Chapter 16: Social Welfare Policymaking
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CHAPTER 16: SOCIAL WELFARE POLICYMAKING
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Social welfare policies are a. policies that provide benefits to individuals, either through entitlements or through means testing. b. “shares” of national income earned by various groups. c. policies that tax a greater share of the income of the rich than of the poor. d. policies used to count the number of poor people. e. benefits given by the government directly to individuals.
2. According to Timothy Smeeding, a. the U.S. has seen large increases in income inequality over the last four decades. b. income inequality is greater in the U.S. than most developed countries. c. the U.S. has the widest extremes of income compared to other developed countries. d. All of these are true. e. None of these is true.
3. Government benefits that certain qualified individuals are entitled to by law, regardless of need, are called a. means-tested programs. b. entitlements. c. handouts. d. redistributive policies. e. regulatory policies.
4. Which of the following statements about social welfare policy is FALSE? a. Social Security and Medicare are the two largest entitlement programs. b. Federal entitlement programs cost $3 billion a day. c. Entitlement programs are sometimes called “social insurance” programs. d. The 2006 increase in entitlement spending was almost $100 billion. e. Compared to entitlement programs, the government spends billions more on means-tested programs.
5. What was the median American household income in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau? a. $39,777 b. $49,777 c. $59,777 d. $69,777 e. $79,777
6. _____ refers to the amount of money collected between any two points in time; ____ refers to the value of assets owned. a. Wealth; income b. Income; wealth c. Entitlements; income d. Wealth; entitlements e. Income; entitlements
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 1 of 15 7. A tax by which the government takes 50 percent of a rich family’s income in taxes and 5 percent of a poor family’s income in taxes is a _____ tax. a. proportional b. flat c. regressive d. progressive e. unitary
8. The sales tax is an example of a(n)______tax. a. earned-income b. progressive c. regressive d. proportional e. unitary
9. Transfer payments a. consist of cash and in-kind benefits from the government. b. are part of the proposed changes to make taxation more proportional. c. have significantly redistributed income in America. d. have the net effect of being regressive. e. All of the above are true of transfer payments.
10. The Social Security Act was passed in the United States during a. the Civil War. b. World War I. c. the New Deal. d. the Great Society era. e. the Spanish American War.
11. Which president declared “War on Poverty”? a. Lyndon Johnson b. Ronald Reagan c. Bill Clinton d. Franklin D. Roosevelt e. George H. W. Bush
12. Which law, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, proposed to “end welfare as we know it”? a. Social Security Act b. Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act c. Aid to Families with Dependent Children d. Children Health Insurance Program e. Earned Income Tax Credit
13. Current Social Security payroll taxes are _____ percent. a. 5 b. 6.2 c. 12.4 d. 15.2 e. 25
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 2 of 15 14. Which president formed the Commission to Strengthen Social Security through a system of limited privatization? a. Franklin D. Roosevelt b. Ronald Reagan c. George H. W. Bush d. Bill Clinton e. George W. Bush
15. Compared to other advanced industrialized democracies, the United States a. provides meager family leave policies connected to the birth or adoption of a child or illness of a family member. b. faces fewer challenges funding Social Security due to the level of benefits relative to the size of the population. c. pays higher prices for more generous social welfare benefits to its citizens. d. provides a greater range of social welfare benefits to its citizens. e. generally supports greater governmental responsibility for poverty and social welfare problems.
True/False Questions
1. Policies that provide benefits, cash or in-kind, to individuals based on either entitlement or means testing are called social welfare policies.
2. Entitlement programs are government programs that provide benefits to qualified individuals regardless of need.
3. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in the U.S. in 2009 was $49,777.
4. The gap between the rich and the poor is smaller today than it was in the middle of the twentieth century.
5. The official poverty count is most likely an overestimate because there is a lag in the poverty count compared to the number of people who “work their way out of poverty.”
6. Regressive taxes impose a heavier burden on low-income groups than on the wealthy.
7. The courts have ruled that Proposition 187, the 1994 California initiative that prohibited illegal immigrants from receiving social welfare benefits, violated the civil rights of illegal immigrants.
8. The ratio of workers to beneficiaries of Social Security has been declining for several decades and is projected to continue to fall in the future.
9. Most industrial nations are more generous with social welfare programs than is the United States.
10. Due in part to the fact that policymaking in the U.S. is incremental in nature, it is difficult to change social welfare policies.
