Gilbert Midterm

Front 1

Public Social Security schemes are usually organized on the basis of either "defined benefits" or "defined contributions." What is the difference and identiy which approach is more progressive.

Back 1

Defined Benefit: offers members a pension based on final salary and number of years served (traditional pension system). Insures a specified level of retirement income.
Defined Contribution: benefits are equal to the individual's contributions plus interest. The more you work, the more you put in, the more you get out at retirement. This is more progressive and is seen in 401K programs.

Front 2

How is the official poverty line measured according to the formula developed in the mid 1960's by the Social Security Administration? How does this calculation of the poverty line treat the cash value of in-kind benefits and earned income tax credits and the cost of income taxes and work related expenses?

Back 2

Poverty line is based on a market basket formula of "cheapest" amount it takes to meet the basic needs of a family of 4. Calculation takes into account gross incomes of all people living in the household and any addtl forms of income ie child support.
Calculation does not count in-kind venefits ie food stamps or other non-cash benefits. Since it is based on before tax gross earnings, it does not take into account income tax, work related expenses of earned income tax credits. Poverty line doesn't vary from state to state.

Front 3

In the early years of social work, Hull House (settlement houses) and the Charity Organization Sociaeties represented two alternative approaches to dealing with the problem of poverty. Briefly identify the approaches associated with these organizations. What are the differences between the approaches?

Back 3

COS: emphasized individual and moral causes of destitution, drawing distinctions btwn worthy and unworthy poor. Workers were teremed "friendly visitors" and philosophy was based on private charity and spiritual uplift to solve poverty. Focus was on preventing fraud. Investigations done for each poor family to determine cause of problems. Formed on basis of "science" of social therapeutics. NO GRANTING RELIEF W/OUT INVESTIGATION.

Jane Addams, Hull House, and 3 R's: Residence, Research, Reform. Upper class moved into homes of poor to better understand the problem. Sought to promote social and economic reform. Interested in policy and preventative work, not charity. Tried to understand the community needs as friends while also filling gaps w/libraries, gyms, day care, nursing etc. Stressed cultural differences and education.

Front 4

Government intervention in the free market of a capitalist society is often justified under conditions in which the allocation of goods/svcs has "Neighborhood effects" (or involves externalities). Explain and give an example of this condition.

Back 4

Neighborhood Effects: come into play when the allocation of goods/svcs involves public goods or externalitites - when you cannot control consumption or put a price on the service. The effects go beyond the consumer.
Example: Stoplights. Govt has to provide them because it would be detrimental for private persons to own/operate them.

Front 5

How do Galbraith's argument about the "dependence effect" and Buchanan's theory of "public choice" answer the question of whether public spending is too high or too low. Explain.

Back 5

Galbraith: Dependence Effect: Population creates the wants it seeks to satisfy. Public spending is too low because of too much trivial private spending. Most private sector spending is meaningless. Wants that do not originate in you are created by the production process and advertising. Consumption does little to add to quality of life in society. There is no dependence effect in public spending so there is an inherent imbalance.
Buchanan: Public Choice: Public spending is too high. Public choice says the govt spends too much $ on S.W. Society is full of interest groups who lobby for benefits for themselves, but no one is lobbying to spend less $. There is no way to choose btwn interest groups. Politicians who say no to groups lose votes. Pub choice says give $ to everyone. This will eventually bankrupt the govt.

Front 6

What is the differnece between the organismic and individualistic views of the pub interest.

Back 6

Individualist: views of pub interest as selective. Govt should have as little involvement in pub affairs as possible and soc welfare should be given in forms of cash benefits. Also believes there are too many interests in groups vying for govt attention, thereby stagnating process.
Organismic: views public interest as something that should be socially inclusive of everyone. Encourages govt control and influence on all issues that govt should pay attention to array of interest groups that are lobbying.

Front 7

Individualists (selectivists) vs collectivists (universalists) prefer cash, vouchers or in-kind?

