Warm Up: How do you know when someone is poor?

Wednesday, 4/9

Objective: I will be able to describe the extent of

poverty in the U.S.

Language Objective: I will be able to use words such as

impact; conclude, and percentage in a paragraph.

Social Class Review Upper Class (1% of people; live exclusive lives) Middle Class (roughly 40% of people)

Upper middle class Middle middle class Lower middle class (aka Working Class)

Unstable jobs Lack health care and retirement benefits

Working Poor (13% of people) Fast food workers; Remain below the poverty line

Underclass (12% of people) Family history of unemployment (generational

poverty) Commonly have mental or physical disabilities

2013 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR THE 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES

AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Persons in

family/household Poverty

guideline For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $4,020 for each additional person. 1 $11,490 2 15,510 3 19,530 4 23,550 5 27,570 6 31,590 7 35,610 8 39,630

Poverty Absolute poverty – the absence

of enough money to secure life’s necessities.

Relative poverty – economic disparity between the haves and have nots.

Measured by income (see chart on last slide).

16% of people in 2012 lived below the poverty line.

Poverty Rate – percentage of people in a group that are poor.

Response to Poverty War on Poverty

President Lyndon Johnson Designed to help poor people help

themselves. Somewhat successful

Welfare Reform 1996 – limits on the amount of time

those who can work can be on welfare. Many people off welfare are now part

of the working poor.

Social Mobility The ability to move

between social classes. Horizontal – changing

from one occupation to another.

Vertical – moving upward or downward.

Intergenerational - a change in status from one generation to the next.

Rags to Riches Tradition Abraham Lincoln, Henry

Ford, Bill Gates: exceptions or norm?

Is upward mobility increasing? Explosion after World War II

due to high-paying manufacturing jobs.

Trend of moving jobs overseas to low-paying countries has slowed the growth.

Jobs are returning, but US workers lack training.

Costs of Downward Mobility Lowered self-esteem Despair Depression Feelings of powerlessness Loss of sense of honor

If your self-worth is measured by your occupation, what happens when you are downwardly mobile?

Race, Ethnicity, and Gender What

connections can you make based on these graphs?

Write a paragraph use words such as impact; conclude, and percentage in a paragraph.

PreSocratic Seminar Form You will need this completed form to

participate in Wednesday’s activity.