y

After reading Chapter IX students should understand

1. The meaning of the poverty rate, how it is calculated and the problems inherent in the process of measuring the extent of poverty

a. the ways of counting the poor
b. the criticisms of the official poverty statistics

3. The most recent poverty rate and changes in the poverty rate since 1959

4. The influence of social class, race, household type, place of residence and region on poverty rates

5. The extent to which welfare policies and tax policies affect poverty in the United States and other industrialized countries

6. The four theories of poverty and main criticisms of each theory

a. Individual - blaming the poor
b. Culture of poverty
c. Situational - the "lower class value stretch"
d. Structural or conflict theory, including the nature of the occupational structure in the U.S., the concept of an "industrial reserve army," pockets of poverty, property structure and authority structures

8. The characteristics and impact of the 1996 welfare reform laws

9. Welfare spending in other nations and where the U.S. ranks, including the effect of welfare spending on reducing the number of people below the poverty line

10. Piven and Cloward's "functions of welfare."

11. Gans' "functions of poverty."

12. Protest movements and welfare spending

(adapted from Instructor's Manual prepared by Richard A. Schaffer)

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