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 3 of 15 Multiple Choice Questions
1. Policies that provide benefits to individuals through entitlement or means testing are called a. tax subsidies. b. social welfare policies. c. equal opportunity policies. d. charity. e. regulatory policies.
2. The government spends more on the ______than on the ______. a. military; civilians b. youth; elderly c. men; women d. nonpoor; poor e. noncitizens; citizens
3. The government spends far more on ____ than on _____. a. defense; Social Security b. Social Security; the poor c. the poor; defense d. the poor; the middle class e. food stamps; defense
4. Government benefits provided regardless of financial need are called a. means tested. b. transfer payments. c. entitlements. d. nonmerit benefits. e. generic expenditures.
5. An example of an entitlement program is a. food stamps. b. Medicare. c. federal student loans. d. Medicaid. e. All of these are entitlement programs.
6. Food stamps and Medicaid are a. entitlements. b. means-tested programs. c. non-means-tested programs. d. government guarantees. e. rights of citizenship.
7. Government programs available only to individuals who qualify for them based on specific needs are called a. redistributive policies. b. personal policies. c. regulatory policies. d. means-tested programs. e. entitlement programs.
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 4 of 15 8. ______is the value of assets owned, including stocks, bonds, bank accounts, cars, houses, and so forth. a. Income b. Wealth c. Taxable income d. Net earnings e. Net profit
9. The amount of money collected between two points of time is called a. income. b. wealth. c. taxes. d. savings. e. asset accumulation.
10. Which of the following is TRUE about wealth and income in American society? a. Wealth is distributed less equally than income. b. Wealth and income are distributed about the same in society. c. Income is distributed less equally than wealth. d. Wealth and income are the same thing. e. There has been little change in income distribution in the U.S. in recent decades.
11. Which best characterizes the distribution of wealth and income in the United States? a. Wealth is more unequally distributed than income. b. Income is more unequally distributed than wealth. c. Wealth and income are each distributed in roughly the same pattern. d. The distribution of wealth is becoming slightly more equal, while the distribution of income is becoming slightly more unequal. e. The distribution of income is becoming slightly more equal, while the distribution of wealth continues to grow more unequal.
12. A situation in which people believe they are not doing well economically in comparison to others is called a. absolute deprivation. b. relative deprivation. c. income inequality. d. the feminization of poverty. e. poverty perceptions.
13. Studies of America’s wealth show that ______of America’s wealth is held by the wealthiest 1 percent of the population. a. one-sixth b. one-fifth c. one-quarter d. one-third e. one-half
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 5 of 15 14. Approximately how many Americans were poor in 2009? a. 5 million b. 14 million c. 20 million d. 34 million e. 43 million
15. Which of the following statements about wealth in the United States is FALSE? a. The top 1 percent of the wealth-holders currently possess about 30 percent of all American wealth. b. The wealth of the richest 1 percent exceeds the wealth of the bottom 90 percent. c. There are now over two million millionaires in the world, most in the United States. d. Between 1979 and 1995, the poorest one-fifth of the population saw their real incomes increase, while the richest one-fifth of the population saw their real incomes decrease. e. Since the 1980s, the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer.
16. Which of the following statements about the distribution of wealth in America is TRUE? a. Many of the poor are slowly gaining ground, relatively speaking, to higher-income groups. b. All groups are increasing their wealth, with the poor increasing at a slightly lower rate. c. Many of the poor are losing ground to the higher-income groups in absolute terms. d. All groups are increasing their wealth, with the poor increasing at a slightly higher rate. e. The middle class (the middle quintile of the population) is increasing its share of the national income, while the top and bottom quintiles are losing their share of national income.
17. The share of national income earned by various groups in the United States is described by the concept of a. the apple pie. b. income distribution. c. income relativity. d. socioeconomic stratification. e. wealth allocation.
18. Official poverty counts tend to underestimate poverty because a. some families refuse to report their income level. b. some families go in and out of poverty without being counted. c. they do not include individuals’ wealth. d. the Republicans want it that way. e. the Democrats want it that way.
19. Which of the following statements is TRUE? a. Over one-half of Americans between the ages of 25 and 75 will spend at least one year in poverty during their lifetime. b. African Americans and Hispanic Americans have more than a 20 percent chance of living in poverty. c. White Americans have less than a 10 percent chance of being in poverty. d. Female-headed households have an almost 30 percent chance of being in poverty. e. All of these are true.
