This document discusses poverty and deprivation in the United States through a series of slides. It begins by arguing that "deprivation" is a better term than "poverty" to describe the condition. Several slides then provide statistics on the number of Americans experiencing deprivation, including over 45 million people or 15% of the population. Specific groups that experience above average rates of deprivation are identified as minorities, children, single mothers, the disabled, and veterans. The document challenges common stereotypes about those experiencing deprivation. It concludes by discussing the concepts of absolute and relative deprivation.

1. POVERTY?
1

2.  THE WORD ”POVERTY” IS THE
WRONG WORD.
 WHAT IS THE “RIGHT” WORD?
2

3. DEPRIVATION
!
3
I will replace it often
throughout this series of
slides to see what happens.

4. "DEPRIVATION" in the US and
Elsewhere
4
"Conservatives say if you
don't give the rich more
money, they will lose their
incentive to invest. As for the
poor, they tell us they've lost
all incentive because we've
given them too much money.”
George Carlin

5. The many are not
enslaved
because they
are poor, they
are poor
because they
are enslaved.
Bertrand
Russell
5

6. "If a free society cannot help the many are poor, it
cannot save the few who are rich." ~ John F.
Kennedy inaugural address, January 20, 1961
6

7. "DEPRIVATION" in the US
Our typical view of such phenomena is
called “ideographic.” This looks at
the individual case. The person on
the street.
Another view is called “nomothetic.”
This word basically means “law”
(nomos) and looks at “general”
circumstances. That is, how might
this condition be in the social realm,
not just for this individual.
7

8. "DEPRIVATION" in the US
As such, we might use our “sociological imagination” as
C. Wright Mills suggested not all that long ago. That
is, when a condition applies to an individual only,
there is a personal trouble. But when such a condition
is affecting many people, then there is a public issue
(i.e. a social problem).
For more on this consider reading his work in more
detail at http://socialsciences.nsula.edu/assets/Site-
Files/The-Promise.pdf `
8

9. "DEPRIVATION" in the US
The stigma and stereotyping of
"DEPRIVATION" in the United States is
intense, and the media, for whatever
reasons, does much to perpetuate these
negative images.
9

10. "DEPRIVATION" in the US
Let’s look at some of the common stereotypes.
(Perhaps your personal experience supports
some):
1. Lazy
2. Addicted to alcohol or drugs
3. Prefer welfare to employment (“work the
system”)
4. The “Welfare Queen,” who is usually black,
drives a Cadillac.
5. The single mother who had more children to
extend welfare benefits.
10

11. The Welfare Queen Myth
The term "welfare queen"
was created by then
presidential candidate
Ronald Reagan in 1976
during his 1976
concession speech. He
would tell the story of a
woman from Chicago's
South Side who was
arrested for welfare
fraud:
11

12. Reagan’s Speech 1976
 "She has eighty names, thirty addresses,
twelve Social Security cards and is
collecting veteran's benefits on four non-
existing deceased husbands. And she is
collecting Social Security on her cards.
She's got Medicaid, getting food stamps,
and she is collecting welfare under each
of her names. Her tax-free cash income is
over $150,000."
12

13. Reagan’s Speech 1976
 Per a New York Times
article Reagan did not
have the facts.
 In fact the woman he
referred to had four
aliases, not 89, collected
about $8,000, not
$150,000.
 Regardless, the myth
continues.
13

14. WHO REALLY GETS
GOVERNMENT AID?
14

15. If you expand the definition of "government
benefit" to include tax expenditures, many more
Americans benefit. There's a long-standing debate
about whether to count tax breaks like the mortgage-
interest deduction for homeowners or the employer
health deduction as a government "benefit." Some
economists say that these tax expenditures are no
different from actual spending. Others contend that
these deductions merely allow people to keep more
of their own money.
Yet these tax expenditures added up to about $1.2
trillion in 2011. And they tend to flow
disproportionately toward wealthier households:
Washington Post By Brad Plumer September 18, 2012

