1. Who is responsible for Poverty?

2. Blame the victim?  Poor people exhibit the inability to delay gratification- Edward Banfield’s study of poverty in Puerto Rico in the 1950s stated that people become poor because of: the existence of an outlook and style of life which is radically present-oriented and which attaches no value to work, sacrifice, self-improvement, or service to family, friends, or community.  Once a person has developed these attributes they are very difficult to change leading to generational dispositions to poverty. This particular explanation of poverty is still considered because it protects people of privilege. People with good jobs and steady incomes need to justify their own position in society by creating an unworthiness of those who cannot escape being poor, but this fails to recognize children, who do not deserve to live in poverty.

3. Poverty Rate Among Children, 1959- 2007

4. Blame Society?  Many people are poor and remain that way because of individual characteristics, but is this the reason for their economic condition?  Many poor people exhibit the same characteristics that others living above the poverty line display. Incentives, choices, expectations, and ambitions.  Working several jobs yet they are still unable to pay their bills. Blaming the individual could explain some instances, but it fails to explain the large numbers of people who live in poverty. The framework of our society leads to the unequal distribution of income.

5. Percent of poor below one half of the poverty line, 1975-2005

6.  The main difference between the poor and the rest of society is the types of opportunities they encounter, not their personal characteristics.

7. 1969 1987 2007  The gradual balance in the regional distribution of poverty indicates that the poor are less concentrated to a particular area Poverty rates across regions, 1969, 1987, 2007

8. Risk of Poverty for Selected Groups, 2008 Percent in Poverty

9. Poverty Rates by Race and Ethnicity, 1973-2005

10.  Combining individual and societal influences  The most popular explanation is the lack of education and training.  Institutions should provide programs to prepare citizens for life.  Poor people generally lack marketable skills  Is this an individual or societal reason for their poverty?

11.  Government controls policy that either contribute, or eliminate the regulations responsible for inequality in their societies  Institutions are introduced and curriculum is Selected

12. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development International Comparison in Poverty Rates Among Wealthy Countries

13. Three elements contribute to poverty

14. I. INEQUALITIES GENERATED THROUGH EXCLUSION FROM LABOR MARKETS (i. e., between the stably employed labor force and marginalized categories of people)

15.  Marginalization refers to a situation in which a person is, through one mechanism or another, unable to get access to the necessary means to acquire a basic livelihood

16. Distribution of Poverty (in millions)

17. Poverty Rates among Adults, 1959-2007

18.  In the United States, marginalization occurs because of the mismatch between distribution of skills in the population and distribution of jobs in the economy

19. ll. INEQUALITIES GENERATED WITHIN LABOR MARKETS (i.e., between well paid-workers and badly paid workers)

20. Growing Inequality in Hourly Wages

21. Ratios of income between different income strata 50:20 ratio = The ratio of the average family income in the middle quintile to the average family income in the bottom quintile. 95-99:50 ratio = The ratio of the average family income of the people in the 95 th – 99 th percentiles to the average family income in the middle quintile. 99:50 ratio =The ratio of the average family income of people in the 99 th percentile to the average family income in the middle quintile.

22.  “Large numbers of jobs in the American economy pay only poverty level wages” These workers are called the working poor Issues relating to the Stably employed

23. Real hourly wag of low-wage workers, 1973-2005

24. Labor unions which help workers obtain better wages and benefits have steadily declined

25.  since the late 1970s a dramatic increase in inequality has occurred ate the top of the pay scale, especially among managers in corporations and professionals

27. lll. INEQUALITIES GENERATED THROUGH NON-LABOR MARKET INCOME (i.e., between wealthy and non-wealthy individuals)

28. Distribution of American Wealth

29. Was the War on Poverty Successful?

30.  Roosevelt’s Relief  1935 Social Security Act  Unemployment Insurance  Minimum Wage  Kennedy and Johnson War on Poverty Created Three New Programs  Food Stamp Program  Medicare  Medicaid  Nixon Administration Broadens The War on Poverty  Supplemental Security Income  Expansion of Food Stamps  Raise of Social Security Payments to equal Cost of Living  Gerald R Ford’s Term  Introduced The Earned Income Tax Credit

31. Poverty in America Number in Poverty and Poverty Rate

32. Poverty Rates among Adults, 1959-2007

33. After Reagan’s war on unions and the firing of the striking Air Traffic Controllers Other Programs to help the poor began to Evaporate  Government’s failure to uphold the value of the Minimum wage  Clinton’s restructuring of the Welfare Act in 1996 And the subsequent failure of many to meet new requirements  Gradual decline in the membership of unions and the laws that lessen their effectiveness (e.g. The Right to Work Law)

34. In 1932 President Roosevelt begins offering assistance for the first time

35. Works Cited Gilbert, Dennis. The American Class Structure in an Age of Growing Inequality., 2011. Print. Piketty, Thomas, and Arthur Goldhammer. Capital in the Twenty-First Century., 2014. Print. Wright, Erik O, and Joel Rogers. American Society: How It Really Works. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2011. Print. https://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/slides/Inequality_SlideDeck.pdf http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/ p60-249.pdf http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/ p60-249.pdf