Deck 10: Poverty: National and International Issues

Question 1

In recent years, reductions in global poverty have been aided by debt write-offs for the poorest nations.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A 2001 Statistics Canada survey found that Canada is a decreasingly polarized country in terms of wealth.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Canadian policy has had little success in reducing child poverty.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The gap between men and women living in poverty has been almost eliminated in recent years.

Question 5

Since 1995, the gap between the richest and poorest Canadian families has decreased dramatically.

Question 6

"Wealthfare" refers to laws and policies that favour the rich.

Question 7

In Canada, poverty is much more prevalent among female-headed single-parent households than among other types of family structures.

Question 8

In Canada, poverty among senior citizens has been greatly reduced.

Question 9

In Canada, disability is a strong indicator of poverty.

Question 10

Wealth, in Canada, is measured by the total amount in one's bank account at any given time.

Question 11

A Canadian living below the standard of other Canadians is, by definition, living in absolute poverty.

Question 12

Statistics Canada developed the low income cut-off as a measure of poverty in 1968.

Question 13

The structural-functionalist view of poverty suggests that a certain amount of poverty has positive functions for society.

Question 14

"Corporate welfare" refers to laws and policies that benefit the rich.

Question 15

The Global Poverty Report (2000) found that globally, the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day increased between 1987 and 1998.

Question 16

Conflict theorists regard economic inequality as resulting from the domination of the proletariat over the bourgeoisie.

Question 17

The poverty rate for men with disabilities is virtually identical to the poverty rate for men without disabilities in Canada.

Question 18

Canada's richest person is Kenneth R. Thomson.

Question 19

In 1999, the child poverty rate in Canada was lower than the average poverty rate.

Question 20

In general, the higher a person's level of educational attainment, the less likely that person is to be poor.

Question 21

What is the poverty threshold set by the World Bank to compare poverty in most of the developing world?

A) $1 a day
B) $5 a day
C) $10 a day
D) $20 a day

Question 22

Under the Divorce Act, only men can be ordered to pay child support.

Question 23

Poverty is often the root cause of conflict and war within and between nations.

Question 24

"Economic apartheid" refers to the economic segregation and social marginalization of racialized groups.

Question 25

Intergenerational poverty is rare in Canada.

Question 26

In Canada, almost half of those receiving welfare also have outside income from work, government pensions, support payments, Employment Insurance, or other sources.

Question 27

Compared to their counterparts without disabilities, both women and men with disabilities are more likely to be the sole providers of family income.

Question 28

Which of the following is the World Health Organization (WHO) measurement of poverty primarily based on?

A) access to health care
B) deprivation of knowledge
C) caloric intake
D) household income

Question 29

Poor parents are less likely than other parents to use harsh disciplinary techniques, such as physical punishment.

Question 30

Most welfare parents are teenagers.

Question 31

Which of the following terms refers to the lack of basic necessities of life, such as food, clean water, and housing?

A) total poverty
B) absolute poverty
C) basic poverty
D) relative poverty

Question 32

People who live in areas with the greatest gap between the rich and the poor are much more likely to rate their own health as poor or fair than people who live in areas where income is more equitably distributed.

Question 33

In Canada, social and welfare services are the responsibility of the provincial/territorial governments.

Question 34

What is the "poverty threshold" set by the World Bank in industrialized countries?

A) $2 per day
B) $14.40 per day
C) $25.75 per day
D) $31.17 per day

Question 35

Poverty among visible minorities in Canada has been high with the exception of Aboriginal groups.

Question 36

Despite its intent, welfare remains an inadequate tool for handling the needs of the poor in Canada.

Question 37

Homelessness is a growing problem in Canada. It is estimated that as many as one million Canadians are homeless.

Question 38

Which of the following terms refers to a deficiency of material and economic resources compared with some other group(s)?

A) relative poverty
B) comparative poverty
C) absolute poverty
D) standardized poverty

Question 39

Canadian women with disabilities are more likely than Canadian men with disabilities to live as lone parents.

