1. Welfare and Education Policy: Providing for Personal Security and Need
Chapter 16

2. Poverty in America: The Nature of the Problem
The poor: who and how many?
The poverty line: annual cost of a thrifty food budget for an urban family of four, multiplied by three
$24,000 in 2014
Children; single-parent families headed by females
Minority-group members
Rural and inner-city dwellers
Major differences by state

3. 514 Poverty rates by state

4. 515 fig 16-1

5. Poverty in America: The Nature of the Problem
Living in poverty: by choice or by chance?
Charles Murray and Losing Ground
Many Americans believe poverty is a choice
Most poor are in poverty as result of circumstance

6. Politics and Policies of Social Welfare
Social insurance programs
Widely supported by public
Heavily funded
Benefits to individuals of all income levels
Seen as an earned entitlement
Social security
Unemployment insurance
Medicare

7. Politics and Policies of Social Welfare
Public assistance programs
Less public support
Receive less funding
Restricted to people of low income
Seen as a hand-out
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Head Start
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

8. 523 fig 16-2

9. Politics and Policies of Social Welfare
Public assistance programs
In-kind benefits: food stamps and housing vouchers
Medicaid
The SCHIP program
The 2010 Health Care Reform Act

10. Politics and Policies of Social Welfare
Culture and social welfare
U.S. has the most inefficient welfare system in the Western world
Scores of separate programs that may overlap
Large bureaucracy needed to monitor eligibility
Inequity
Social security and Medicare: many high-income earners receive benefits

11. 528 fig 16-3

12. Federal Budget by Category
529 fig 16-4

13. Education as Equality of Opportunity
America’s heavy investment in public education
Goal is equality of opportunity
Federal grants-in-aid
1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act is the cornerstone of the federal government’s public-school efforts
The 1965 Higher Education Act
Pell Grants
Federal loans

14. Education as Equality of Opportunity
Improving America’s schools
American students not high performers relative to other advanced countries, though America spends very highly on education
Inequality of wealth in communities

15. Educational Performance
531

16. Education as Equality of Opportunity
Mandatory high-stakes testing
No Child Left Behind
Controversial increase in weight on testing
Race to the Top
Competition that rewards performance and innovation
Partisan conflict over education policy
Federal spending
School choice

17. The American Way of Promoting the General Welfare
Democracy and economic security
The American way of welfare
Differences between the European and American approach

18. 537 fig 16-5