Course material

1. poverty and social welfare in the United States
poverty and social welfare in the United StatesQuestions:Group AChoose one question from
the following:1. Consider the following facts about poverty and social welfare in the United
States, which serve to summarize Chapter 8 in the Kirst-Ashman (2013) text:Facts About
Poverty Facts about Social Welfare• Among those who are poor, there are more whites than
persons of color, although, persons of color have a greater risk of experiencing poverty than
do whites. • Among recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), there
are more persons of color than there are whites.Cont’d. on Next PageFacts About Poverty
Facts about Social Welfare• The poverty rate for older adults has declined in recent years,
while the poverty rate for children has increased. • The primary social welfare strategy
used to benefit older adults is social insurance, the largest program of which is the Old Age,
Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance Program (commonly known as Social Security ).
Social insurance programs tend to pay larger benefits than do public assistance programs,
the primary strategy used to benefit families with dependent children. The largest public
assistance program is Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (commonly known as
welfare ).• Women have a greater risk of experiencing poverty than do men. • Because
social insurance benefits are computed on the basis of one’s wages earned through
workforce participation, they tend to be lower for women than men since women tend to
make less than men in their working careers, and they tend to spend more time out of the
workforce raising children and caring for elderly or disabled family members than is true
for men.• The median income for families of color is significantly lower than the median
income for whites. • Social insurance benefits are lower for persons of color than they are
for whites, again because they are computed on the basis of one’s wages earned through
workforce participation. Consequently, if people of color have earned less in their working
lives, they will receive less in social insurance benefits.Cont’d. on Next PageFacts About
Poverty Facts about Social Welfare• About 1% of all households in the U.S. control more
than one-third of the nation’s wealth. • All persons, regardless of socioeconomic status, are
entitled to social insurance programs if they contributed to the programs during their
working career. Public assistance programs, on the contrary, are means tested, meaning
that applicants must qualify on the basis of their poverty status.After analyzing these facts
and reviewing the supporting data from Chapter 8 in the Kirst-Ashman (2013) text, draw
some conclusions about the relative effectiveness of social insurance and public assistance
programs in addressing the problem of poverty for various sub-groups in the population on
the basis of gender, age, and/or race. Hint: You will want to use statistical data about

2. poverty for different groups to analyze the degree to which these social welfare programs
are effective in reducing poverty for different groups within the population.[References:
Chapter 8 in the Kirst-Ashman (2013) text, the Handout on the Summary of the Poverty
Assignment we did in class]2. Chapter 8 in the Kirst-Ashman (2010) text discusses the
causes and the consequences of poverty. Choose one of the following cultural lenses and
discuss the reasons why people are poor and what can be done to address poverty
according to this perspective.• A gendered view of poverty (also known as the feminization
of poverty)• A Marxist or class-based understanding of poverty• A racialized view of
poverty• The intersection of gender, race, and classGroup BChoose one question from the
following:1. Choose a field of practice other than the one that you examined for the
integrative research assignment. You may choose among the following:• Social Work in
Mental Health (Chapter 13) (USE THIS ONE)Examine how social workers apply the
principles of generalist practice (See handout on Generalist Practice that you received
earlier in the semester and the textbook discussion). Provide concrete examples to illustrate
your points.2. Earlier this semester, we discussed the concepts of power and empowerment
(See handouts on power and empowerment that you received earlier in the semester as
well as the textbook discussion). Choose a field of practice other than the one that you
examined for the integrative research assignment and describe how social workers in that
field work to help people become empowered. Provide concrete examples to illustrate your
points.