Question 40

In Canada, children living in poverty are less likely to finish secondary school.

Question 41

Which perspective is concerned with the effects of being labelled "poor"?

A) conflict
B) structural-functionalist
C) symbolic interactionist
D) social control

Question 42

Statistics Canada developed which of the following measures of poverty?

A) LCBO
B) LICO
C) LMPO
D) HPI

Question 43

According to Karl Marx, what does the term "bourgeoisie" refer to?

A) workers
B) the underclass
C) racialized minorities
D) owners of the means of production

Question 44

To the Dinka, an ethnic group in sub-Saharan Africa, which of the following forms a large part of wealth measurement?

A) how many gold necklaces a person owns
B) how many snake skins a person owns
C) how many clay pots a person owns
D) how many cows a person owns

Question 45

According to Marx, how do the bourgeoisie develop their wealth?

A) by remaining childless
B) by extracting surplus value
C) by making wise financial decisions
D) by working in a cooperative manner with the proletariat

Question 46

Which of the following is a major flaw with the LICO measure of poverty in Canada?

A) it includes capital gains
B) it fails to take into account that some own their homes free and clear
C) it fails to take into account technological necessities
D) it is based on nineteenth-century economics

Question 47

Among the 17 industrialized countries for which the Human Poverty Index was calculated in 2001, which country had the lowest rate of human poverty?

A) Canada
B) Sweden
C) the United States
D) England

Question 48

According to the low income cut-off line, families or individuals who spend a certain portion of their pre-tax income on food, clothing, and shelter would be in financial difficulty. What is that portion?

A) 54.7 percent
B) 69.2 percent
C) 73.2 percent
D) 83.1 percent

Question 49

An individual who has basically lived in poverty their entire life is probably a member of which group?

A) wealthfare
B) bourgeoisie
C) underclass
D) culture of poverty

Question 50

Which perspective's work on poverty uses unique methods such as narrative analysis?

A) conflict
B) feminist
C) structural-functionalist
D) symbolic interactionist

Question 51

According to Lewis (1966), what is the "culture of poverty" characterized by?

A) male-centred households
B) an emphasis on deferred gratification
C) a relative lack of participation in society's major institutions
D) a belief in the value of the work ethic

Question 52

According to a study that followed the same families over a five-year period in six countries (Canada, the United States, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), in which country were the poor LEAST likely to leave poverty from one year to the next?

A) Germany
B) the United States
C) Canada
D) the Netherlands

Question 53

Which perspective emphasizes that norms, values, and beliefs are learned through social interaction and that social interaction influences the development of one's self-concept?

A) social control
B) structural-functionalist
C) symbolic interactionist
D) conflict

Question 54

Which of the following is a major criticism of the market basket measure of poverty?

A) it overestimates the number of people living in poverty
B) it includes the costs of owning and insuring a motor vehicle
C) it is useful as a measure only in rural areas
D) it may not include items that are necessaries

Question 55

In Canada, low income cut-off lines are primarily based on size of family and one other factor. What is it?

A) size of community in which one lives
B) mortgage rates
C) cost of borrowing money
D) relative value of the Canadian dollar

Question 56

Which perspective takes the view that an unequal economic reward system helps to assure that the person who performs a particular role is the most qualified?

A) conflict
B) structural-functionalist
C) symbolic interactionist
D) political economy

Question 57

According to Davis and Moore, class divisions are which of the following?

A) needless
B) developed by governments to boost the economy
C) inevitable
D) ethnically based

Question 58

To assess low income, Statistics Canada has established a figure for the needs of one adult and proceeded on the assumption that family needs increase in proportion to the size of the family, with each additional adult increasing the family needs by 40 percent of the first adult and each additional child increasing the family's needs by 30 percent. What is this statistical tool called?

A) market basket measure
B) low income cut-off
C) Human Poverty Index
D) low-income measure

Question 59

Which of the following is suggested by the Global Poverty Report (2000)?