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 6 of 15 20. Poverty among the elderly declined over the past several decades primarily due to a. Social Security benefits. b. the booming economy in the 1980s. c. changing attitudes in society regarding the elderly. d. the larger proportion of savings held by the elderly. e. All of the above are true.
21. Which of the following statements is FALSE? a. Unmarried women and their children outnumber the elderly among the ranks of the poor. b. The elderly outnumber unmarried women and their children among the ranks of the poor. c. The constant expansion of Social Security and its benefits has significantly reduced poverty among the elderly. d. Poverty rates are higher for African Americans than for whites. e. Poverty rates are higher for Hispanics than for whites.
22. A ______tax takes a higher percentage from the incomes of the rich than the poor. a. progressive b. proportional c. regressive d. relative-deprivation e. flat
23. A ______tax requires the same share from everyone, rich and poor alike. a. progressive b. proportional c. regressive d. relative-deprivation e. flat
24. A ______tax takes a higher percentage from those with lower incomes and less from the wealthy. a. progressive b. proportional c. regressive d. relative-deprivation e. flat
25. A tax in which the tax rate increases with increases in income is a(n) a. progressive tax. b. regressive tax. c. proportional tax. d. example of relative deprivation. e. earned-income tax credit.
26. The federal income tax is an example of a ______tax. a. progressive b. proportional c. regressive d. relative-deprivation e. flat
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 7 of 15 27. Which of the following statements is TRUE? a. The rich send a bigger proportion of their income to Washington in the form of federal taxes than do the poor. b. The poor send a bigger proportion of their income to Washington in the form of federal taxes than do the rich. c. The rich and the poor send the same proportion of their income to Washington in the form of federal taxes. d. The rich and the poor send the same absolute dollar amount to Washington in the form of a flat tax. e. Neither the rich nor the poor send income taxes to Washington.
28. If the government takes a bigger bite from the income of a rich family than from the income of a poor family, then the tax system is a. progressive. b. proportional. c. regressive. d. redistributive. e. retrogressive.
29. If one person earns twice as much as another, but each pays 15 percent of his or her income in taxes, then the tax system is a. progressive. b. proportional. c. regressive. d. redistributive. e. egalitarian.
30. If a poor family pays 50 percent of its income in taxes and a rich one 5 percent, then the tax system is a. progressive. b. proportional. c. regressive. d. redistributive. e. retrogressive.
31. The tax that can be used to redistribute income from the rich to the poor is a a. sales tax. b. progressive tax. c. regressive tax. d. proportional tax. e. relative-deprivation tax.
32. Which program is a special tax benefit for working people who earn low incomes? a. The Children’s Health Insurance Program b. The Earned Income Tax Credit c. Medicaid d. Unemployment Insurance e. Social Security
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 8 of 15 33. A transfer payment is one that a. requires some form of work in exchange for government assistance. b. provides money from the government’s general treasury to those in specific need. c. is paid in lieu of cash. d. is not based on need. e. provides tax credits from the government’s general treasury to individuals.
34. The ______, passed by Congress in 1935, dramatically brought the government into the equation of one generation’s obligations to another. a. Aid to Families with Dependent Children Act b. Medicaid bill c. Social Security Act d. National Direct Student Loan Act e. Medicare bill
35. The “War on Poverty” was the set of social welfare policy initiatives begun by President a. Lyndon Johnson. b. Jimmy Carter. c. Franklin D. Roosevelt. d. Ronald Reagan. e. Harry S. Truman.
36. The “War on Poverty” programs were later attacked and had their funding reduced substantially by President a. Dwight Eisenhower. b. Lyndon Johnson. c. Ronald Reagan. d. Richard Nixon. e. George H. W. Bush.
37. A major study by Charles Murray argued that a. although the Great Society did not eliminate poverty, it did reduce the number of poor. b. not only did the social programs of the Great Society fail to curb the advance of poverty, they actually made the situation worse. c. macroeconomic cycles were responsible for much of the movement into and out of poverty during the post-1965 period. d. although the Great Society was able to reduce poverty in America, it had no effect on racial discrimination. e. there is a “new poverty” in America that is largely the result of deindustrialization, foreign competition, the exploitation of part-time workers, and stagnation of the minimum wage.
38. Which of the following is funded through payroll taxes on employers and employees? a. Social Security b. Family and Medical Leave Act c. Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIPs) d. Supplementary Security Income (SSI) e. All of these are funded through payroll taxes.
