marketplace.org/topics/wealth-poverty/could-you-live-438-week

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html-20

PovertyWe all have ‘em…. What are your

assumptions about poverty?

We discussed this last class-how does our clinical expertise, give us a “leg up” on policy development?

Take out paper and you define poverty….hang on to it.

PovertyFamilies and children are defined as poor if family income is below the federal poverty threshold. The federal poverty level for a family of four with two children was $22,350 in 2011, $22,050 in 2010, and $22,050 in 2009.

A 2008 Pew poll found that 40% of Americans with incomes below $20,000 – roughly equivalent to the poverty line –

http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/tools-for-advocates/guides/federal-poverty-guidelines.html

Poverty How was the poverty line developed? The poverty thresholds were originally developed in 1963-1964

by Mollie Orshansky of the Social Security Administration.  

Orshansky took the dollar costs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s economy food plan for families of three or more persons and multiplied the costs by a factor of three.  Orshansky used a factor of three because the Agriculture Department’s 1955 Household Food Consumption Survey found that for families of three or more persons, the average dollar value of all food used during a week accounted for about one third of their total money income after taxes.

There are SEVERAL assumptions associated with the way in which Orshansky came up with the policy issue of defining poverty. Can you name a few? Why are they important?

Poverty threshold

Most Americans (58.5%) will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point between ages 25 and 75. Poverty rates are persistently higher in rural and inner city parts of the country as compared to suburban areas

Make it real

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/wealth-poverty/could-you-live-438-week

What’s the implication of the fact below?

People living in poverty tend to be clustered in certain neighborhoods

rather than being evenly distributed across geographic areas.

Poverty in America: What would you do?

What do you think are the major reasons families are poor in America?  

What is the single most effective way for individuals in America to move out of poverty?

If you found yourself as a head of family living below the poverty line, what are the major policy issues that you think would be the most impactful to you and your family? 

If you found yourself as a head of family living below the poverty line, what intervention or program do you think would be most critical to support your family?

Questions

What are your assumptions about poverty?

How does this impact the way you would frame policy around poverty issues?

How does the idea of “preferences” impact the way in which those you define as poor?

How you would guide poor clients in daily decision making as it relates to their preferences?

Framing the same concept in vastly different ways

Building an argument based on confronting stereotypes re: haves/have-nots (heritage think tank)

Defining poverty through the eyes of upward mobility.

Break into groups – argue the points from each side.

Make your argument. Debate what the others point of view misses.

What is the American Dream? And does it really exist?

Rosling uses data to make connections about poverty, health care and economics – globally.

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html

Government involvement

When does it make sense for government to be involved?

What are the implications of this?

When does it make sense for the market to allocate resources?

What are the implications of this?

Redistribution

Medicare and Social Security – socialist programs

Tax collectionBenefits to the poorDividing the economic pieIncome distribution in the USWealth and poverty – relative socially

constructed term

Defining/Framing Poverty

How did you define poverty?How is poverty a social constructed term?

Is it more important to define poverty quantitatively or relatively?

Policy Making

Does information lead to good policy making?

Affirmative Action (10 interviewees)Hiring man vs. women (logic)Criminal background checks (stereotypes)

Health care

Government’s roleInsurance company’s roleIncentives to doctors by insurance companiesThe problem of denying coverage for pre-

existing conditions… how do you resolve from a market or a government standpoint? (best time to buy insurance)

What do you think is the ideal role of government and market?

Why?

Racial Profiling

Is it hate or an information issue?9-11Weighing the pros and cons from an

economic standpoint

Why are some rich and some poor?

1 in 5 children are poor35% of black children are poorHow does one attain human capital? Does it

separate the haves from the have nots? How?Skills/Talents that are scarce vs. plentifulPoverty rate for HS drop outs is 12x higher

than those with a diploma