Deck 6: Poverty and Affluence

Question 1

Tax reductions for mortgage interest payments,tax-free investments,and municipal bond investments reflect policies that favor __________.

A)the foreign manufacturer who imports to,or invests in,the United States
B)the wealthy more than the middle class and the poor
C)consumers of all social classes
D)small businesses more than larger businesses
E)farmers more than those in manufacturing and services

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Of those living below the poverty line in 2008,__________ comprised the largest percentage.

A)those in school
B)the ill or disabled
C)female heads of households
D)able-bodied males without work
E)children under 18 years of age

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Average household income for the top one-fifth of American households was almost $________,while the average for the 20 percent of American households in the lowest income group was about $_________.

A)100,000;10,000
B)166,000;less than 20,000
C)250,000;8,000
D)150,000;30,000
E)200,000;50,000

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The affluent,compared to the poor,have __________.
A)None of the above

A)greater access to the desired things in life
B)more political power
C)greater opportunity to be mentally and physically healthy
D)All of the above

Question 5

Although the idea of equality of __________ is central to the ideology of American society,equality of outcome is not.

A)opportunity
B)result
C)possession
D)power
E)economic position

Question 6

Of the 39.8 million people living in poverty in the United States,3.7 million are children,and ________ million are adults 65 years and older.

A)14.1
B)10.1
C)7.7
D)1.3
E)0.1

Question 7

In the United States today,median incomes of minority households are __________ percent of median incomes of white households.

A)about 17
B)about 20 to 27
C)about 47
D)about 67
E)over 97

Question 8

__________ worth,a frequently used measure of wealth,refers to the value of savings and checking accounts,real estate,automobiles,stocks and bonds,and other assets,minus debts.

A)Total
B)Combined
C)Net
D)Balanced
E)Constituted

Question 9

When the government agrees to rescue failing corporations,many view the bailout as __________.

A)a welfare state
B)workfare
C)wealthfare
D)trickle-down
E)subsidization

Question 10

In the United States,widespread beliefs hold that a democratic society,in order to be fair and just,requires that those with a greater investment in and return from the economic system can and should pay more.These are justifications for __________.

A)Social Security
B)export-import quotas
C)wealth redistribution through taxation and other policies
D)federal insurance for bank deposits
E)subsidized loans to small businesses

Question 11

In the United States,in comparison with comparable rates for whites,unemployment rates for black and Hispanic workers are __________.

A)about the same as whites
B)lower than for whites
C)about twice those of whites
D)about 10 times those of whites
E)about 25 times those of whites

Question 12

As a result of the housing crash of 2008,and the deep recession that followed,the percentage of people living in poverty in the United States is __________ percent.

A)20.9
B)19.2
C)17.5
D)14.2
E)13.2

Question 13

Many social scientists believe that the situation of the poor is likely to become still worse.Which of the following explains this prediction?
A)Technological changes will eliminate certain kinds of jobs.

A)The middle and upper classes are reluctant to share their wealth with the less fortunate members of society.
C)The general attitude of Americans toward poverty is negative and unlikely to change.
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 14

Many Americans feel that poverty can be blamed on __________.

A)the poor themselves
B)too little government spending
C)the economic system
D)the educational system
E)the wealthy

Question 15

The state takes part of the GDP and redistributes it to provide minimum survival levels for the poor and others.This type of state can be called a __________ state.

A)welfare
B)workfare
C)warfare
D)wealthfare
E)welcome

Question 16

During the twentieth century,the United States has provided more opportunities for the rich to get richer than for the poor to escape poverty.This situation is referred to as __________.

A)unequalization
B)welfare
C)subsidization
D)workfare
E)wealthfare

Question 17

The poorest 20 percent of our population received less than __________ percent of all income.

A)1
B)2
C)5
D)10
E)15

Question 18

The wealthy can make tax-free investments that are not available to those who are less well off.The income from ________ ,sold in denominations of $5,000,does not have to be reported on tax returns.

A)stocks
B)Treasury bills
C)U.S.savings bonds
D)municipal bonds
E)b and c above

Question 19

In 2008,about 8.9 million,or nearly ________ percent of all persons in the labor force were working at wages so low that they remained below the official poverty threshold.

A)1.6
B)4
C)5
D)7
E)10

Question 20

By the turn of the century,the 400 richest Americans have amassed a total net worth of __________.

A)$50 billion
B)$100 billion
C)$200 billion
D)$500 billion
E)$1 trillion

Question 21

In the United States today,__________ have the largest percentage of its population living below the poverty line.

