Relative poverty is being unable to meet the economic standard of living in one's immediate neighborhood. 

It is when people are poor relative to those around them

What are Epstein's Myths?

Explain and Refute Them

 6 myths

Think of each of these as a WHIP directed AT the poor

1. WHY BOTHER:The poor will always be with us, therefore we need not bother about them.

• EXPLAIN: This myth is a biblical quote taken out of context. In reality the bible is quite clear on the idea that we should actively take care of those in need.  
• Refute: We could end absolute poverty in this country if we chose to. 

2. HOUSED AWAY: The poor should be housed away from the rest of society.

• EXPLAIN: This myth is born out of the other myth that poverty and antisocial behavior go together. It is evidence in housing projects, which are rarely centrally located.
• Refute: Housing the poor away from the rest of society only makes it easier for the rest of society to pretend poverty does not exist, and increases stigma

3. INDOLENCE: Helping the poor will contribute to their indolence.

• Explain: This myth that the poor are lazy is version of the poverty is evidence of personal fault, the idea that helping people makes them lazy is disproven by the fact that the average individual on TANF uses the program for just two years. 
• Refute: As Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs asserts, we grow by having our needs met, not by having them denied. 

4. PERSONAL FAULT: Poverty is evidence of personal       fault.

• Explain: This myth allows those who are not poor to dismiss the suffering that results from poverty as diserved, and ignore the social reality of poverty.
• Refute: There are many reasons for poverty that having nothing to do with personal fault, including medical reasons. 

5. ANTISOCIAL: Poverty and antisocial behavior go together.

• Explain: This is an especially ubiquitious assumption. It is the reason that an indivudal who appears to be of low economic means, will be eyed more closely in a department store, and why we are more quick to suspect violence and criminal behavior among the poor than those of greater economic means. 
• Refute: There is a large group of poor called the working poor, who, even when they work full time at minimum wage jobs, meet the government qualifications for absolute poverty. They are wproductive members of society, not antisocial 

6. TWO CLASSES: There are two classes of poor, the worthy and the unworthy. I get to decide which category a given person fits in and to treat them differently according to my label.

• Explain: Poor is poor. These "classes" of poverty are sterotypes created by the 1601 poor laws that codified the poor in England. 
• Refute: Those of us who would judge would do well to consider how easily any of us might become impoverished. 

 bene- italian for well or good (ethnic)

4 points

1. Organizations of ethnic groups
2. Provided private sector aid
3. In the form of financial or social services
4. To other members of that ethnic group

Assistance given in any form (goods or services) except money.

This was due to the assumption that the poor do know how to handle money properly.

4 points

1. The "original" social worker
2. Worked for a COS or Charitable Organization Society
3. Made home visits to impoverished individuals
4. Helped bring about the understanding that poverty is environmental in nature. 

What were the value binds of the early colonists?

List the values, (their origins, if you want) and their impact on assistance (today)!

Early Colonists Value Binds:

Help Others

• People should HELP those less fortunate than themselves (Judeo-Christian Heritage)
• Impact: The moral imperative to help the needy is evidenced in philanthropy and other private sector aid.  

Assistance from Government

• The government should ASSIST those in need (1601 Poor Laws)
• Impact: We still believe the government should take care of those in need as evidenced by both our public assistance and social insurance programs

Self Sufficiency

• People should also be SELF SUFFICIENT and take of themselves
• Impact: Public assistance's temporary nature and work requirements are intended to promote self sufficiency. 

   

Tax - Don't

• We want our TAXES to stay down (no taxation without representation)

• Impact: Individuals who utilize programs that depend on tax dollars, (TANF) are often stigmatize and looked down upon. 

Ethic - Puritan

• Strong belief in independence and that God helps those who help themselves, the Puritan/Calvinist Work ETHIC

• Impact: More concern for the working than the not working. Public assistants programs such as Home Relief require beneficiaries to sign up for work training. 

Mandatory Contribution

One is required to give to a common pool where someone else is in charge of making decisions on how to disperse funds

In the 1900s the Federal Government assumed responsiblity for certain groups of people because the states said they were not the states problem. These groups became the federal wards:

 Who are the federal wards?

