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Definition
| Policies that provide benefits to individuals, either through entitlements or means testing. |
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| Government benefits that certain qualified individuals are entitled to by law, regardless of need. |
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| Government programs available only to individuals below a poverty line. |
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| The "shares" of the national income earned by various groups. |
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| The amount of funds collected between any two points in time. |
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| The value of assets owned. |
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| A method used to count the number of poor people, it considers what a family must spend for an "austere" standard of living. |
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| The increasing concentration of poverty among women, especially unmarried women and their children. |
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| A tax by which the government takes a greater share of the income of the rich than of the poor -- for example, when a rich family pays 50% of its income tax in taxes, and a poor family pays 5%. |
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| A tax by which the government takes the same share of income from everyone, rich and poor alike -- for example, when both a rich family and a poor family pay 20%. |
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| A tax in which the burden falls relatively more heavily on low-income groups than on wealthy taxpayers. |
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| A "negative income tax" that provides income to very poor individuals in lieu of charging them federal income taxes. |
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| Benefits given by the government directly to individuals. Transfer payments may be either cash transfers, such as Social Security payments and retirement payments to former government employees, or in-kind transfers, such as food stamps and low-interest loans for college education. |
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Term
| Social Security Act of 1935 |
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Definition
| Created both teh Social Security Program and a national assistance program for poor children, usually called AFDC. |
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| Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act |
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Definition
| The official name of the welfare reform law of 1996. |
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Term
| Temporary Assistance for Needy Families |
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Definition
| Once called "Aid to Families with Dependent Children," the new name for public assistance to needy families. |
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Term
| Social Security Trust Fund |
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Definition
| The "bank account" into which Social Security contributions are "deposited" and used to pay out eligible recipients. |
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