Back 7

Individualists: conservatives, prefer cash because it is highly transferable and allows for complete freedom of choice, want less govt involvement. Say it is more cost effective because individual needs vary according to circumstance and there would be less waste of resources. Believe in power of market econ to resolve issues.
Collectivists: liberals, want more govt involvement to protect people from market. Believe social control is most cost effective and will lead to equality. Collectivists prefer in-kind.
Vouchers are neutral for both as they provide freedom of choice while maintaining sense of social control.

Front 8

Compare GA and SSI in terms of who they serve and sources of funding

Back 8

Both designed to benefit individuals. SSI (supplemental security income) assists elderly, desabled and children (if they have a disability that is comparable to that of an eligible adult). In 1974 Aid to blind, aid to disabled and old age assistance combined into SSI. It is a federally funded, means tested program administered by soc sec admin and funded through general revenue taxes.
GA is an addtl provision for "able bodied" poor. Used to vocer those who don't qualify for SSI or TANF but are poor. It is financed and administered by state, county or local govt. Eligibility and time limits differs widely based on locality.

Front 9

1662 Law of Settlement and Speenhamland Act of 1795 were designed to address 2 issues that continue to plague modern day policy makers. Describe

Back 9

1662 LOS: Related to issue of migration and social service responsibility. Who is responsible for immigrant poor (place that they come from or place where they settle)? Law prohibited relief to anyone but official parish residents (status could be aquired by birth, apprenticeship, land ownership or taxes paid). Designed to restrict mvmt of poor.
Speenhamland Act of 1795: spoke to issue of "working poor" and whether to ensure a living wage for workers. If people are working but still poor, should govt subsidize them? This act supplemented wages of very poor based on price of bread. The act led employers to pay lower wages since govt was subsidizing. 2 remedies were put in place: minimum wage laws and Earned Income tax credit. (Note that Speenhamland, min wage and EITC only apply to poor who are working.)

Front 10

The US can be said to be moving towards the privatization of soc sec through the back door. How?

Back 10

Govt is playing more diverse role in providing for old age security. One that has less emphasis on direct public financing through taxing and spending and more emphasis on private arrangements. These prgms are indirectly subsidized through tax expenditures (tax breaks) and are publicly regulated.
The shift to private alternatives has been coupled w/reforms that diminsih pub soc sec pension benefits
- Increase in retirement age from 65-67.
- Increase employer-employee tax rate and increated the taxable-earning base
-Imposed an income tax on soc sec benefits for retirees w/modest level of income from other sources.
The result= steady decline in % of retirement income derived from pub soc sec compared to % retirement from employee provided pensions and individ retirement plans.

Front 11

Difference btwn Social Darwinism and Social Diagnosis

Back 11

Social Darwinism: natural selection (survival of the fittest) naturally leads to demis of poor. Orthodox Soc Darwinists against pub support of education, saintary regulation, public mail system, regulation of business and trade and least of all public assistance to the needy. If competition is law of life, no remedy for poverty other than self help.
Social DX: (Mary Richmond wrote) uses clinical model showing soc workers are scientific and clinical in approach and able to dx the poor in order to explain state of poverty.

Front 12

What is the main difference amound fee-for-service, categorical grants, and general revenue sharing as methods of financing soc welfare prgms.

Back 12

Main difference is degree of specification of purpose attached to each method of financing. Also the amt of control that govt has over svcs provided.
Fee for service- reimbursement based on payment of service. Payment can be by insurance co, clt or govt prgm like medicare/medicaid
categorical grants- funding soc svcs through which fed govt makes money available to states that must be spent on narrow specific needs. (SSI, TANF, food stamps).
General revenue sharing- federal aid w/out any conditions. Given to states and localities and can be spent on many prgms as they deem necessary. Initiated in 1972, abolished by Reagan 1987 (AFDC)

Front 13

Contemporary Marxist view of welfare state and capitalist society

Back 13

Marxist belief was firmly established in equality and believes in collective pursuit of common good. As humans, we are all the same, therefore we should all get the same.
SW acts as the "hand-maiden" to capitalism by: Controlling revolutionary tendencies by providing just enough sustenance to the poor, moderating class conflict, protecting the interests of the elite, subsidizing a barely sustainable form of work that exploits the worker and controlling the conditions under which work is organized and wealth distributed.