A)the elderly
B)white,female-headed families
C)husband-present,black and Hispanic families
D)blacks and Hispanics
E)black and Hispanic,female-headed families

Question 22

The primary reason for child poverty is __________.

A)birth into a single-parent family
B)welfare fraud
C)the breakup of a two-parent family
D)All of the above
E)Both a and c above

Question 23

People who are employed in factories and/or depend on hourly wages are part of the __________ class.

A)upper
B)upper-middle
C)middle
D)working
E)lower (the poor)

Question 24

The stratification of individuals and groups according to their access to various occupations,incomes,and skills is called __________ stratification.

A)status
B)work
C)honor or prestige
D)industrial
E)class

Question 25

For most people,poverty simply means the ___________.

A)lack of enough money to buy things that are considered necessary and desirable
B)deprivation that sparks a political radicalism
C)problem of maintaining a self-identity
D)alienation that is covered by escape into substance abuse
E)political apathy that leads the poor to religion

Question 26

A social class is a large number of people who __________.

A)were born at approximately the same time
B)have nothing in common but level of wealth
C)reside in the same part of a nation
D)have approximately the same degree of economic well-being
E)share the same specific job

Question 27

Social scientists now distinguish between a dimension of stratification measurable by quantifiable variables and a dimension involving how people evaluate themselves and others.These can be termed the __________ dimensions.

A)measured and unmeasured
B)real and imagined
C)experienced and perceived
D)objective and subjective
E)status and honor

Question 28

__________.

A)status (prestige)and power
B)mobility and stagnation
C)possessions and investments
D)worth and perception of worth
E)money and stocks

Question 29

The U.S.government attempts to "officially" define the poverty line by utilizing which factor?

A)the Bureau of the Census estimate of U.S.lifestyles
B)wealth
C)the calculation of a minimum family "market basket"
D)earned as opposed to inherited assets

Question 30

In 2008,the inflation-corrected,official poverty line for a family of four was __________.

A)$12,435
B)$13,576
C)$14,282
D)$16,141
E)$27,570

Question 31

To Marx's perspective on the economic basis of classes,Max Weber added consideration of

Question 32

To Karl Marx,the basic classes of a society are determined by __________.

A)organization into political parties
B)ownership or nonownership of the means of production
C)the distribution of talents and abilities
D)the observers who define and describe the class structure
E)how much social honor or prestige one accumulates

Question 33

The idea that poverty is relative rather than absolute is __________.

A)a very recent one
B)nothing new
C)a product of the Reagan/Bush administrations
D)a product of the Clinton administration
E)an outgrowth of the 1990s

Question 34

Major employers and powerful political leaders are part of the __________ class.

A)upper
B)upper-middle
C)middle
D)working

Question 35

In 1965,Mollie Orshansky was largely responsible for the official fixed-income definition
Of the poverty line.The central factor in her formula is __________.

A)income compared to median annual family income
B)the number of children in the family compared to the national average
C)the cost of housing adjusted for rises in the consumer price index
D)an index of interest rates accessible to the poor,factored into the cost of living index
E)food consumption

Question 36

Looking at the 1950s and the 1960s,many observers of American society pointed to the economic gains of many working-class people which gave them the means to live a largely middle-class lifestyle.This is referred to as __________.

A)the disappearance of social classes
B)the convergence of social classes toward a general affluence
C)post-war discovery
D)the folly of social science
E)the selectivity of mobility period in the post-industrial era

Question 37

__________ stratification is a pattern in which individuals and groups are assigned to different positions in the social order,positions that enjoy varying amounts of access to desirable goods and services.

A)Class
B)Normal
C)Social
D)Abnormal
E)Restricted

Question 38

Poverty scholars believe that the official definition __________ the amount of poverty in this country.

A)exaggerates
B)overestimates
C)understates
D)totally distorts
E)multiplies

Question 39

In 2008,__________ percent of the United States population fell below the inflation-corrected,official poverty line.

A)3.1
B)8.6
C)13.2
D)22.8
E)31.5

Question 40

Managers in large businesses and successful business and professional people are part of the __________ class.

A)upper
B)upper-middle
C)middle
D)working
E)lower (the poor)

Question 41

For Karl Marx,the lumpenproletariat is made up of __________.

A)workers who would rise up to overthrow the capitalist system
B)those who monopolized force within the working class
C)members of capitalist societies who are poor and not in the labor force
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 42

A recent analysis of national survey and census data found that about __________ children are homeless.

A)150,000
B)250,000
C)500,000
D)750,000
E)1.35 million

Question 43

Some of the poor fall below the poverty line because of the loss of a job,or death,disability,or desertion of a spouse.This is referred to as __________ poverty.

