What Was The Nature And Extent Of Social Change? Flashcards
(23 cards)
Reagan’s approach to the poor
Saw a difference between ‘deserving poor’ and ‘welfare scroungers’
- scroungers weren’t willing to work and thought the government owed them a living
- told a story of a black woman in Chicago who was defrauding taxpayers out of $100,000s a year by welfare fraud, used variety of names, welfare cards, and benefits for supposedly dead war veteran husbands
- press search never found the welfare queen
Effect of Reagan’s presidency on the poor
Their situation worsened considerably between 1981-96
OBRA finance cuts targeted mainly federal spending on projects for the poorest
- also altered aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) programme, fewer people eligible and many payments capped
- hit poorest working families hard
Reagan’s approach to welfare
His administration was the first to state in legislation that claiming benefits was buying into dependency and was undesirable
- wanted to change welfare into workfare
- required at least one working parent before paying family benefit
- OBRA tightened up previous legislation that provided work projects tied to benefits for welfare claimants, allowed states to make working on state projects a requirement for welfare payments
- by January 1987: 42 states running work programmes, didn’t make working a requirement but most required the claimant to be looking for work
Effect of Reagan’s approach to welfare on the poor
- much of the work provided paid below minimum wage, sometimes less than benefit
- despite government promises of childcare, single parents couldn’t find childcare, couldn’t work
Reagan’s approach to social housing
Slashed federal funding for building low-cost homes
- 1978: federal government spent $32.3 billion on low-cost housing projects
- 1988: spending only $9.2 billion
Effect of reagans changes to social housing
1970: 2.4 million low-income houses available to families that applied for them
By 1985: 3.7 million families who qualified for low-income homes but couldn’t move in because there was none available
Significant rise in number of homeless people in the country
- people found this difficult to accept, made USA look bad and Americans feel bad, contradiction of American dream
Reagan’s approach to homelessness
By mid-80s, couldn’t ignore growing problem of homelessness
- 1987: congress pushed through bill giving federal help to projects for homeless
- 1984: federal funding available to homeless was $300 million, 1988: it was $1.6 billion
- 1987 McKinney Act, set up Federal Emergency Management Food and Shelter Program to be run by federal emergency management agency (FEMA)
- FEMA matched state grants to local homeless project half-and-half, state had to choose the project and put the funding in place before federal money given
- state/local government funding could be raised through taxes, charities, or donations
- FEMA set up federal housing project for transitional housing (possibility of using under-used federal buildings), emphasis on elderly, disabled, veterans, families with children, native Americans
- also gave emergency medical care to homeless and provided education for homeless children and job training which favoured homeless veterans
Reagan’s welfare measures: 1982
13th October: Job training partnership act
- shifts job training from federal hands to state and private schemes
- removes need for trainees to have incomes made up to minimum wage
Reagan’s welfare measures: 1983
20th April: social security reform bill
- delays linking of payments to inflation from July to December
- raises amount government takes from wages to cover benefit
- sets up study of running the social security agency as privately run agency
- makes part of benefit payments taxable
- changes earnings test for eligibility
- retirement credits not fully payable until 1967 (instead of 1965)
Reagan’s welfare measures: 1987
22nd July: McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act
- sets up Federal Emergency Management Food and Shelter program
- to be run by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Reagan’s welfare measures: 1988
13th October: family support act
- family only to be eligible for benefits if one parent is working for at least 16 hours a week
- single parents expected to finish education and undergo job training, the state to provide childcare
Effect of Reagan’s policies on working families
Families not on welfare benefited from lower taxes
But hit harder by changes to family credit regulations
Hit by rising interest rates that pushed up housing and mortgage costs, and rent
1980-87: average mortgage debt increased by 30%, rate of foreclosure quadrupled (repossession of home because borrower cannot afford mortgage payments)
Both parents had to work to make ends meet
Effect of reagans policies on working conditions
