52006200 Families and Social Policy September 14 2006

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5200/6200Families and Social
PolicySeptember 14 2006
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This week.

• Poverty
• Blank ch 1 and 2 from ITAN

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Book Report

• One pagefront and back
• Complete bibliographic information
• Must have these six sections
• Major aim of book
• Research Methods used in the book
• Key Findings
• Critique
• what was powerful
• what was underdeveloped
• Application to family policy issues (How does the
  book inform policy in this area)
• Your Connection to issues raised in the bookwhy
  was this personally interesting to you

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It Takes a Nation to Fight Poverty

• Key lessons
• Better understand poverty in the US. Not just
  behavioral, ghetto, and minority.
• primary change in the lives of the poor have been
  the deteriorating set of economic opportunities
• Nothing works is just not true
• avoid the simple explanations for poverty or else
  we are just deluding ourselves and others
• Governments, states, charities ALL have a role
  to play in changing poverty in the US

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Why Does Poverty Happen?
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• IS THAT THE WHOLE STORY????

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Poverty Cultural Explanations

• Oscar Lewis, Culture of Poverty
• Poor are different
• Which way does the arrow go?
• Behavioral poverty
• Edin and Lein, Making Ends Meet.
• Conflicting evidence..

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Poverty Conflict Explanations

• Need poverty for capitalism to work
• true function of welfare is to control the poor,
  enforce low wage work, and to prevent social
  unrest.
• Welfare determined by turbulence not need

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PovertyInstitutional Explanations

• Change in job structure
• Marriage rates have declined
• Selective out migration
• Troubled neighborhoods

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Poverty Economic Explanations

• In the last 10 years, we have misunderstood
  povertybelieving that it is more behavioral
• primary change has been the deteriorating set of
  econ opportunities available to less skilled
  workers.

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Some thoughts on the economy or Dude! Where is my
boat?

• Trickle down economics?
• Figure 2.1
• What happened?

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Or Maybe, Dude where is my Job?

• Right where it always was.. Availability did not
  appreciably change since 1960. still hard to
  find for the less skilled. Unemployment
  consistently 10

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Or Maybe, Dude where is my pay?

• Wages!one expansion, .32 decline in weekly
  wages for poorest 10 percent.
• Among less skilled men, wages down by 20
• And not just for manufacturing jobsall jobs
  available to less skilled men
• Wages increased for college educated
• Big difference from the 1960s expansion (more
  jobs, more economic growth, and more pay)

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What about the gender thing?

• This has been worse for men as compared to women.
• Among all women, more opportunities and less
  discrimination helped
• But not for the low skilled women, didnt see the
  big increase as more skilled sisters.
• Low skilled women still make a lot less than low
  skilled men

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More on dude where is my pay

• Why?
• Little Johnny cant add
• But what about the older workers?
• So Joan can add better?
• That darn immigrant took my job
• All over the country? Not probable
• More often than not, immigrants take jobs deemed
  unattractive to low skilled workers

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Some answersDude, it is the demand side stupid..

• Employer preferences for
• Lower production costs
• Internationalization of economy puts U.S. low
  skilled workers at a big disadvantage to what can
  be had elsewhere.
• Technological changes close out the less skilled
  workers
• ATM killed the bank tellerand what else?
• Demise of one ringy dingy, two ringy dingy

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What are the implications

• Workers work lessespecially men
• Jobs are not where you left them or how to get to
  that job in sandy?
• Rising underground economy
• Get a job? But where does that get you?
• Why is this bad news for public policy?

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Follow up from class

• Links to amazon for Books mentioned in classat
  marriott library too.
• Regulating the poor http//www.amazon.com/exec/obi
  dos/tg/detail/-/0679745165/002-9461354-3433604?vg
  lance
• children of sanchez http//www.amazon.com/exec/ob
  idos/tg/detail/-/0394702808/qid1126812517/sr2-1/
  refpd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9461354-3433604?vglancesbo
  oks
• Making ends meet http//www.amazon.com/exec/obidos
  /tg/detail/-/087154234X/qid1126812567/sr2-1/ref
  pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9461354-3433604?vglancesbooks
• When work disappears http//www.amazon.com/exec/ob
  idos/tg/detail/-/0679724176/qid1126812627/sr2-1/
  refpd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9461354-3433604?vglancesbo
  oks
• No shame in my game http//www.amazon.com/exec/obi
  dos/tg/detail/-/0375703799/qid1126812684/sr2-1/r
  efpd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9461354-3433604?vglancesboo
  ks
• Losing ground http//www.amazon.com/exec/obid
  os/tg/detail/-/0465042333/qid1126812740/sr2-1/re
  fpd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9461354-3433604?vglancesbook
  s