FAMILIES & POVERTY
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Transcript of FAMILIES & POVERTY
FAMILIES & POVERTY
Family Sociology – Professor Connie Gager
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129914145
Families & Poverty Despite many initiatives and billions of
dollars, the percentage of people living below poverty has changed little over the past 30 years
1969 13.71979 12.41989 13.11998 12.72001 11.72003 12.42004 12.72007 12.52008 13.22010 14.3
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
Poverty in the U.S.
Median household income in the United States fell 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303.
This breaks a string of three years of annual income increases and coincides with the recession that started in December 2007.
Meanwhile, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008, while the percentage remained unchanged at 15.4 percent.
Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/014227.html
Your likelihood of being poor, receiving welfare, and having health insurance is associated with your race and ethnicity
Non-Hispanic White Families
9.4 percent living below poverty
Asians American Families
12.5 percent living below poverty
Non-Hispanic African American Families
25.4 percent living below poverty
Hispanic Families 25.3 percent living
below poverty
Poverty by Race/Ethnicity
Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/014227.html
Median Family Income Increased
Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en. Retrieved 06/24/08.
How do we measure Median Family Income?
Median family income reflects the income level at which one-half of all families in the U.S. earn more, and one-half earn less.
Race and Ethnicity of Parents Receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families 2002
Source: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/annualreport6/chapter10/10figbdata.htm
American Indian/Alask
an Native, 1.6
White, 31.6
Hispanic, 24.9
African American,
38.3
FAMILIES, PUBLIC POLICY, & POVERTY
How do we define poverty?How would you calculate the line that separates the poor from the nonpoor?Who are the deserving poor and why has the definition changed?Who is more likely to be in poverty today – children or the elderly?CHILDREN – they cannot work and they cannot vote
How Do We Define Poverty?
The official poverty level established by the United States Government.
How would you go about calculating or estimating who is poor an who isn’t?
Where would you draw the line?
How Do We Define Poverty?
Poverty thresholds were developed in 1963-1964 by Mollie Orshansky, a home economist at the Social Security administration.
Based on the estimated cost of an “economy food budget” multiplied by 3 (assuming that food constitutes 1/3 of a family’s budget).
The economy food budget was “designed for temporary or emergency use when funds are low.”
It include powdered milk, canned food, few fresh vegetables and fruits
How Do We Define Poverty?
Poverty thresholds define the poverty level Used for statistical purposes – to show
poverty over time Adjusted for:
family size number of children under 18 years of age annually based on changes in the cost of living
Problems with this definition Families living below poverty have inadequate
incomes Families just above line still teetering on the edge
How Do We Define Poverty?
Poverty guidelines Issued each year by the Dept. of Health
and Human Services. Used for administrative purposes -- for
instance determining who is eligible for federal programs like: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or welfare.
Poverty Guidelines for Recent Years*
Year First Four Person Each Add’l Person Family Person 1992 $6,810 $13,950 $2,380 1996 $7,740 $15,600 $2,620 1998 $8,050 $16,450 $2,800 2000 $8,350 $17,050 $2,900 2004 $9,310 $18,850 $3,180
2010 $10,830 $22,050 $3,740* for the 48 contiguous states and D.C.Source: Department of Health and Human Services http://www.os.dhhs.gov
Can a family live on this?
Think about a family of 3 – a mother with two children) who are the typical family who receives welfare
Think about rent, electricity, transportation, food, clothes for growing children etc.
The Deserving Poor
Michael Katz – studies history of poverty in the U.S.
He argues that there have always been a group of people called the deserving poor – they deserve to get assistance from the government
They are poor through no fault of their own Prior to the 1970s, this group included the:
Aged Children Female headed families (through widowhood)
The Deserving Poor
Now the deserving poor are only Aged Children Disabled/mentally challenged The deserving poor no longer
includes single mothers because they came to be perceived as poor because they made bad choices – i.e. had a child outside of marriage
Shift from single motherhood due to widowhood vs. single motherhood due to nonmarital birth
Why are Families Poor?
Underclass Thesis William Julius Wilson – The Truly
Disadvantaged Economic, structural argument Blames changes in the economic system for
creation of the underclass Deindustrialization, change from
manufacturing to service–oriented jobs – and then most industry went oversees
Decline in real male wages
Underclass Thesis
William Julius Wilson – The Truly Disadvantaged
Definition of the Underclass: Wilson describes the underclass as a
subpopulation of low-income individuals who behavior contrasts sharply with that of mainstream U.S. society
The underclass are the result of economic changes especially decreased blue collar jobs in the northeast and midwest, as companies have moved south or overseas
Underclass Thesis
Definition of the Underclass: Underclass inhabit inner city
neighborhoods characterized by high rates of:1) inner-city joblessness 2) teenage pregnancy3) births to unmarried women4) welfare dependency 5) female-headed families6) serious crime
Truly Disadvantaged
In sum, Wilson blames the system for poverty
People are poor because of changes in the economy of U.S.
Blames the system not individuals for being poor
Summary
About 14.3 percent of the U.S. population lives below the official poverty line
The poverty rate is calculated as three time the cost of a MINIMUM ADEQUATE diet per month
Thus, the poverty line is set artificially low High rates of poverty and unemployment
indicate a systemic problem People are poor due to problems in the
economy and society