Removed many federal regulations on working conditions
- people had to work longer hours, less leisure time
1973: workers had 26 hours of leisure time a week, 1987: 16 hours
Pressure to work harder and be the most productive to take the most home
Harder for working mothers to hold anything other than low-level jobs
- may need time off for kids
- persuaded to move sideways and down into part-time or temporary contract work, no benefits and only paid for hours they worked
Effect of Reagan’s policies on the workforce
Younger people worse off than elders
Two tier wage structure emerged in businesses:
- established workers kept wage rates and benefits negotiated when they took the job
- workers joining the business could be offered lower salaries and fewer benefits for the same job, take it or leave it basis, offered to young/experienced people
- people felt they had to take jobs as employers shifted to hiring part time and temporary employees
What did Reagan do for gay rights
Some accused him of ignoring the epidemic until his friend (actor rock Hudson) died of AIDS
He addressed meetings on the epidemic, administration provided funding for AIDS research from 1982
What did Reagan do for minorities
Desire to cut back on
What did Reagan do for women’s rights
Appointed woman, Sandra Day, to Supreme Court
But, didn’t support the equal rights act, spoke out against abortion
- persuaded not to introduce anti-abortion legislation
Effect of Reagan’s policies on minorities
1982: NAACP’s magazine pointed out that inaction was harming all minority groups
- abandonment of busing students into various schools, harmful to Hispanics and black Americans
- created segregated schools
Effects of Reagan’s policies on businesses
Policies favoured big businesses
- profited from reduced federal regulation over wages, working hours, and working conditions
- deregulation meant they could buy up or merge with other businesses
1983: Reagan said on a radio broadcast in small business week that his administration was helping small businesses with tax breaks
- allowed them to pay personal, not corporate tax
- admitted that many had gone under in the 1981-82 recession, said over 500,000 new small businesses had been set up in each of those years
- avoided issue of rising interest on long-term loans that many small businesses held, which was why many went under
Effect of Reagan’s policies on farming
Badly affected by high interest rates and federal non-intervention
1970s: USA supplied wheat to USSR, encouraged farmers to expand and grow wheat
- stopped exporting to USSR in 1979 in protest to invasion of Afghanistan
- interest rates also rose as money supply was tightened
1983: bad drought
- 1980s: many smaller farms failed and were bought out by agri-businesses or companies that didn’t farm
1980: 17% of farmers got 60% of the subsidy fund
1986: farmers set up national save the family farm coalition
- organised demonstrations and campaigns to highlight plight of small family farms
- tactics used such as traffic-slowing tractorcades in cities
1983: 500 farms sold every month in Iowa
Farmers committed suicide 4x rate of other workers, incidents of farmers shooting lenders who called in loans
Effect of reagans policies on car and textile industries
Car and textile industries doing badly against foreign imports (could be made more cheaply)
- exports dropped with change in value of dollar
- reagan administration wouldn’t impose tariffs on foreign imports
Towns and cities where car manufacturers were main employer (Detroit), hit badly with this decline
Baltimore and Cleveland: over 20% population living below poverty line, unemployment and poverty hitting all workers
Effected industries that supplied raw materials, demand dropped
Effect of reagans policies on new industries
Increased spending on defence meant defence industry and services that supplied growing military did well
So did new technologies (e.g. computer industry)
- based in different parts of the country, affected population and migration within USA, following work opportunities in new industries
Service industries expanding
- e.g. estate agencies, coffee shop chains, computer goods stores did well
What was the bi-coastal boom
People eager to move to areas where new industries were located that created more employment
- population shift from the north and east to the south and west, especially to coastal states
E.g. people moved from Chicago to San Diego
- fuelled growth of suburbs in these areas
- where people felt their lives were improving, more likely to vote for Reagan, policies had worked for them
1987: California and states on east coats had 5.6% unemployment compared to 7.8% in rest of the country
-areas had almost 75% of all new businesses, about 60% of new jobs
Central Great Plains area stayed worst off, always predominantly farming area
