Ch.+3.4


 * Ch. 3.4 Notes & Questions #1-5**

Questions
 * Poverty Problem**
 * Though free market has proven better at generating wealth than has any other economic system, the wealth is spread unevenly throughout society
 * This leaves some people below the **poverty threshold,** an income lever below that which is needed to support families or households
 * Poverty threshold is a relative figure determined by the federal government and adjusted periodically
 * The Government's Role**
 * Opportunities that are offered in the free market can raise someone from working poor into middle class
 * In some places though in America, economic opportunities are limited because of factors such as lack of local jobs and few educational programs
 * As a society we see the responsibility to look after the very young, very old, the sick, the poor, and the disabled, a safety net is provided for them by the government and one of their many programs to help them
 * The Welfare System**
 * Since the 1930's the government focused on their main problem, to ease poverty, to do so they collect taxes from individuals and redistribute some of those funds in the form of welfare
 * **Welfare** is a general tem that refers to government aid for the poor
 * The nation's welfare system began under President FDR following the Great Depression
 * Redistribution Programs**
 * The U.S. Bureau of the Census gathers income data by conducting monthly surveys of households to track key economic data, with this data is how the government estimates how many people are living in poverty
 * Cash Transfers**
 * State and federal governments provide **cash transfers,** direct payments of money to poor, disabled, and retired people.
 * In-Kind Benefits**
 * The government also provides poor people with **in-kind benefits**, goods and services provided for free or greatly reduced prices
 * Medical Benefits**
 * Another social service provided by the U.S. government is Medicare for Americans over the age 65 as well as the disabled
 * Medicare covers some poor people who are unemployed
 * Education**
 * Federal, state, and local governments all provide educations program opportunities to the poor
 * Federal government funds programs from preschool to college
 * state and local programs aid students with learning disabilities
 * Faith-Bases Initiatives**
 * das
 * 1) Welfare helps raise the poor's standard of living by providing programs that help them with their necessities
 * 2) Poverty exists in the free market economy because wealth isn't evenly distributed
 * 3) A cash transfer is money being directly given to the poor and in-kind benefits are like coupons not just straight cash
 * 4) Social Security is an example of income redistribution because it is a tax that is taken from your pay check throughout your working years and then is given back when you retire.