19. How many in "DEPRIVATION"
are we?
As of 2014, the number of people in the
United States who qualify as being in
"DEPRIVATION" is now about 45 million
people.
That is around 15 percent of our
population.
19
Statistics US Census Bureau cited in Huffington
Post 09/16/2014

20. Culture of ”Poverty" Thesis:
 …[T]hey have neither the knowledge,
the vision nor the ideology to see the
similarities between their problems and
those of others like themselves
elsewhere in the world. In other words,
they are not class conscious, although
they are very sensitive indeed to status
distinctions.
 (Lewis 1998 in Wikipedia)
20

21. My Argument:
 If, say, the “culture of Poverty” thesis is
true, that the poor are deliberately lazy
and live by a different value system that
the rest of the country, then wouldn’t that
make the United States the laziest of all
the industrialized nations?
21

22. 22
The Number and Rate of the
"DEPRIVATION" in the US, 1959-2010

23. 23

24. 24
Could you live on
this here in Salinas?

25. Who are our Deprived?
 Minorities
 Children
 Disabled
 Single mothers
25

26. 26

27. Alyssa lives with her parents in Kentucky. She is an only child but her
grandmother, uncle, and orphaned cousin live close by. Their small, shabby
house, heated only by a wooden stove, is falling apart. The ceiling in Alyssa's
bedroom is beginning to cave in. The family would like to buy a trailer if they
could afford it. Alyssa's mother works at McDonald's and her father works at
Walmart; everything they earn goes towards bringing up their daughter.
(http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/11/kids-bedrooms-james-mollison)

28. Children Under 18 suffering from
"DEPRIVATION"
28
Category Number (in
thousands)
Percent
All children under 18 16,401 22.0
White, non-Hispanic 5,002 12.4
Black 4,817 38.2
Hispanic 6,110 35.0
Asian and Pacific
Islander
547 13.3
NOTE: These numbers have gone up quite a bit since 2005

29. Using The lunch program as a rough
proxy for "DEPRIVATION", the Southern
Education Foundation reports that
51 percent of students in pre-kindergarten
through 12th grade in the 2012-2013
school year were eligible for the federal
program that provides free and reduced-
price lunches.

31. Food Stamps SNAP
(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
Per GOVT web page:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/facts.htm
It states that it helps low-income people buy the food they
need for good health. You may be able to get SNAP benefits if
you are:
•Working for low wages or working part-time
•Unemployed
•Receiving welfare or other public assistance payments
•Adjunct college instructors
•Elderly or disabled and are low-income;
•Homeless.

32. "DEPRIVATION" Numbers by Race
2009
32
•Non-Hispanic Whites: 29.8 million (12.3%)
•Hispanic: 12.3 million (25.3 %)
•African American: 10 million (25.8%)
•Asian & Pacific Islander: 17.5 million (12.5%)
(US Census 2009)

33. 33

34. Women
 In 2007, 28.3 percent of households
headed by single women were poor.
(Read that number again please.)
 13.6 percent of households headed by
single men and 4.9 percent of married-
couple households lived in
"DEPRIVATION".
(National Poverty Center)
34

35. Veterans:
 About 12% of the adult homeless
population are veterans.
 The U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) estimates
that 49,933 veterans are homeless on
any given night.
* NOTE: There are now (2016) programs
addressing this. I may be able to ditch
this slide soon!
35

36. Veterans:
 About 1.4 million other veterans,
meanwhile, are considered at risk of
homelessness due to "DEPRIVATION",
lack of support networks, and dismal living
conditions in overcrowded or substandard
housing.National Coalition for Homeless
Veteranshttp://nchv.org/index.php/news/m
edia/background_and_statistics/
36

37. 37

38. By age 50, 42 percent of
Americans will have been in
"DEPRIVATION" for at least a
year.
(Lauer and Lauer 2006)
[It still checks out as of 2010 from a variety of
interpretations of census data.]
38