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 9 of 15 39. How is Medicaid funded? a. Through payroll taxes on employees and employers b. By premiums paid by beneficiaries c. Through taxes on employers d. Through federal grants to state health programs e. Through general federal revenue
40. Unemployment insurance is a. an entitlement program. b. funded through taxes on employers. c. designed for workers who have been laid off and cannot work. d. variable from state to state. e. All of the above are true.
41. The name of the program that replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children as the program for public assistance to needy families is called a. Social Security. b. Medicaid. c. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. d. Medicare. e. Supplemental Security Income.
42. The average TANF recipient collects about _____ in monthly TANF benefits. a. $50 b. $360 c. $600 d. $1,000 e. $1,500
43. If you work, you contribute ____ percent of your wages up to $102,000 to Social Security and your employer matches it. a. 3 b. 6.2 c. 10 d. 15 e. 20
44. Currently, there are approximately ___ workers per Social Security recipient. a. 3.4 b. 5 c. 7 d. 9 e. 10
45. The most important ratio for Social Security is that of a. beneficiaries to tax rates. b. workers to beneficiaries. c. tax rates to workers. d. contributions to the number of contributors. e. contributions to workers.
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 10 of 15 46. Republicans, including President George W. Bush, proposed solving the Social Security problem by a. diversifying a portion of Social Security contributions to private retirement funds. b. cutting benefits. c. raising taxes. d. abolishing the program. e. diverting a portion of Social Security funds to offset Medicare and Medicaid costs.
47. What explains why politicians are reluctant to attempt to significantly reform Social Security? a. Politicians are self-interested and want to protect their own retirement. b. Older Americans vote at higher rates than do younger Americans; politicians fear a backlash from older Americans. c. Politicians seek to avoid blame for the failures of Social Security. d. Social Security has been so successful; few see a need for meaningful reform. e. Both a and c are true.
48. Which of the following statements about social spending and social policies in the U.S. and in Europe is TRUE? a. Americans tend to see the problems of poverty and social welfare needs as individual problems; most European nations see these as government’s responsibility. b. Americans tend to see the problems of poverty and social welfare needs as government’s responsibility; most European nations see these as individual problems. c. Americans are more likely to trust government; Europeans are less likely to trust government. d. Most Americans believe that even with hard work, poor Americans are unable to escape poverty on their own. e. Tax rates in the U.S. exceed tax rates in most European democracies.
49. Which of the following is TRUE of the ways in which competing groups are organized in the social welfare policy arena? a. The elderly are relatively well organized and often have the resources to wield significant influence in support of programs they favor. b. The elderly are relatively unorganized and have few resources to wield significant influence in support of programs they favor. c. Compared to other groups, the poor are relatively well organized and are often successful demanding generous benefits from the government. d. There are few differences in political organization between the elderly and the poor; both groups, on average, are equally as successful in wielding political influence in social policymaking domains. e. On rare occasions in which the government expands social benefits, they are often quickly and easily taken away.
True/False Questions
1. Social Security and Medicare are the largest and most expensive social welfare programs in the United States.
2. All social welfare policies are means tested.
3. One-third of American wealth is held by the wealthiest 1 percent of the population.
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 11 of 15 4. One’s total income includes the amount already owned, such as stocks, bonds, houses, cars, bank accounts, and so forth.
5. All income groups are increasing their wealth, with the poor increasing at a slightly lower rate.
6. The U.S. poverty line, that is, the income threshold below which people are considered poor, is based on a formula that multiplies the cost of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s subsistence diet by three.
7. More than one-half of all Americans between 25 and 75 will spend at least one year of their life in poverty.
8. Female-headed households have a 30 percent greater chance of being poor than non-female- headed households.
9. Most social scientists believe that the official poverty count actually overestimates the number of individuals who are living in poverty.
10. Poor families pay a higher percentage of their incomes in state sales taxes than well-to-do families.
11. Progressive taxes take a smaller bite from the incomes of the rich than from those of the poor.
12. A sales tax is a progressive tax.
13. Low-interest college loans are an example of in-kind benefits.
14. Transfer payments are benefits given directly to individuals, either cash transfers like Social Security or in-kind transfers such as food stamps.
15. Benefits given by the government directly to individuals are called transfer payments.
16. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 implemented Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, replacing Aid to Families with Dependent Children as the program for public assistance to needy families.
17. The average recipient family received about $1,000 per month on TANF.
18. Americans generally indicate that they favor increasing government spending on social welfare policies more than they favor increasing spending on priorities such as education.
