Term
| Significance (specifically) of welfare policy |
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Definition
o Communitarian ideals – care about the needs of the broader community
o Capitalism – every man for himself to reach success |
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Term
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Definition
Individualist theory: you don’t work hard
Structuralist theory: unequal social structures perpetuate povery
Fatalist view: poor will always be amongst us
o Fatalistic
♣ Fate is to blame. The poor will always be with us
♣ Catholics tend to favor this view
o Structural
♣ Looking at systems, institutions and economies; how societies are set up
♣ Mainline protestant tend to favor this view
♣ Example: education in suburbs vs. city
• Local property taxes fund schools
o Individualistic
♣ We have poverty because people are to blame for their individual plight
♣ People are lazy and don’t work hard enough. Plenty of opportunity
♣ Evangelicals tend to favor this view |
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Term
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Definition
Income inequality
Wealth inequality
Pull yourself up by your bootstraps |
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Term
| deserving vs undeserving poor |
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Definition
o Elderly generally deserving because they have worked their entire life and need a break
o Poor generally undeserving because they can still work themselves out of their situation |
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Term
| contributory programs (types) |
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Definition
a social program fainanced in whole or in part by taxation or other mandatory contributions by its present or future recipients. Social Security “forced savings”
o Financed by taxation in a way that can be called “forced savings”
o Ex: social security |
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Term
| noncontributory programs (types) |
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Definition
Social programs that provide assistance to people based on demonstrated need rather than any contribution they have made (Medicaid, SSI, Food stamps, in-kind benefits)
o Programs to which beneficiaries do not have to contribute – welfare
o Ex: Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, food stamps etc |
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Term
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Definition
periodic adjustment of welfare payments, wages, or taxes based on the COLAs
Benefits paid out under contributory programs are modified annually by cost-of-living adjustments |
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Term
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Definition
procedure by which potential beneficiaries of a public assistance program est. their eligibility by demonstrating a genuine need for assistance
Procedure requiring applicants to show a financial need for assistance |
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Term
| flexible vs inflexible benefits |
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Definition
o Flexible benefits allow for the recipient to use them in the manner that they please – cash
o Inflexible benefits only allow for the recipient to use them in a specific manner – food stamps for food, medical vouchers etc |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
o Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are the most expensive, not TANIF
o Women don’t have extra children on welfare because TANIF doesn’t give extra money to women who have more kids while on welfare
o Average family size on welfare is 4
o Most people are on welfare for 3 years at a time
o Welfare fraud rate is less than 10%
o Most people are white, not black
o Only .5% of women mothers on welfare are teenagers |
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Term
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Definition
Use a progressive tax system to provide more funding for those who need it more
the transfer of income, wealth or property from some individuals to others caused by a social mechanism such as taxation, monetary policies, welfare, charity, divorce or tort law. The desirability and effects of redistribution are actively debated on ethical and economic grounds. |
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Term
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Definition
| the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a given country |
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Term
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Definition
| Government funds many welfare programs with tax dollars like health care, unemployment, elderly care, education etc |
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Definition
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