Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 7 Economic Problems: Poverty and Wealth

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Economic Systems and Changes Comparing capitalism and socialism  Social class: The way economic differences among groups or individuals in a society are measured  Economy: Entire social institution that produces and distributes goods and services  Capitalist Economies: based on the private ownership of property and the investment of capital  Socialist Economies: government owns property, and profit by individuals is illegal Cold War (1945 to 1989): tensions between the “West” and “East”

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved The triumph of capitalism Social inequality—the unequal distribution of wealth, income, power, and poverty Capitalism offers both individual freedoms and the opportunity for economic success

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Economic Problems Facing the United States Stagnant incomes  Real income: income adjusted for inflation Taxes The savings rate A debtor nation  National debt: the total amount the U.S. government owes

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved The Nature of Poverty Biological poverty: starvation and malnutrition Relative poverty: people living below the standard of living for their society Official poverty: income level at which people are eligible for welfare Problems with the poverty line  Not adjusted for different costs of living

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Subjective Concerns and Objective Conditions Objective conditions alone not enough to make poverty a social problem Subjective concerns also essential and more important Changes in concerns and conditions  People assumed that poverty was a natural part of life Launching the war on poverty  1960, President Kennedy

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved The Situation Today Progress limited since the 1960s Controversy over numbers  Government does not count as income many benefits people receive from antipoverty programs. The significance of poverty  No matter how we compute poverty, millions of Americans are poor.  How we define poverty has serious consequences for people’s lives.  Poverty lies at the root of many other social problems.

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Social Inequality Existence of poverty contradicts the ideal American vision of success Structural inequality: the inequality built into our economic and social institutions Distribution of income and wealth  Inequality of income  Inequality of wealth Wealth: how much property, savings, investments, and economic assets people own

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Wealth and power  Vast wealth brings vast power.  Because the rich can hire top financial advisors, attorneys, and lobbyists, they perpetuate their advantages. The impact of poverty  People’s economic circumstances envelop them, affecting profoundly every aspect of their lives  Housing and mortgages  Education  Jobs  Criminal justice  In short: quality of life

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Symbolic Interactionism The relativity of poverty  To fully understand poverty we must focus on what poverty means to people.  Poverty is relative: what poverty is differs from group to group. Helps us understand that the meanings of poverty change as social conditions change

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Functionalism Income inequality helps society.  Some tasks in society are more important than others.  To attract such talented people, the positions must offer high income and prestige. Poverty is functional for society.  We need the poor because their poverty contributes to society’s well-being.

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Conflict Theory The cause of social inequality  Basic struggle over limited resources A general theory of social class  Karl Marx (1818–1883)  Social class revolves around means of production  Capitalists (bourgeoisie) or workers (proletariat)  False class consciousness: mistaken idea of future prosperity  Class consciousness: realization that there will never be a future prosperity

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Modifications of Conflict Theory Most sociologists acknowledge that class division is inadequate for today’s society.  Erik Wright (1979, 1985)  Ralf Dahrendorf (1959, 1973)  Feminist theorists Conflict theorists always stress the relationship between those who have power and those who do not.

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Research Findings Permanence and poverty  Most people who fall below the poverty line do not stay there permanently. Region  Poor are concentrated in the inner city and rural areas. Race–ethnicity  Poverty trends can also be predicted using race–ethnicity.

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Children in poverty  Poverty can also be predicted using age as a variable. The elderly  Their economic situation has improved The feminization of poverty  Poverty in the United States has become concentrated among women and children. An underclass  People who earn minimum wage are likely to be poor.

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Social structure  Poverty is structural, built into the social system. Is there a culture of poverty?  Blatant poverty in the midst of plenty  Culture of Poverty: people who remain poor develop a way of life that traps them in poverty  Some people do adopt a culture of poverty that perpetuates poor lifestyles.

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Who Rules America? Conflict theorists stress that to understand social life we must understand who controls scarce resources, especially power. The power elite: this small group makes decisions that direct the country—and the world  No power elite pulling the strings; instead, many interest groups compete for social, economic, and political power  The controversy between the pluralists and the sociologists who support the view of the power elite is long-standing and unresolved. Culture of wealth: set of institutions, customs, values, worldviews, family ties, and connections— allow the rich and powerful to perpetuate their privileges

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Inequality and Global Poverty Global stratification  Residual poverty  Mass poverty Economic Colonialism  Political colonialism An exploiting national power elite A culture of poverty These three issues work together to form the plight of the Least Industrialized Nations.

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Social Policy Shifting views of cause and policy The basic difference—cause as inside or outside of people Progressive taxation: tax rates that progress (increase) with income

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Public Assistance Programs Social insurance Teaching job skills Welfare Workfare  “Welfare Queens”: collected welfare checks or excess amounts of government aid

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved The Feminization of Poverty Refers to the likelihood that those living in single-mother households are likely to live beneath the poverty line Private agencies and volunteer organizations The purpose of helping the poor  Often connected with ideas of what God wants Regulating the poor  Capitalism needs a dependable supply of unemployed, low-skilled, temporary workers

Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Tenth Edition by James M. Henslin ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Providing Jobs Most direct way to deal with poverty Education accounts Giving the poor more money  The Income Maintenance Experiments Welfare wall: disincentive to work that comes when the amount that people earn from working is not much more than what they get on welfare