Deck 16: Income,welfare,and Education Policy: Providing for Personal Security

Question 1

Which of the following is a true statement about the visibility of poverty in American society today?

A)Media coverage often focuses on the plight of the poor in America.
B)In polls each year,Americans place the problem of poverty as the nation's top problem.
C)Poverty is less common in the suburbs than in inner cities or rural areas.
D)Poverty has been virtually eliminated in the United States.
E)Poverty is most apparent in the case of elderly Americans.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following most accurately describes the American middle class between 1970 and 2015?

A)They have grown dramatically in number.
B)They have come to receive more than half of the nation's income.
C)Their share of the nation's income has fallen by almost 20 percent.
D)Their numerical size and share of the nation's income have remained remarkably constant.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Today,most union members work as

A)teachers and farm laborers.
B)farm laborers.
C)factory laborers.
D)teachers,police,and civil servants.
E)transportation workers.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What benefit was provided through the GI Bill?

A)free health care services,a precursor to what became Medicare
B)free housing in new manufacturing centers
C)a wage bonus for service members entering the civilian workforce
D)cash for college and vocational training; and nearly interest-free loans
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 5

________ orchestrated the Great Society programs of the 1960s.

A)Franklin Roosevelt
B)John Kennedy
C)Dwight Eisenhower
D)Richard Nixon
E)Lyndon Johnson

Question 6

Who among the framers of the Constitution noted that no issue was more likely to provoke conflict that how society's resources are distributed?

A)John Adams
B)Alexander Hamilton
C)Benjamin Franklin
D)James Madison
E)Thomas Jefferson

Question 7

The poverty line is defined as

A)the income level below which 10 percent of the American people live.
B)three times the annual cost of a thrifty food budget for an urban family of four.
C)the annual cost of all goods and services that a person can reasonably be expected to want.
D)the percentage of homeless people.
E)the income level below which 20 percent of the American people live.

Question 8

Which of the following has led to wage stagnation among lower- and middle-income workers in recent decades?

A)changes in tax policy
B)changes in the nation's job market
C)the "compression effect" described by economist Paul Krugman
D)a booming goods and services sector
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 9

The economic boom that followed the end of World War II saw incomes rise for most families in the United States.In what decade did this phenomenon come to an end?

A)1960s
B)1970s
C)1980s
D)1990s
E)2000s

Question 10

Which of the following has led to gains for top earners in recent decades?

A)changes in tax policy
B)changes in the nation's job market
C)the "compression effect" described by economist Paul Krugman
D)a booming goods and services sector
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 11

________ has the highest child poverty rate among the Western democracies.

A)Canada
B)Great Britain
C)France
D)Germany
E)The United States

Question 12

Which of the following is true of American unions in the 1950s?

A)The right to unionize was severely restricted by two important Supreme Court rulings.
B)Unionized workers saw their wages fall below the wages of their non-union counterparts.
C)Unions and union workers gained control of all major industries.
D)Union demands prevented the United States from benefitting from the manufacturing boom that had followed the end of World War II.
E)A third of America's workers were unionized.

Question 13

Overall,poverty rates are HIGHEST in the

A)Midwest.
B)West.
C)South.
D)Northeast.
E)Middle Atlantic.

Question 14

About one in ________ children live in poverty.

A)three
B)five
C)eight
D)twelve
E)twenty

Question 15

A tax where the marginal tax rate increases as income rises is a(n)

A)progressive income tax.
B)inflationary income tax.
C)regressive income tax.
D)capital gains tax.
E)entitlement-based income tax.

Question 16

The defining characteristic of a social insurance program is that

A)eligibility is restricted to individuals who paid special payroll taxes during their working years.
B)it is administered jointly by the national government and the states.
C)it is targeted at those who are most in need of welfare assistance.
D)it is administered through private insurance companies.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 17

In 2014,the poverty line was about ________ for a family of four.

A)$19,000
B)$24,000
C)$28,000
D)$33,000
E)$38,000

Question 18

Poverty is a condition that today affects roughly one in ________ Americans.

A)two
B)three
C)seven
D)twenty
E)fifty

Question 19

U.S.job growth since the 1970s has mostly occurred in which area(s)?

A)services
B)manufacturing
C)agriculture
D)construction and agriculture
E)services and manufacturing

Question 20

The term entitlement refers to a program

A)that provides indirect payments to individuals,such as funding for public schools.
B)benefiting individuals,designed specifically to alleviate the hardships of old age.
C)that requires the payment of benefits to any individual who meets the eligibility criteria.
D)of social welfare for which citizenship is the only criterion of eligibility.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 21

The EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit)represents a reallocation of income to

A)wealthy individuals.
B)lower-income working individuals.
C)middle-class taxpayers.
D)corporations.
E)all working families.

Question 22

The social insurance program social security was established in the

A)1920s.
B)1930s.
C)1940s.
D)1950s.
E)1960s.