A)crisis
B)fractured-family
C)event
D)fateful
E)part-time

Question 44

The HIGHEST rates of poverty are found in the __________ regions of the United States.

A)Northeastern
B)North Central
C)South and Western
D)Rocky Mountain
E)Pacific Coast

Question 45

The __________ explanation of persistent poverty draws more on the functional and conflict perspectives,less on the interactionist,and focuses more on the causes of poverty and the origins of the lower class and less upon factors that perpetuate poverty.

A)cultural
B)value-stretch
C)adaptation
D)structural
E)situational

Question 46

Today,__________ percentage of black families live below the poverty line in the United States

A)25
B)20
C)15
D)10
E)5

Question 47

For Karl Marx,the capitalist's search for profits led to adopting automation to lower wage costs.In his view,this displaced workers in large numbers from their jobs and drove down wages for all workers.In Marx's terms,this situation created __________.

A)a reserve army of unemployed people
B)a more docile bourgeoisie
C)a smaller lumpenproletariat
D)a wealthier proletariat
E)more employment and larger profits

Question 48

Many of the rural poor seek (unsuccessfully)a solution to their poverty by __________.

A)continuing their educations
B)enrolling in job training programs
C)joining agricultural labor unions
D)becoming politically radical
E)migrating to the city

Question 49

Blacks and the members of other minority groups in the United States have lower income than do whites because minority groups __________.

A)are forced to pay higher rents
B)have less education than whites
C)are discriminated against in housing,education,and health care
D)All of the above

Question 50

__________ poverty is LEAST socially visible in the United States today.

A)Rural
B)African American
C)Hispanic
D)Urban
E)White

Question 51

The number of uninsured Americans rose by ______ million between 2004 and 2005.

A)1.3
B)2.5
C)5.3
D)7.4
E)8.2

Question 52

The severe recession that began in 2008 left unemployment rates hovering around _________ percent for all U.S.residents,and approximately double that among minority groups.

A)50
B)40
C)30
D)20.
E)10

Question 53

According to the text's discussion of people on welfare __________.

A)the vast majority of the poor are blacks or Hispanics
B)people are poor because they do not want to work
C)poor families are trapped in a cycle of poverty that few ever escape
D)Both a and c above
E)None of the above

Question 54

The poor suffer reduced life-chances in terms of health care,education,and housing,and are less likely to be treated fairly under the law in comparison with the more advantaged.The authors of your text refer to these conditions as the __________ of poverty.

A)concomitants
B)correlates
C)consequences
D)associates
E)coordinates

Question 55

The mechanization of farming displaced agricultural workers from the farm to the cities.When industrial opportunities weren't present in the cities,many migrants became poor.This reflects the __________ explanation of persistent poverty.

A)value-stretch
B)cultural
C)structural
D)cultural-situational
E)adaptation

Question 56

__________ explanations of persistent poverty focus most intensely on the functioning of dominant institutions of society,such as the economy.

A)Structural
B)Adaptation
C)Cultural
D)Value-stretch
E)Cultural-structural

Question 57

Because of their position in society,the crimes that poor people are most likely to commit tend to be those that __________.

A)are least likely to be disapproved of by the people who make the laws
B)most resemble "white-collar crimes"
C)do not involve violence
D)are most disapproved of by people who make the laws
E)are the least visible and least widely publicized

Question 58

Which of the following is NOT one of the myths mentioned in the text about the poor?

A)Half of the poor are not in the working ages.
B)Welfare programs for the poor are straining the federal budget.
C)The majority of the poor live in inner-city neighborhoods.
D)The poor live off government welfare.
E)Antipoverty programs are designed to reduce poverty.

Question 59

Many people in the United States have concluded that the majority of the poor are black and Hispanics,are poor because they do not want to work,and welfare programs for the poor are straining the federal budget.These conclusions are among the __________.

A)facts of welfare life
B)myths and misconceptions about poverty
C)social scientific theories on welfare
D)observations made by those on welfare
E)planks in the Democratic Party platform

Question 60

Middle-class teachers often come to believe that poor children cannot learn,and these teachers treat them accordingly.Responding to these expectations,poor children often perform poorly in school.This situation involves a/an __________.

A)tragedy of minuscule proportions
B)poverty repetition
C)cycle of ignorance
D)expectation drought
E)self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 61

One structural explanation of persistent poverty points out that,in the United States economy today,there are two categories of jobs: better jobs that offer secure employment and good benefits,and poorer jobs with low pay and no security.The authors of your text refer to this situation as __________.

