Deck 3: Poverty and Economic Disparity

Question 1

The "trickle down" theory refers to the belief that if tax cuts are given to those at the top, there would be more money available to flow down to those at the bottom.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Briefly explain what is meant by "in-kind" benefits, and provide an example.​

Answer 2

Giving people commodities or coupons that they can exchange for commodities. Examples of in-kind services are health care, housing subsidies, and food stamp coupons.

Question 3

Using a set dollar value to determine who is and who is not poor is an absolute definition of poverty.​

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The feminization of poverty describes the concept that most of those working to end poverty are women.​

Question 5

List and describe two cash benefit programs for the poor.

Question 6

The "devolution of services" refers to which of the following?

A)Efforts by lawmakers to reduce programs for the poor
B)The requirement that service providers not give assistant to people in the country illegally
C)The limits placed on eligibility for some social services
D)The effort to move programs away from the federal level to the state level

Question 7

Supplemental Security Income program (SSI), and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) are examples of cash assistance programs.

Question 8

The official poverty line in the United States is:

A)Measured in absolute terms one year, the next year it is measured in relative terms
B)Measured every five years
C)Measured in absolute terms
D)Measured in relative terms
E)Not measured in any consistent way

Question 9

The largest segment of the population currently in poverty in the United States are the elderly.

Question 10

Briefly explain why the U.S. poverty line is controversial.

Question 11

The Stewart B. McKinney Act was passed to:

A)Require homebuilders to include affordable housing in their developments
B)Require that the poor work at least 20 hours per week to receive cash benefits
C)Provide benefits for people over age 65 who are poor and have a disability
D)Address the problem of homelessness through the provision of resources and service

Question 12

The United States officially uses a(n) ________________ measure of poverty.

Question 13

One of the ways that TANF differs from AFDC is that it is funded through a block grant to the states, thus limiting the number of people served in a given year.

Question 14

In the late 1990s, the disparity in wealth between the rich and the poor declined dramatically in the U.S., falling to its lowest level since the Great Depression.

Question 15

Which of the following is/are true about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF)?

A)It replaced the Supplemental Security Income program
B)It limits the amount of time a family can receive benefits to a life-time total of five years
C)It encourages but does not require adult participants to work
D)You must apply for Food Stamps too or you are not eligible.

Question 16

The "culture of poverty" refers to which of the following beliefs?

A)Some people grow up poor but effectively escape poverty
B)People learn to be poor from growing up in impoverished areas
C)People from certain cultural backgrounds are more likely to be poor than others
D)Some people become poor by developing bad habits.

Question 17

What is meant by the term the "juvenilization of poverty"?

Question 18

Using a relative definition of poverty would mean that there would be an equal distribution of wealth.