Question 23

The major reason social security is likely to be the topic of reform is because

A)many Americans will leave the system in favor of private retirement plans.
B)Republicans wish to eliminate the system entirely,while Democrats wish to save it.
C)the number of workers may not bring in enough money to cover the benefits of a growing number of retirees.
D)it is a very unpopular program.
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 24

________ was terminated in 1996.

A)The Food Stamps program
B)Medicaid
C)Medicare
D)SSI
E)AFDC

Question 25

Which of the following is a social insurance program?

A)TANF
B)Medicaid
C)food stamps
D)Medicare
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 26

The Social Security benefits that today's retirees receive are funded primarily by

A)tax contributions they made in the past,which were put in a trust fund from which current payments are made.
B)payroll taxes on people who are currently working.
C)equal contributions from the national and state governments.
D)borrowed funds,which contribute to the national debt.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 27

The term means test refers to

A)the tax on a portion of the social security benefits of upper-income retirees.
B)whether an applicant's income is low enough to qualify for public assistance.
C)the mandatory physical examination that Medicare and Medicaid applicants must undergo before they can receive benefits.
D)the mandatory psychological examination that Medicare and Medicaid applicants must undergo before they can receive benefits.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 28

Welfare Reform Act of 1996 had support from both Republicans and Democrats because it ended the

A)unintended effect of allowing people to go on welfare and stay there.
B)lack of public concern for child welfare.
C)public opposition to locally administered welfare programs.
D)public opposition to welfare programs for the needy.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 29

________ is an example of an in-kind benefit.

A)The Food Stamps program
B)Social security
C)Unemployment insurance
D)Supplemental Security Income
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 30

All of the following are true of the Head Start program EXCEPT that it

A)began as part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society program in the 1960s.
B)has helped disadvantaged children develop their learning skills.
C)failed to enroll about half of the children eligible.
D)is fully funded at the present time.
E)is designed to assist preschool children.

Question 31

What are the two broad groups that welfare programs fall into?

A)public assistance and in-kind assistance
B)equity and efficiency
C)positive and negative
D)social insurance and public assistance
E)subsidized and social insurance

Question 32

Medicare

A)is funded through general tax revenues.
B)is one of the least popular government programs.
C)is paid for through a payroll tax.
D)provides health care to all adults over age 50.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 33

Which of the following statements is NOT true about Medicare?

A)It is a public assistance program.
B)It is funded by general tax revenues.
C)It serves all Americans who cannot afford health insurance.
D)It lacks support of the general public.
E)It is funded by both the federal government and the states.

Question 34

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study,about ________ of Medicare spending is for expenses other than patient care,while some private insurance companies spend about ________ on similar nonpatient expenses.

A)20 percent; 10 percent
B)50 percent; 20 percent
C)2 percent; 20 percent
D)20 percent; 2 percent
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 35

Medicare was enacted in

A)1938.
B)1947.
C)1965.
D)1997.
E)2010.

Question 36

The Food Stamps program is

A)criticized because some believe it allows undeserving people to get aid.
B)criticized because some think it stigmatizes its users by identifying them publicly as welfare cases.
C)an in-kind benefit.
D)criticized because some think it is too costly.
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 37

The number of families receiving assistance under TANF had dropped by ________ after its enactment.

A)10 percent
B)25 percent
C)50 percent
D)75 percent
E)There was no measurable change.

Question 38

Public assistance programs are funded through

A)payroll taxes paid only by employees.
B)payroll taxes paid only by employers.
C)payroll taxes paid by both employees and employers.
D)general tax revenues.
E)sales taxes.

Question 39

The passage of TANF has resulted in which of the following?

A)the reduction of the child poverty rate
B)a greater awareness of poverty in American society
C)a reduction in single parent households
D)a dramatic reduction in the size of the welfare rolls
E)a greater stigma associated with EITC

Question 40

Social insurance programs have high levels of public support because

A)of their self-financing feature.
B)they are based on an equality principle-all citizens are eligible for the benefits and all recipients receive the same level of benefits.
C)their cost is consistently below the spending level for public assistance programs.
D)of the necessity of increased taxes to fund them.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 41

More than 90 percent of the funding for public education comes from

A)the federal government.
B)state governments.
C)local governments.
D)state and local governments.
E)private sources.

Question 42

What is meant by the poverty line? Which Americans are most likely to live in a household with an income below the poverty line? What is meant by "the feminization of poverty?"

Question 43

Discuss what is meant by a social insurance program and provide examples.

Question 44

Why are social security and Medicare considered highly efficient programs?

A)Their integrated vertical structure.
B)They have built-in sunset provisions.
C)They are administered at the local level where government is more responsive to changes in the needs of beneficiaries.
D)They do not require a large bureaucracy to administer them.
E)Costs are shared by the state and federal government.

