question

Policies that provide benefits to individuals, particularly those in need are called

answer

social welfare policies.

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Programs that provide benefits selectively only to people with specific needs are called

answer

means-tested programs.

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The distribution of income in the United States

answer

is quite uneven.

question

The method used by the U.S. Bureau of the Census to count the number of poor people is

answer

the poverty line.

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Rank and Hirschl looked at the overall incomes of Americans during their working lifetimes and found:

answer

An impressive 50.4 percent of Americans spent at least a year in poverty during their lifetimes.

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Poverty rates tend to be highest among which of the following groups?

answer

unmarried women

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Government's main tools for influencing the distribution of income and wealth are

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income taxation and expenditure policies.

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The best evidence indicates that the overall incidence of taxes in America is

answer

proportional.

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Transfer payments have

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raised many of the poor above the poverty line.

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After the turn of the century,

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family-based support networks began to break down.

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Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty program

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represented an outpouring of federal programs to help the poor and elderly.

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Advocates of greater spending for poverty programs in the Great Society had more difficulty gaining support compared to advocates for programs for the elderly because

answer

poverty groups were less organized, less powerful, and had lower turnout rates than the elderly.

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The 1996 Welfare Reform Bill

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-Gave each state a fixed amount of money to run its own welfare programs. -Required people on welfare to find work within two years or lose all their benefits. -Placed a lifetime maximum of 5 years on welfare.

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The major problem with the Social Security program is

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the long-term sustainability of the program.

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Republicans have proposed solving the Social Security problem by

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diverting a portion of Social Security contributions to private retirement funds.

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According to Charles Murray the problem with social welfare policies is that they

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discouraged the poor from solving their own problems.

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Compared to most Western democracies, the United States provides

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relatively few social welfare benefits.

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A dilemma concerning social welfare policy in a democracy is that

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the groups competing for social welfare programs are often quite uneven in the resources they bring to the struggle.

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Past democratic conflicts and compromises in the social welfare policy area have

answer

given Americans a huge social welfare bureaucracy at all levels of government.

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____________________ policies provide benefits to individuals, particularly those in need.

answer

Social welfare

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The two biggest ____________________ are Social Security and Medicare.

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entitlement programs

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The concept of ____________________ describes the share of national income earned by various groups in the United States.

answer

income distribution

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Studies of ____________________ display even more inequality than those of income.

answer

wealth

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The U.S. Bureau of the Census has established the ____________________, which takes into account what a family would need to spend to maintain an "austere" standard of living.

answer

poverty line

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A tax that takes a higher percentage from the lower income levels than from the well-to-do is called a ____________________.

answer

regressive tax

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Through the ____________________, the poorest of the poor receive a check from Washington instead of sending one.

answer

Earned Income Tax Credit

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____________________, such as Social Security checks, Food Stamps, and welfare, provide benefits to individuals in specific need.

answer

Transfer payments

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The most dramatic change in how Americans viewed government's role in providing social welfare occurred during the 1930s and was called ____________________.

answer

AFDC or aid to families with dependent children.

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Under the Welfare Reform law, cash payments to poor families are called ____________________.

answer

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

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Means-tested programs are rarely controversial in America and often overwhelmingly popular.

answer

False

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The 1980s were a period in which the old adage "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" applied.

answer

True

question

Studies of wealth in America display even more inequality than those of income.

answer

True

question

The official poverty counts tend to underestimate the seriousness of poverty in America.

answer

True

question

In general, federal taxes are progressive.

answer

True

question

The biggest chunk of federal transfer payments goes to the poor in America.

answer

False

question

Prior to the twentieth century, governments took little responsibility for feeding and clothing the poor or anyone else.

answer

True

question

In the 1960s America experienced an outpouring of federal programs designed to help the poor and the elderly.

answer

True

question

Advocates of greater spending for poverty programs have had greater support than those for programs for the elderly.

answer

False

question

No public policy has a worse public perception and image than welfare.

answer

True

question

The 1996 Welfare Reform Bill failed to reduce the number of people on welfare.

answer

False

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Without reform, at some point, the Social Security program will become bankrupt.

answer

True

question

Social Security payouts should exceed income around the year 2038 unless something drastic changes.

answer

True

question

European nations tend to support greater governmental responsibility for poverty and social welfare than the United States.

answer

True

question

The nature of democratic politics makes it difficult to withdraw government benefits once they are established.

answer

True

Chapter 16-Social Welfare Policymaking – Flashcards

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