FAMILIES & POVERTY

Family Sociology – Professor Connie Gager

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129914145

Families & Poverty Despite many initiatives and billions of

dollars, the percentage of people living below poverty has changed little over the past 30 years

1969 13.71979 12.41989 13.11998 12.72001 11.72003 12.42004 12.72007 12.52008 13.22010 14.3

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

Poverty in the U.S.

Median household income in the United States fell 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303.

This breaks a string of three years of annual income increases and coincides with the recession that started in December 2007.

 Meanwhile, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008, while the percentage remained unchanged at 15.4 percent.

Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/014227.html

Your likelihood of being poor, receiving welfare, and having health insurance is associated with your race and ethnicity

Non-Hispanic White Families

9.4 percent living below poverty

Asians American Families

12.5 percent living below poverty

Non-Hispanic African American Families

25.4 percent living below poverty

Hispanic Families 25.3 percent living

below poverty

Poverty by Race/Ethnicity

Source: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/014227.html

Median Family Income Increased

Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en. Retrieved 06/24/08.

How do we measure Median Family Income?

Median family income reflects the income level at which one-half of all families in the U.S. earn more, and one-half earn less.

Race and Ethnicity of Parents Receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families 2002

Source: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/annualreport6/chapter10/10figbdata.htm

American Indian/Alask

an Native, 1.6

White, 31.6

Hispanic, 24.9

African American,

38.3

FAMILIES, PUBLIC POLICY, & POVERTY

How do we define poverty?How would you calculate the line that separates the poor from the nonpoor?Who are the deserving poor and why has the definition changed?Who is more likely to be in poverty today – children or the elderly?CHILDREN – they cannot work and they cannot vote

How Do We Define Poverty?

The official poverty level established by the United States Government.

How would you go about calculating or estimating who is poor an who isn’t?

Where would you draw the line?

How Do We Define Poverty?

Poverty thresholds were developed in 1963-1964 by Mollie Orshansky, a home economist at the Social Security administration.

Based on the estimated cost of an “economy food budget” multiplied by 3 (assuming that food constitutes 1/3 of a family’s budget).

The economy food budget was “designed for temporary or emergency use when funds are low.”

It include powdered milk, canned food, few fresh vegetables and fruits

How Do We Define Poverty?

Poverty thresholds define the poverty level Used for statistical purposes – to show

poverty over time Adjusted for:

family size number of children under 18 years of age annually based on changes in the cost of living

Problems with this definition Families living below poverty have inadequate

incomes Families just above line still teetering on the edge

How Do We Define Poverty?

Poverty guidelines Issued each year by the Dept. of Health

and Human Services. Used for administrative purposes -- for

instance determining who is eligible for federal programs like: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or welfare.

Poverty Guidelines for Recent Years*

Year First Four Person Each Add’l Person Family Person 1992 $6,810 $13,950 $2,380  1996 $7,740 $15,600 $2,620 1998 $8,050 $16,450 $2,800  2000 $8,350 $17,050 $2,900 2004 $9,310 $18,850 $3,180

2010 $10,830 $22,050 $3,740* for the 48 contiguous states and D.C.Source: Department of Health and Human Services http://www.os.dhhs.gov

Can a family live on this?

Think about a family of 3 – a mother with two children) who are the typical family who receives welfare

Think about rent, electricity, transportation, food, clothes for growing children etc.

The Deserving Poor

Michael Katz – studies history of poverty in the U.S.

He argues that there have always been a group of people called the deserving poor – they deserve to get assistance from the government

They are poor through no fault of their own Prior to the 1970s, this group included the:

Aged Children Female headed families (through widowhood)

The Deserving Poor

Now the deserving poor are only Aged Children Disabled/mentally challenged The deserving poor no longer

includes single mothers because they came to be perceived as poor because they made bad choices – i.e. had a child outside of marriage

Shift from single motherhood due to widowhood vs. single motherhood due to nonmarital birth

Why are Families Poor?

Underclass Thesis William Julius Wilson – The Truly

Disadvantaged Economic, structural argument Blames changes in the economic system for

creation of the underclass Deindustrialization, change from

manufacturing to service–oriented jobs – and then most industry went oversees

Decline in real male wages

Underclass Thesis

William Julius Wilson – The Truly Disadvantaged

Definition of the Underclass: Wilson describes the underclass as a

subpopulation of low-income individuals who behavior contrasts sharply with that of mainstream U.S. society

The underclass are the result of economic changes especially decreased blue collar jobs in the northeast and midwest, as companies have moved south or overseas

Underclass Thesis

Definition of the Underclass: Underclass inhabit inner city

neighborhoods characterized by high rates of:1) inner-city joblessness 2) teenage pregnancy3) births to unmarried women4) welfare dependency 5) female-headed families6) serious crime

Truly Disadvantaged

In sum, Wilson blames the system for poverty

People are poor because of changes in the economy of U.S.

Blames the system not individuals for being poor

Summary

About 14.3 percent of the U.S. population lives below the official poverty line

The poverty rate is calculated as three time the cost of a MINIMUM ADEQUATE diet per month

Thus, the poverty line is set artificially low High rates of poverty and unemployment

indicate a systemic problem People are poor due to problems in the

economy and society