39. Families with children are
among the fastest growing
group of the homeless.
Later we can look at
"DEPRIVATION" in the world.
For a peek, look at how we
compare to many other
countries.
39

40. "DEPRIVATION" in the US
Perhaps you have heard the song:
“Teenage Immigrant Welfare Mothers on
Drugs.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uByGoPGP9wY
Need I say more? Perhaps I should.
40

41. More on shelter, or lack of
41

42. Median income as a measure in
the US:
In 1992, $13,000 was the ”poverty" level
for families consisting of an elderly
couple because the median income for
such families was $26,000. But the
official "DEPRIVATION" figure was only
$8,500, about one-third the median
income.
42

43. Wealth and Income Distribution
While income (what you earn regularly) is
a useful measure of social strata, wealth
(what you have) is better.
Let’s look at the US distribution of wealth:
43

44.  The wealthiest 1 percent of American
households own nearly 40 percent of the
nation’s wealth.
 The lowest 40 percent own about 1
percent of the nation’s wealth
 The poorest 20 percent of Americans
receive 5.7 percent, and the richest 20
percent receive 55 percent of all after-tax
income—the greatest inequality in the
developed world.
 (Lauer and Lauer 2006)
44

45. Global "DEPRIVATION"
45

46. Country Best off 10th Poorest 10th Inequality
Index
Sweden 152% 56% 2.7
Netherlands 175 62 2.9
Norway 162 55 2.9
Switzerland 185 54 3.4
France 193 55 3.5
U K 194 51 3.8
Canada 184 46 4.0
Italy 198 49 4.1
United States 206 35 5.9
Gini Index by select developed nations
46

47. 47
GNP Per Capita for Selected Countries

48. 48

49. In Sweden the poverty-level is applied to
incomes at about 60 percent of the
median Swedish income; and in other
European countries it varies between 40
and 60 percent.
In other words, in countries the standards for
qualifying as being in poverty are lower
than those of the US. Thus, making
comparisons consider that the US has
even MORE people impoverished than
the numbers indicate.
49

50. 50
GDP Per Capita for
Selected Countries

51. Two Categories
Absolute "DEPRIVATION"
Relative "DEPRIVATION"
51

52. Absolute "DEPRIVATION" is a condition in
which people do not have adequate
resources to met their minimum needs,
such as food, water, clothing and shelter.
52

53. Childhood
"DEPRIVATIO
N" rates in rich
countries.
UNICEF, 2005
53

54. Absolute "DEPRIVATION"
USA
54

55. Relative "DEPRIVATION" applies to those
for whom the minimum needs have
been met, but who still experience a
great deal of economic uncertainty. They
have few options for the goods they can
afford. Also, although they are often
working, they are underemployeed.
55

56. Relative "DEPRIVATION"
Relative "DEPRIVATION" is what we my
think of as the dominant form in the
United States, and indeed, the rest of
the so-called “developed” world.
56

57. Relative "DEPRIVATION"
UK
57

58. Some Relative "DEPRIVATION"
around us now
58

59. More of the absolute stuff USA
59

60. Criterion for Global
"DEPRIVATION"
The UNDP (United Nations
Development Program) has use as a
measure the “less than a dollar a day”
criterion.
It estimates that 1.3 billion people meet
this measure worldwide.
60

61. 61

62. Also is the capability ”poverty" measure
(CPM) for poverty. It is based upon three
criteria:
1 The capability to be well nourished
(measured by the proportion of children
under the age of five who are
underweight.
62

63. 2 The capability for healthy reproduction,
measured by the proportion of births
unattended by trained health personnel.
3 The capability to be educated,
measured by female illiteracy.
63

64. Relative Rates of
"DEPRIVATION"
Source: Michael F. Forster,"Measurement of low Income and "DEPRIVATION" in a Perspective of
International Comparisons," Occasional Paper No.14. Paris:OECD,1994.
64
Country/Year Percent
USA 1986 18.7%
Australia 1985-6 15.7
Canada 1987 15.4
U.K. 1986 12.4
Sweden 1987 12.1
Italy 1986 10.1
France 1984 8.9
Germany 1984-5 8.5
Belgium 1985 5.4
Netherlands 1987 4.7

