Chapter 2

Question 1

Absolute Poverty

Answer 1

a threshold or line (usually based on income) at or below which individuals or groups are identified as living in poverty

Question 2

Relative Poverty

Answer 2

looks at a person, or a group such as a family, in relationship to the rest of the community or society

Question 3

Poverty Threshold

Answer 3

takes age, family size, and the number of dependent children into account when determining amount of people living below the poverty line

• Statistical measure calculating the number of people in poverty

Question 4

Extreme Poverty Neighborhoods

Answer 4

areas with 40%+ poverty rates tend to have high crime, poor health outcomes, and limited education and job opportunities

Question 5

Karl Marx’s View

Answer 5

Marx believed the capitalist system is based on inequality - where a small class of people (the bourgeoisie) owns the means of production, and the working class (the proletariat) must sell their labor to survive

The bourgeoisie profits by paying workers less than the value of what they produce. This leads to acculumalated wealth at the top and poverty and the bottom

Poverty keeps capitalism running

To Marx, ending poverty meant overthrowing capitalism and creating a classless, communist society where resources are shared and everyone contributes according to their ability and receives according to their need

Question 6

Herbert Gans (Functionalism and Poverty)

Answer 6

poverty can have positive functions:
- getting the “dirty work” of society done cheaply
- ensuring the purchase of low-quality products
- guaranteeing higher social status for those who are not poor, since someone has to be at the bottom

Question 7

Oscar Lewis’s Culture of Poverty Thesis

Answer 7

claimed that people who grow up in long-term poverty develop a distinct culture - a set of beliefs, norms, and survival strategies - that make it harder for them to escape poverty, even if oppurtunities arise

• sense of powerless
• feeling of inferiority
• lack of work ethic

Question 8

Social Safety Net

Answer 8

programs began to help remedy problems related to the poor post-Great Depression

Question 9

Social Security Act (1935)

Answer 9

• old age pensions
• unemployment insurance
• survivor benefits
• public assistance (welfare)
• aid to the disabled

Question 10

Means Tested Program

Answer 10

a government assistance program that you can only qualify for if your income and/or assets fall below a certain level. You have to prove you “need” the help financially in order to get benefits. usually qualify is your below the the poverty line or 185% of the poverty line