Question 45

In contrast with Medicare,the Medicaid program is

A)a public assistance program.
B)funded totally by the states.
C)funded by payroll taxes.
D)very popular with the general public.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 46

The BEST predictor of how well schools perform on standardized tests is the

A)salary levels of the teachers.
B)population density of the community.
C)level of local school board control over policy.
D)community's wealth.
E)ratio of private to public schools in the community.

Question 47

Which of the following is true of the federal government's role in education?

A)The federal government provides roughly 25 percent of total school funding throughout the country.
B)The federal government provides roughly 70 percent of total school funding throughout the country.
C)The federal government's role in education was relatively small before the 1960s.
D)The 1964 Higher Education Act devolved a good deal of education policy back to the states.
E)Pell grants remain the states' largest source of financial control over school policies.

Question 48

To what was political scientist Robert Lane referring when using the term "market justice"?

A)Americans prefer that society's material benefits be allocated through the economic marketplace rather than through government policies.
B)Government should not use fiscal policy to attempt to flatten the ups and downs of a market economy.
C)Americans should increase the size of the federal welfare state in order to mitigate the harmful influences of the market.
D)The market tends to eliminate weak businesses and reward strong ones.
E)The strength of the market economy of the United States is precisely what provides the welfare state with the revenue it needs to help the most underprivileged citizens.

Question 49

Of the following countries,which has the

Question 50

Americans are MOST likely to support equality of

A)opportunity.
B)outcome.
C)income.
D)achievement.
E)living standards.

Question 51

Which of the following is true of social security and Medicare?

A)Eligibility requirements make sure that all social security beneficiaries have an absolute economic need for the benefit.
B)Spending on TANF and SSI exceeds the total of all spending of public assistance programs.
C)Most retirees receive less in social security benefits than they contributed in payroll taxes while working.
D)Social security income is decided as follows: the lower your income while working,the larger your social security benefit upon retirement.
E)Families in the top fifth of the income population receive more in social security and Medicare benefits than the government spends in total on TANF,SSI,food stamps,and housing subsidies for the poor.

Question 52

Charter schools

A)are publicly funded and have no more freedom in choosing students than do public schools,though they have greater freedom in determining curricula.
B)are privately funded and have total freedom in determining curricula.
C)are publicly funded but have more freedom in determining curricula than public schools.
D)are promoted primarily by Democrats as a strong,publicly-funded method of improving education.
E)have been opposed by President Obama,through executive orders to drain their funding.

Question 53

In the United States there is a widespread belief that

A)Americans prefer money as the primary form of welfare assistance.
B)most Americans believe that welfare recipients could get along without assistance if they tried.
C)Americans prefer government jobs through government programs as the primary form of welfare assistance.
D)the vast majority of Americans believe there should be absolutely no government services for the poor of any kind.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 54

Welfare policy in the United States

A)is often an issue that divides the two political parties.
B)is based entirely on the principle of need.
C)is entirely a federal issue.
D)is entirely a state issue.
E)has changed very little during the nation's history.

Question 55

The No Child Left Behind Act

A)was championed primarily by president Bill Clinton.
B)offers,but does not require,the chance for schools to receive additional funding if they submit to nationally standardized testing in reading,math,and science.
C)ties federal funding to national test results in reading,math,and science.
D)offers increased federal funding to schools that show poor testing performance after three years.
E)cuts school funding for those schools that show no improvement in test scores after one year.

Question 56

The Supreme Court has ruled that

A)the federal government must provide at least half the cost of educating each child through public education systems.
B)the federal government is responsible for ensuring that each state provides an adequate education for each child.
C)states have no official responsibilities in the field of education.
D)states are obliged to give all children an education that is "equal" across communities.
E)states are obliged to give all children an "adequate" education.

Question 57

________ was called "the great leveler" when it began in the early nineteenth century.

A)Social welfare
B)Public education
C)The federal government
D)The Internal Revenue Service
E)Social security

Question 58

The U.S.social welfare system differs markedly from those of Western European democracies,a situation that is attributable in large part to America's

A)cultural emphasis on individualism and its federal system of government.
B)greater wealth and a cultural emphasis on charitable acts.
C)weak party system and separation of executive and legislative power.
D)egalitarian ethos and pluralist group system.
E)dependence on foreign oil.

Question 59

In the run-up to the presidential election of 2016,who of the following said that student loans are "one of the only things the government shouldn't make money off"?

A)Bernie Sanders
B)Hillary Clinton
C)Mike Pence
D)Donald Trump
E)Barack Obama

Question 60

The Department of Education

A)is one of the largest executive departments.
B)is a regulatory agency that ensures NCLB is followed.
C)was created in the 1930s as part of the New Deal.
D)dictates school curriculum across the country.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 61

Discuss the history of public education in the United States and who today is responsible for education funding and policies.

Question 62

Discuss what is meant by a public assistance program,and provide examples.