A) there has been a modest increase in global poverty
B) there has been a substantial increase in global poverty
C) there has been a moderate decrease in global poverty
D) there has been an astonishing decrease in global poverty

Question 60

Which view of poverty has received a great deal of criticism from contemporary sociologists, who point out that many important occupational roles (such as child care worker) are poorly paid, whereas many individuals in nonessential roles (such as entertainers) earn astronomical sums of money?

A) conflict
B) structural-functionalist
C) symbolic interactionist
D) feminist

Question 61

In which year did the United States begin its "war on poverty"?

A) 1924
B) 1954
C) 1964
D) 1994

Question 62

The federal government consistently develops policies that favour the wealthy members of society. What is this a good example of?

A) corporate welfare
B) nepotism
C) wealthfare
D) bi-partisan favouritism

Question 63

In Canada, which group among seniors has the highest rate of poverty?

A) unattached women
B) couples
C) unattached men
D) those over the age of 85

Question 64

In Canada, political efforts to reduce poverty among children have resulted in which of the following?

A) a large reduction in the problem
B) little impact on the problem
C) making the problem even worse
D) very mixed results in terms of the problem

Question 65

If you are living on social assistance, you are probably doing which of the following?

A) living below the poverty line
B) living just at the poverty line
C) living approximately 10 percent over the poverty line
D) working at a job that pays you cash under the table

Question 66

In Canada, people with disabilities often have which of the following problems in relation to finding employment?

A) many employers are willing to hire them but only for short periods
B) they have to convince potential employers that they are capable
C) they lose their disability benefits if hired
D) they do not have transportation to and from work

Question 67

In Canada, which of the following groups is most likely to live as lone parents?

A) women without a disability
B) women with a disability
C) men without a disability
D) men with a disability

Question 68

According to Mead, intergenerational poverty may be caused by which of the following?

A) substance abuse
B) poor job skills
C) gambling-related issues
D) welfare dependency

Question 69

In Canada, poverty is most prevalent among what type of family structure?

A) common-law couple families
B) married couple families
C) female-headed single-parent families
D) male-headed single-parent families

Question 70

If the government came up with a new social welfare program for single mothers, this money could be called which of the following?

A) a tax credit
B) a demogrant
C) an add-on benefit
D) a secondary adjustment

Question 71

According to the Canadian constitution, which level of government is responsible for social and welfare services?

A) federal
B) provincial/territorial
C) municipal
D) all three levels of government

Question 72

The Canada Student Loans Program provides loans to which of the following?

A) all full-time students
B) students no longer living at home
C) students who can demonstrate financial need
D) students who have children

Question 73

A study on poverty levels among racialized minorities in Toronto noted that the unemployment rate among racialized groups was higher than Toronto's average unemployment rate. How much higher was it?

A) 3 times
B) 6 times
C) 10 times
D) 13 times

Question 74

When the Family Allowance was introduced in 1945, who was eligible to receive this money?

A) single mothers
B) families that had four or more children
C) welfare families
D) everyone

Question 75

Which decades saw the introduction of several significant pieces of antipoverty legislation in Canada?

A) 1940s and 1950s
B) 1950s and 1960s
C) 1960s and 1970s
D) 1970s and 1980s

Question 76

Bob quit his job because he didn't like his boss. That makes him ineligible to receive which of the following benefits?

A) family allowance
B) employment insurance
C) social welfare
D) family supplement

Question 77

Which of the following does the term "underclass" refer to?

A) people who are the first members of their family to go to university
B) people who live in persistent poverty
C) people who are under age 18 and live in poor households
D) people who are employed in illegal occupations

Question 78

Bob has a minimum wage job. He is likely to belong to which of the following groups?

A) the proletariat
B) the working poor
C) the underclass
D) the lower middle class

Question 79

According to the textbook, which of the following is the strongest predictor of children's educational ability and achievement?

A) family structure
B) parental schooling
C) family income
D) parental religious affiliation

Question 80

Which of the following does the stresses associated with poverty contribute to?

A) substance abuse
B) welfare fraud
C) homicide
D) elder abuse