19. Social Security is officially named Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI).
20. The president who declared a “War on Poverty” was Ronald Reagan.
21. The president who led the country to “end welfare as we know it” was George W. Bush.
22. While the number of Social Security contributors is growing slowly, the number of Social Security recipients is growing rapidly.
23. A majority of Americans believe that the poor could escape poverty if they worked hard enough.
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 12 of 15 24. The scope of social benefits in the U.S. is far less than in most Western democracies.
25. Social welfare policies have fueled the growth of government since the 1930s.
Short Answer Questions
1. What is the difference between an entitlement and a means-tested program? Provide examples of each. Learning Objective: 16.1 Page Reference: 530–531
2. What is the poverty line? How is it determined? Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 533–534
3. In what ways and why does the official poverty count underestimate the number of Americans who are poor? Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 533–534
4. What is the United States Bureau of the Census’ definition of the poverty line, and why is it important? Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 533–534
5. Identify the demographic subgroups that have the highest rate of poverty. Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 534
6. Describe the ways in which federal and state taxation affect the distribution of income in the United States. What are the consequences of the federal income tax? Of state sales taxes? Which income groups are most affected by each tax and how? Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 535–536
7. What are transfer payments? Provide an example of a cash transfer and an in-kind benefit. Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 535–536
8. How do Americans view responsibility for social welfare? Learning Objective: 16.3, 16.6 Page Reference: 541; 546–547
9. What, according to Martin Giles, explains Americans’ dislike of welfare policies? Learning Objective: 16.3 Page Reference: 539
10. Describe how Bill Clinton “end[ed] welfare as we know it.” What were the effects of welfare reform bills passed under his administration? How did George W. Bush try to reform welfare? Why? Learning Objective: 16.3 Page Reference: 539–540
11. What was California’s Proposition 187, and how has it shaped the national debate on immigration? Learning Objective: 16.4 Page Reference: 542
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 13 of 15 12. Explain the basic setup of Social Security. What is it? How is it funded? Who receives benefits and how? Learning Objective: 16.4 Page Reference: 541–544
13. What are the pros and cons of reforming Social Security through a system of partial (or total) privatization? Learning Objective: 16.4 Page Reference: 544–545
14. Compare the extent of social policies in the United States with those of other Western democracies. Learning Objective: 16.5 Page Reference: 545–546
Essay Questions
1. How are income and wealth distributed in the United States? What are the characteristics of the poor, and how is poverty defined? Do you agree with the current definition of poverty? Why or why not? Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 531–537
2. Describe the general distribution of wealth in American society. What role does government play in determining this distribution? Does government do enough, or too much, in shaping the distribution of wealth? Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 531–537
3. Describe the differences between a progressive tax, a proportional tax, and a regressive tax. Why is a proportional tax often regressive in its effect? Is a progressive tax fair to those who make more money? Explain. Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 535–536
4. What are the principal causes of poverty? Can and do social policies effectively address the root causes of poverty? In your estimation, how well are we doing with current social policies? What could we do differently? Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 533–537
5. Describe the principal social welfare programs sponsored by the American government. What is the difference between entitlements and means-tested programs, and which are better funded? Is the government spending too much, too little, or about the right amount on social welfare programs? Explain. Learning Objective: 16.2 Page Reference: 533–537
6. What challenges do poverty and the growing disparities between the rich and the poor pose for American democracy? Should we be concerned? Learning Objective: 16.2, 16.3, 16.6 Page Reference: 533–541; 546–547
7. Describe the major features of the welfare reform bill signed by President Clinton in 1996. What issues relating to the scope of government did the welfare bill raise? How democratic was it? Learning Objective: 16.3 Page Reference: 539–540
American Govt. 2305 Chapter 16 Page 14 of 15 8. Given the significant strain facing states such as California and Texas, should these governments continue to guarantee public benefits to illegal immigrants? What are the pros and cons of denying state benefits to illegal immigrants? Would such a policy do more harm, or good? Learning Objective: 16.4 Page Reference: 542
9. Describe how Social Security is funded and why the text describes it as “living on borrowed time.” What are the possible scenarios for its future? What do you think will happen, and why? Learning Objective: 16.4 Page Reference: 541–544
10. How do the social welfare benefits provided in the United States compare to those of other industrial countries? Do Americans generally have a different attitude toward poverty than others? Is it correct? Explain. Learning Objective: 16.5 Page Reference: 545–546
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