A)a bifurcated economy
B)upper and lower free enterprise
C)a dual labor market
D)the industrial split
E)the pre- and post-industrial economy

Question 62

A classic sociologist defined "life-chances" as the access that individuals and groups have to those things that are socially valued in a society.Describe the life-chances of the poor in the United States.

Question 63

Which of the following statements about the effects of the severe economic recession of 2008 is TRUE?

A)Welfare rolls have increased in states,such as Utah and Oregon,that did not have high numbers of welfare recipients prior to the recession.
B)Welfare clients relocated states for jobs in the lower end of the labor force,lost those jobs during the recession,but earn too much on unemployment to qualify for welfare benefits other than foodstamps.
C)Some states with the highest unemployment rates,such as Michigan and Indiana have fewer people on their welfare rolls.
D)All of the above.
E)None of the above

Question 64

According to the text,which of the following has occurred as a result of the 1996 Welfare Reform law?

A)More single mothers are working,although a large minority of women who leave welfare rolls do not find or keep jobs.
B)Incomes are rising at the top,but not at the bottom.
C)Fewer people have health insurance coverage,because once people leave welfare to begin working,they may not be eligible for Medicaid even though their employer does not offer health benefits.
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 65

Which of the following represent(s)(a)form(s)of social insurance?

A)workers' compensation programs
B)Social Security payments to the elderly
C)veterans' pensions
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 66

Between 2001 and 2005,due in large part to extremely generous tax cuts,corporate compensation policies,and gains in the financial markets,the top 1 percent of the population averaged over ___________ a year.

A)$500,000
B)$1 million
C)$3 million
D)$5 million
E)$10 million

Question 67

Why is immigration associated with poverty?

Question 68

What is "event poverty"? Analyze the effect of the 2008 economic recession and mortgage crisis on poverty levels in the United States.

Question 69

Which of the following is NOT an income-in-kind program?

A)veterans' compensation
B)public housing
C)Medicare
D)food stamps
E)urban renewal

Question 70

According to William J.Wilson,a noted expert on inner-city poverty,___________.

A)the "culture of poverty" concept is a global label that does not fit in many instances
B)the despair felt by the poor actually strengthens family norms
C)the pool of eligible men is increasing in poor communities
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 71

What is a system of stratification? How did Karl Marx and Max Weber describe the basic features of the class system of modern industrial societies?

Question 72

Construct a profile of the poor in American society.Who are the most likely to be poor? How do various groups of people that are more likely to be in poverty compare using basic socioeconomic indicators?

Question 73

Passed in 1996,the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act ended the 60-year-old program known as __________.
A)AFDC

A)Medicaid
B)TANF
C)SSAN
D)Medicare

Question 74

In American ideology,the wealthy have "made it" on their own efforts.What are some of the ways in which our society's government has helped the rich to gain and expand their wealth?

Question 75

Which of the following is NOT a key provision of the 1996 Welfare Reform law?

A)Set stricter eligibility standards for SSI child disability benefits.
B)Created a five-year limit for the AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children)program.
C)Provided resources for foster care data systems and a federal welfare custody study.
D)Restricts eligibility for welfare and most public benefits for recent immigrants.
E)Established a block grant to allow states to provide childcare for working parents.

Question 76

In learning to adapt to their poverty,people develop norms,values,belief systems,and local institutions that are transmitted to their children.This reflects the __________ explanation of persistent poverty.

A)culture of poverty
B)value-stretch
C)Marxian structural
D)non-Marxian structural
E)socialization

Question 77

Cultural explanations of poverty are based on the __________ perspective in sociology.

A)functionalist
B)conflict
C)exchange
D)interactionist
E)developmental

Question 78

Today in the United States,to support a family of four,a worker must earn __________.

A)twice the median annual family income
B)60 percent more than the minimum wage
C)70 percent of the median annual family income
D)one-half the minimum wage
E)the minimum wage

Question 79

In his cultural-situational approach to explaining persistent poverty,Herbert Gans argues
That the solution to poverty lies in __________.

A)programs that help the poor to overcome the debilitating influences of their culture of poverty
B)adjustments in the economic system so that the introduction of technology doesn't displace workers
C)altering the situational factors that cause poverty
D)discovering the factors that constrain poor people from taking new opportunities that conflict with their present cultural values
E)working with the agents of socialization so that only one dominant set of values is internalized by all groups and classes in the population

Question 80

What are the "concomitants" of poverty? Compare the poor with the non poor using each of these concomitants.