Unit 7: Poverty Readings  dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR html?referrer= article  "Problems of Work and Economy," by Kornblum and Julian, in your text.  "Media Magic: Making Class Invisible," by Mantsios, in your text. (DB #2)  "Concomitants of Poverty," by Kornblum and Julian, in your text.  "Did Welfare Reform Work? Implications for 2003 and Beyond," by Hofferth, in your text. (DB #1) Concept Essay  Describe the problem of unemployment as discussed by Kornblum and Julian. How does unemployment impact individuals and society? What can be done to lessen some of the social and psychological damage caused by unemployment?  This concept essay should be at least 300 words in length and formatted per APA style requirements. You should cite your textbook and include a reference page. Live Seminar – Thursday evening

Unit 7 Information from Social Problems (2010), 10 th edition by Eitzen (unless otherwise noted)

Video Field Trip: 20/20’s A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains star-hidden-america ?tab= star-hidden-america ?tab=

Myth 1  Half of the poor are either too old or too young to work: About 40% are under age 18, and another 10% are age 65 or older. About 30% of the working-age poor work at least half the year.

Myth 2  Long-term poverty is rare. Most poverty lasts less than a year.  Only 12% remain in poverty for five or more consecutive years.  Most children who are born into poverty are not in poverty or poor as adults

Myth 3  The poverty rates of African Americans and Latinos are much higher than that of whites. However, because there are so many more whites in the U.S., most of the poor are white.  Of the 37 million poor, 57% are white, 20% African American, 20% Latino, and 3% Asian American.

Myth 4  38% of the poor match this stereotype  34% live in married-couple families  22% live alone or with nonrelatives  6% live in other settings

Myth 5  42% live in the inner city  36% live in the suburbs  22% live in small towns and rural areas

Myth 6  Only about 25% of the income of poor adults comes from welfare.  About half of the income comes from wages and pensions  About 22% comes from social security

 How do people become homeless?

Henslin, J. (2008). Social Problems: A down to earth approach. Boston: Pearson. Types of Homeless  Push-outs  Victims of environmental catastrophe  The mentally ill  The new poor  Technologically unqualified  The elderly  Runaways  Demoralized  Alcoholics  Ease addicts  Travel addicts (“road dogs”)  Excitement addicts

 How do people view homelessness and the homeless in the U.S.?  Do these views vary?

 Why don’t the homeless get the help they need?  What are some barriers to care?

Christiani, A. et al. (2008, Nov. 3). Attitudes of homeless and drug using youth regarding barriers to care. JCAPN, 2, Barriers to Care  Financial (insurance, bills, prescriptions)  Structural (endless bureaucratic requirements)  Personal (transportation, cultural, language, discrimination, distrust, embarrassment, confidentiality, etc.)

Urban Renewal  How does urban renewal constitute a solution to social problems?

Eitzen, D.S., Baca Zinn, M. & Smith, K. (2009). Social Problems. Boston: Pearson. Urban Renewal – A Solution  Moral to improve quality of life  The city center has been the cultural and intellectual centers  Declining cities means declining suburbs

Urban Renewal  How does Urban Renewal constitute a cause of social problem?

Henslin, J. (2008). Social Problems: A down to earth approach. Boston: Pearson. Urban Renewal – A Social Problem  Gentrification – the relatively affluent displacing the poor by renovating their homes. Results in loss of low-income housing units Results in loss of low-income housing units Increases homelessness Increases homelessness  By building highways the government financed the wealthy The move of factories and offices out of the city crippled its economic system The move of factories and offices out of the city crippled its economic system  Redeveloping the downtown – an attempt to hide the poor

 The United States is a "consumer society." What does this mean?  What ramifications does this have for how we live in our society? Consumer Society

From James Henslin's Social Problems: A down to earth approach (2008). Four Economic Problems Facing the U.S.  1. Decline in real income (purchasing power) Income rose from WWII to the 1970’s Income rose from WWII to the 1970’s Real income today is just a little more than it was in the 70s Real income today is just a little more than it was in the 70s Two-incomes = double family income? Two-incomes = double family income?  2. Taxes Growing share of income goes towards taxes Growing share of income goes towards taxes Tax Freedom Day – April 26 Tax Freedom Day – April 26  3. The savings rate of Americans has dropped Less money to invest in the economy Less money to invest in the economy  4. The national debt Importation of foreign goods and rising debt Importation of foreign goods and rising debt

Data from Reuters, T (2009) from MSN money Consumer Debt  43% spend more than they earn every year – spend $1.22 for every dollar earned  Average household has $8 K in credit card debt  Personal bankruptcies doubled in past decade  The average student graduates from college with $20,000 in debt