Review of Poverty and Economic Inequality

Summary

1. Poverty, the state of lacking material and social resources, is measured by the US government with a calculation that considers the cost of food and family size. This measure has several limitations such as how it fails to capture other significant costs today, does not adjust for the cost of living, often produces lower poverty rates than newer measures, and neglects the experience of people living right above the poverty line who live in similarly difficult circumstances.
2. Though poverty has come down since 1960, the poverty rate is high in the US with a rate consistently over 10% of the population, specifically at 11.1% in 2023 or 38.6 million Americans. This contrasts sharply with the income and wealth controlled by the richest Americans: The top 10% control over two-thirds of the nation's household wealth. This gap between the rich and the poor is called economic inequality, and it has been increasing. Despite that poverty is far nigher in other nations such as South Sudan (82.3%), the US has a high poverty rate among wealthy industrialized nations.
3. To explain poverty and economic inequality, the functionalist perspective says that social stratification is necessary and inevitable because of the need to encourage people with the needed knowledge and skills to decide to pursue the careers that are most important to society. Conflict theory says that stratification exists because of discrimination against, and blocked opportunities for, the 'have-nots' of society. Symbolic interactionism does not necessarily try to explain why poverty or economic inequality exist, but does attempt to understand the experience of being poor including meanings and stereotypes.
4. The individualistic explanation attributes poverty to individual failings of poor people themselves, while the structuralist explanation attributes poverty to lack of jobs and lack of opportunity in the larger society. Sociology aligns with structuralist explanations as it focuses on social forces.
5. There is wide variation in poverty rates in the US. Children, people of color, people in the South, and single-parent families headed by women have especially high poverty rates, along with others. Despite what many Americans think, the most typical poor person is white, and most poor people who are able to work outside the home in fact do work.
6. Consequences of poverty include that children raised in poverty are more likely to drop out of school, experience employment difficulties, and be in poverty themselves, and consequences for children and adults include lower life expectancy, higher maternal mortality, higher risk of food insecurity, lower levels of education and literacy, more housing problems, higher rates of neighborhood crime, and family problems such as violence and divorce.
7. Economic inequality has been increasing in the US for over four decades for several reasons such as offshoring, deunionization, the growth of service positions, and changes in policy including tax rates. Consequently, more Americans may experience blocked upward social mobility – moving up in the social class hierarchy, political and social polarization may accelerate, economic growth may slow as the middle-class shrinks, more residents encounter housing challenges, and it violates American values of equality and fairness.
8. A sociological perspective holds that poverty reduction could occur if the structural causes of poverty are successfully addressed. A variety of policies and programs have or may reduce poverty such as Social Security, the Child Tax Credit, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Other practices include connecting families with resources, improving educational conditions for children, and providing microloans to low-income individuals. To reduce poverty and economic inequality, reverting the dismantling of the social safety net, increasing wages, and revising tax codes would support those at the lowest end of the economic hierarchy and redistribute the income and wealth hoarded by those at the top. Using our individual agency and engaging in collective action such as participating in social movements can also help reduce poverty and the gap between the rich and the poor.

 

Questions

1. How would you summarize to another person the limitations of the U.S. official poverty measure?
2. Estimate what a family of four (2 parents + 2 young children) in your area would have to pay annually for food, clothing, shelter, housing, childcare, transportation, electric, and other necessities of life – how does this sum of money compare with the current official poverty line for a family of four?
3. Why does the structural view of poverty align more closely with a sociological perspective than the individual view, and with this in mind, which classical theoretical perspective do you think best frames or explains poverty?
4. Suppose you could wave a magic wand and invent a society where everyone had about the same income no matter which job they performed – do you think that it would be difficult to persuade enough people to become physicians or to pursue other important careers, and why so?
5. How would you explain to a friend that it is inaccurate to assume poor people lack the motivation to work?
6. What do you think are the most pressing consequences of poverty, and why are those the most pressing?
7. How would you summarize the causes and consequences of increasing economic inequality?
8. How would you describe the cultural changes (hint: in the way we think about poor people) and structural changes that must occur to effectively address poverty?
9. Which three policies, programs, or practices that could reduce poverty do you think are the most promising, and why?

 

Action Steps

1. Use your sociological imagination: When others blame the poor for their situation or perpetuate stereotypes about poor people, help them connect poverty to larger social forces and reframe it from a personal condition to a social problem.
2. Support nonprofits and similar organizations: Contribute money or volunteering time to a local, state, or national organization that provides various kinds of aid to the poor.
3. Support local students: Organize a food and/or clothing pantry on your campus, or if there already is one, learn how to help keep the pantry stocked throughout the academic year.
4. Use your individual agency: Identify several local, state, and federal officials that work on policy or programs, find out how to email or call them, and write and email or call (leave a voicemail) that encourages them to expand antipoverty programs.
5. Engage in collective action: Figure out when the next demonstration, protest, or march related to poverty or economic inequality is nearby, research how to participate safely, and participate in the event.