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POVERTY
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| NB: Review
federal US government website for a definition of the official poverty
line and other poverty measurements.
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| 1. Functions of poverty |
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 | benefits non-poor by making a class of low-skill workers
available who can and will perform tasks that others do not want to do |
| schools help to create and perpetuate a class of poor
people who make up the low skill workers society needs (unintended) |
| benefits non-poor by keeping prices down, effectively
subsidizing the consumption activities of the more affluent, i.e. lifestyle of
middle/upper classes is dependent on the existence of low-paid work force |
| poverty benefits non-poor by creating jobs and income for
persons who would regulate, serve, or exploit those who are less fortunate, e.g. justice
system |
| existence of trickle-up effect associated with public
assistance, assistance funds received ends up going back to non-poor |
| benefits non-poor because destitute persons purchase goods
and services more affluent people do not, i.e. exploited more and have less protection |
| poor absorb costs of economic policies, e.g. reducing
inflation is at a cost of throwing people out of work |
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| 2. Myths about poverty |
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| refusal to work |
| welfare dependency |
| welfare is a black program |
| poor people don’t plan ahead, i.e. idea of instant
gratification |
| there are enough jobs around, anyone can get a job if they
want one |
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| 3. Causes of poverty:
Deserving to undeserving spectrum, cause or
consequence |
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| innate inferiority reasons - biological
factors |
| cultural inferiority reasons - cultural factors,
deviant value system |
| Structural reasons
 | reproduction of the class structure: essentially
structure is stable over time |
| vicious circle of poverty: rules of eligibility
reflect policy choices made by non-poor, can easily get trapped but majority escape |
| macroeconomic policy: trade off between inflation
or unemployment, latter hurts poor more than inflation, former hurts more the middle class
and wealthy; it is a political issue |
| structure of elections: election days on working
days, registration requirements so lower classes vote less |
| structure of the economy: wage rates and
availability of jobs, part-time or intermittent jobs, decline of well-paying blue collar
jobs |
| institutional discrimination, e.g. lack of
education, poor health, racial, women and elderly are disadvantaged |
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| 4. Impact of poverty: |
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| hunger |
| homelessness |
| violence |
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| 5. Categories of
people who are poor: |
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| unemployed poor |
| working poor: people who
are working but are earning enough to be considered above the poverty
line |
| near poor: people who do
earn enough money to be considered above the poverty line normally but
just barely, but with a non-regular life expense, e.g. medical
situation, person falls into poverty since the expense cannot be met |
| homeless people |
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