65. 65

66.  ▪The fact that the poorest Americans are worse
off than the poorest Europeans is confirmed
whatever "DEPRIVATION" and inequality
measure is taken as a basis.
 While the average American has a higher living
standard than the average resident in the other
countries, this does not hold for the entire
spectrum of the income distribution.
 Furthermore, the levels and duration of
"DEPRIVATION" is higher in the United States
and the United Kingdom than in Continental
European countries: more people experience
"DEPRIVATION" and stay longer in
"DEPRIVATION" in US and UK.
(OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
66

67. 2 Minute Classroom Writing:
Would you pay more in taxes
to eliminate
"DEPRIVATION"?
67

68. Denmark Without Taxes
(a 30 second video)
68

69. ADDENDUM
69

70. Here in Salinas, a proposed solution:
 Merely pass an ordinance that
“sets forth a process to remove
things like tents, furniture,
shopping carts and more from
city property.”
 The ordinance, titled "Restricting
Bulky Items and Personal
Property on City Property," sets
forth a process to remove things
like tents, furniture, shopping
carts and more from city property.
In the process, a notice can be
posted 24 hours before the
removal and then the property
owner can claim the property
within 90 days.
70
http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/news/my-safety/2015/10/13/ordinance-
passed-remove-homeless-property/73885824/

71. Previous students journal
 WEDNESDAY 03 SEPTEMBER, 201X Well, no Sociology class today;
chance to get some work done, after sleeping in to make up for some much
needed sleep. Stayed up late last night watching a DVD movie. Uneventful for
the most part, just did my usual and went to Starbucks to have some coffee,
then read a little, resolved some personal issues on the internet that needed to
resolved, since I had procrastinated them a bit. I have to rely on their power
supply and their WI-FI when not at Hartnells' or Steinbeck's Libraries, or
McDonalds' WI-FI, and occasionally Jack In The Box though it doesn't have WI-
FI yet; since I don't have any other source of electricity, lest I stay at a motel,
which I cannot afford often.
 Such is the life of a “homeless vet that goes to college.” It's not easy for people
whom have never been there; either a homeless person, or a veteran, and most
of all – going to college while living on the streets of Salinas. It's been one hard
road, that seems to have more pot holes than it has even surface. Not the kind
of road most would be anxious to take, and not easy to fix, nor inexpensive to
repair. As Mills explained, each individual's experiences vary, and each has it's
own perceptions; there is no precise method or manner of determining the
many variables of the sociological structure as the only and absolute method of
inquiry, or towards finding solutions to the problems that occur in one's lifespan;
they can be because of one's choices, or they can be because of a wider
influence on account of the complexities of social cross-cultural interactions. 71

72. :Despite occasional efforts to discredit the
anti"DEPRIVATION" consequences of social security
programs, the literature generally confirms that the
welfare state achieves its goals of reducing
"DEPRIVATION" and inequality (e.g., Moller et al. 2003
; Scruggs and Allan 2006 ).
That the welfare state does reduce poverty has enormous
implications for human well-being in that the literature
documents a multitude of destructive and injurious
effects of poverty, including lower self-esteem, lower
efficacy, higher rates of depression, and other
deleterious psychological states (e.g., Simmons et al.
2010 ).
It is also well established that poverty is highly correlated
with, and a demonstrable cause of, poor physical
health, greater rates of alcoholism, domestic violence,
and divorce rates, all of which are clearly inimical to
human well-being (for a review, see Radcliff [2013] ).
FROM: Size of Government and Human Well-Being, Assessing the Impact of the Size and Scope of Government on Human Well-
Being, Patrick Flavin, Baylor University, Alexander C. Pacek, Texas A&M University, Benjamin Radcliff, University of Notre
Dame
72

73. #
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