HDF110 Week 4 Notes
● Poverty: state of being extremely poor; however “poor” can be defined in many
different ways.
○ determined by the “Poverty Threshold”: statistical yardstick used by gov.
to measure # of people who don’t have adequate income to meet their
family’s basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, health care)
■ used to determine eligibility for various government programs
(bridge card, low-income housing, free school lunches, etc.)
■ Different programs/states determine funding eligibility using
different measures
■ formula for Poverty Threshold was developed in 1960s:
● based on 1955 survey about food costs
● has been adjusted for inflation BUT formula itself has not
changed
○ government does all kinds of analysis on data collected by the U.S.
Census
● Problem with Poverty Threshold:
○ Since formula was developed in 1960s, housing, health care, and
transportation expenses have drastically increased more than food costs
■ EXAMPLE: 1960’s food costs were ⅓ of a family’s budget; today
its closer to 1/7 of family budget
● U.S. Poverty Stats:
○ U.S. has the highest rate of poverty of any industrialized nation
○ lowest rates of poverty exist for Whites (9.8%)
○ people of color, they have a much higher rate of poverty:
■ Blacks= 28%
■ Hispanics= 25%
○ Low Income by Race:
■ American Indian children= 57%
■ Latino children= 61%
■ Black children= 60%
■ Asian children= 30%
■ White children= 26%
■ NOTE: whites comprise the largest group of low-income children,
but not highest percentage
● Risks Associated with Living in Poverty:
○ Higher infant mortality rates
○ Lower infant birth weights (leads to health problems)
○ Homelessness or lack of safe housing; leads to health & safety risks
○ Lack of health care/food
○ Higher school drop out rates
○ Lower test scores & academic success
○ Greater risk of being a victim of violent crime
○ Greater risk of being involved in criminal activity
● Race and Racisms, Chapters 7
○ Income inequality by race, ethnicity, & gender:
■ Difference in earnings bt richest & poorest has widened
■ Income inequality is bc of big growth in wage of highest earners &
poorest
■ U.S. has most unequal advanced economy w/ Gini Coefficient of
43
● Gini Coefficient: measure from 1-100; 0= perfect equality,
100= perfect inequality
■ U.S. has largest poor population
■ Last in child poverty rates, largest ratio bt richest & poorest 10%
■ Highest percent of people living below 50% median income
■ Earnings gap: differences in earnings by groups
■ Wage gap: differences in hourly earnings among groups; difference
in amount earned per hours worked
○ Underemployment, unemployment, and Joblessness
■ Earnings inequality compounded by unemployment rates; data
doesn’t include unemployed people
■ Wage differentials shows view of overall inequality
■ Underemployment: jobless workers actively seeking work
○ Sociological explanations for income and labor market inequality
■ Human capital: educational attainment, skills, & job experience
■ Individual-level explanations:
● Individual human capital differences
● Age, marital status, immigrant status, region of residence,
education, hours worked, occupation
● When differences in earnings cannot be explained fully by
characteristics, disadvantage can be explained by
discrimination
● Racial discrimination: when racial status plays role in
employers decision to deny person job
● Implicit bias: we all have biases at subconscious levels
■ Structural-level explanations: