Assignment #5: Poverty:
Answer all questions and always support your responses with evidence.
Having now understood some of the conceptual tools (vocabulary) we need for our course, we move on to the study of poverty.
In this lecture, we want to develop an understanding of the various definitions of poverty and also see if we can measure or quantify poverty.
Why are some people poor and others not so poor? Pay attention to the debate about the causes of poverty and find out which is more persuasive.
1. For most people, poverty is seen as the absence of sufficient income to afford the basic necessities of life. Why is this everyday definition of poverty inadequate for students of social problems?
In defining poverty, it becomes important to distinguish between relative and absolute poverty.
2. With examples demonstrate what is meant by the term absolute poverty as distinct from relative poverty.
3. With examples demonstrate what is meant by the term relative poverty as distinct from absolute poverty.
4. Poverty is not only a national phenomenon but also an international issue, present a picture of the global dimension of poverty.
There are two federal policy measures of poverty: (1) The Poverty Threshold and (2) The Poverty Guidelines.
5. What is the Poverty Threshold? Use examples to support your response.
6. What is the Poverty Guideline? Use examples to support your response.
7. Using the Poverty Guidelines for the years 2017, 2019 and 2020 how much should be a family of four earn to be considered poor by the federal government.
8. Discuss what some analysts see as the shortcomings of the federal policy measures of poverty.
The causes of poverty have always generated a debate. Broadly speaking, we have two schools of thought. What we may loosely term the individual (conservative) and structural (liberal) schools of thought.
9. With examples discuss how the Conservative school explain why some people are poor in society. Do you find their explanation persuasive?
10. With examples discuss how the Structuralist school explains why some people are poor in society. Do you find their explanation persuasive?
11. Critically discuss the functionalist view or theory on the causes of poverty.
12. Critically discuss the Conflict view or theory on the causes of poverty.
13. Critically discuss the Feminist theory or view on the causes of poverty.
14. Critically discuss the Interactionist view or theory on the causes of poverty.