Front 14

What did the research findings suggest about the impact of the Seattle and Denver Income Maintenance experiments (SIME/DIME) on the incentive to work and fam stability.

Back 14

SIME/DIME: largest and most carefully controlled income maintenance experiment in hist suggesting that guaranteed income was a "perverse incentive"
Work incentive impact: lowered incentive to work. Compared to control, families receiving guaranteed income grants worked significantly fewer hours/yr. Changes in work effort varied according to amt of grants and negative tax rates.
Fam Stability Impacts: increased divorce rates two fold (except in highest level of financial support which goes against patterm of increased income grants correlating with increased divorce)

Front 15

What is indoor relief? How would it compare to modern forms of pub assistance (AFDC, SSI, TANF)

Back 15

indoor relief: Institutional relief. Svcs provided under same roof rather than contracted out (alms houses, workhouses, orphanages and mental hospitals). It was not concerned w/family maintenance.
- Indoor said poor were at fault for poverty, were morally ill, inferior and unworthy.
-Mod pub assistance not institutional. Money is given to the "means tested" needy with emphasis on maintenance of fam unit. Individs seen as good people w/capacity and motivation to improve conditions. People viewed as worthy of assistance b/c it is often the impact of societal issues that have created conditions.
- AFDC (Aid to Families w/Dependent Children) came from idea that whenever possible needy children should be cared for in homes rather than in public agencies.
-SSI adopted 1974, federalized pub assistance for adult poor. Created nation's 1st guaranteed annual income prgm. Certain people entitled to assistence.
TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) seek employment in 2 yrs and limit to number of yrs

Front 16

3 shifts from pre to post industrialization

Back 16

Marshall: Said that social cohesion comes through social rights. Civil, political and social rights create a sense of solidarity/cohesion in American society. Only applies to modern democratic societies. Pre industrial social rights determined by landowners, church etc. Post indust social rights determined by govt.
Durkheim: Mechanical to Organic Solidarity. In pre indust soc, mechanical, homogeneity, everyone did the same thing (farmed, made own clothes etc), very little division of labor, people behaved in similar manner. Social cohesion marked by "conformity and collective conscience" Post indust, organic, people went to the city, sense of connection no longer came from sameness, emphasis on interdependence (uses human body sum of parts metaphor), marked by individuality. But admits still a need for a degree of homogeneity to create social cohesion.

Front 17

Reverend Charles Loring Brace founder of NYC Children's Aids Society, implemented a controversial solution to the plight of homelessness and delinquent children. What was it and why controversial?

Back 17

Started prgm to aid needy children, fight juvenile delinquency and protect property of wealthier fams. Program originally centered on educational classes, Brace believed only way to help kids was to send them to west and midwest to work in good christian farm homes.
Emmigrant Parties/Orphan trains controversial b/c high rates of abuse and child labor in homes kids sent to (farm families not screened), families of children didn't know they were giving up parental rights and didn't want kids shipped so far away, Catholic church believed prgm a way to convert catholic kids to protestantism.

Front 18

From the 1962 Service Amendments to the Social Security Act to Title XX amendments in 1974, significant changes occurred in many aspects of the social services. Describe changes in the basis of social allocations and the nature of social provisions during this period

Back 18

Basis of social allocation changed from selective access to universal access.
-1962: eligibility means-tested and restricted to current and former public assistance recipients. Originally 4 categories of aid: AFDC, Aid to Blind, Old Age Assistance, Aid to perm/totally disabled.
- 1967: eligibility shifted to people if tehy were to become eligible in next 5 yrs (in danger of being poor). Introduced notion of group eligibility: being member of group made you eligible.
1974: eligibility expanded to include more people. Now included income maintenance recipients, income eligibles, universal eligibles. Universal refers to programs free of charge to all eg CPS.
Nature of social provisions shifted from intangible and limited to concrete and diversified. Limited "soft" svcs eg casework were deemphasized and broader array of "hard" svcs eg employment training, drug tx were emphasized.
States are free to support whatever soc svcs they deem appropriate for their communities as long as they fit into 1 of 5