Native Americans

New Immigrants

Passengers and Crew of Sea going vessels

Veterans

Federal Prisoners

1. Care of people in need CAN be a federal government responsibility 
2. Set up a social insurance framework for meeting people's needs
3. Set up public assistance framework for the poor

The Table of Universal Practice established the principal that:

• the amount of assistance provided in a given locality is based on a measure of the cost of living in that locality. 

• The amount of government assistance one can receive must be less than the lowest paying full time job in that locality.
• Principal: To encourage employment, one should earn more from employment than from government aid. 

What principal is established by the Beverige Report?

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The Beverige Report (British)

1. Based on citizenship, not need.
2. Established a social insurance framework
3. Gauranteed the right to have one's basic needs met:
1. employment or cash to live on
2. housing
3. education
4. healthcare 

• people over 65
• people disabled under Social Security who have collected disability checks for 24 consecutive months
• people, regardless of age, with chronic kidney disease who require dialysis and/or are awaiting transplant

C Shit

• C: those who fall under for the Catastrophic or Chronic care clauses
• S those who recieve Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• H: those in the Home Relief Program
• I: the Medically Indigent 
• T: those who utlize AFDC/TANF

Social Security Benefits include:

• Retirement
• Disability
• Survivors
• Lump Sum Death

• 10 years (40 credits) of paying into the system
• age 65 (rising to 67) for full benefits
• age 62 for partial benefits
• must pass the "retirement test" with current wages if under 65

• Spouse: 
• must be at least 62/65
• ORany age if child under 16 is in their care 
• Children: 
• up to 18 or 19 if completing high school
• OR a disabled adult child whose disability from work force occurred before age of 22. 

What are the Social Security Disability Benefit Requirements for the disabled and the spouse and children of the disabled? 

• Disabled:
• Disablity from the work force that will last at least one year or result in death before that time.
• Current work connection
• Spouse: 
• 62/65 
• Any age if a child under 16 is in their care
• Children: 
• up to 18 or 19 if completing highschool 
• OR Disabled adult child whose disablity from the work force occured before the age of 22. 

What are the qualifications for children or a surviving spouse to receive Social Security Survivors Benefits?

• Surviving Spouse: 
• age 60
• any age if child under the age of 16 is in their care
• age 50 if disabled
• Children:
• age 18 or 19 if completing highschool
• Disabled adult child whose disability from the work force occcured before age 22

• A person who is eligible to receive a Social Security check off of the worker's record

5 points

• people 65 or over
• adult who is disabled from the work force with a condition that will last one year or result in death before the year is up
• child with a physical or mental condition that can be medically proven and which results in marked or severe functional limitations
• blind
• all must pass means test and prove financial need 

How do 1601 Poor Laws Compare with Public Assistance Today? 

CAR PUTS PAD 

Similarities: 

• Categorical: Assistance is still categorical
• Appointee:  Still overseen by a county level political appointee
• Residency: There is still a residency requirement, though it is much shorter 
• Parents are still responsible for minor children
• Unit: The unit of government that is responsible for providing services is still the county
• Taxation is still the means of funding
• Spouses are still responsible for each other

Differences

• Percentage: Taxation is now split between the county 25%, state 25% and federal government 50%, with the county serving as the base contributor
• Aging Parents: adult children are no longer responsible for aging parents
• Different Categories: The categories of assistance have changed. No longer able bodied poor, impotent poor and dependent children. Now SSI and TANF/AFDC.

Charitble Organization Societies gave us:

• Friendly Visitor- the precursor to today's social worker
• Individual - the understanding of the poor person
• Equity - in disbursement of services
• Record Keeping - Central Intake 
• Confidentiality - a way to maintain it
• Enviromental- promoted the understanding as poverty as enviromental 

1. STIGMA: Removed the stigma for members of those categories
2. CHECKS: Made checks more dependable
3. ADULT: Removed all adult categories (OA, APTD, ANB) from Welfare Department, now under the Social Security Office 
4. BENEFITS: Increased benefits for most people, lowered for none
5. SEPARATION: Guaranteed Separation of Services