Question

In: Economics

40. The official poverty line in the United States is set A) equal to one-half the...

40. The official poverty line in the United States is set

A) equal to one-half the average income in the United States.

B) at three times the cost of the Department of Agriculture's minimum food budget.

C) at three times the cost of the Department of Housing's minimum housing allowance.

D) at the amount necessary to allow an individual to buy the same market basket of goods that the average urban wage earner can afford.

Solutions

Expert Solution

OPTION B

Poverty is measured by the number of people who fall below a certain level of income called the poverty line that defines the income needed for a basic standard of living.

The concept of official poverty line in the United States was given by Mollie Orshansky.

She found that the average family spent one-third of its income on food. She then proposed that the poverty line be the amount needed to buy a nutritionally adequate diet, given the size of the family, multiplied by three.

Hence the official poverty line in the United States is set at three times the cost of the Department of Agriculture's minimum food budget.


Related Solutions

1. Suppose the poverty line in the United States was set according the following test: a...
1. Suppose the poverty line in the United States was set according the following test: a household is poor if its income is less than $55,999 per year. Is this an absolute or relative definition of poverty? Group of answer choices absolute relative neither absolute nor relative both absolute and relative 2. The poverty rate is Group of answer choices the proportion of the population above the annual income defined as poor by the federal government capable of being equal...
Consequences of Poverty in the United States The consequences of poverty are far reaching and multifaceted....
Consequences of Poverty in the United States The consequences of poverty are far reaching and multifaceted. Sociologists often try to understand the complex and interrelated ways that poverty adversely affects people’s lives along a number of dimensions. Reflect on what you have learned about the impact of poverty as you watch the following video. Play Current Time3:14 / Duration Time3:14 Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% 3:14 Fullscreen 00:00 Mute Captions Transcript Video supplied by BBC Motion Gallery. One problem addressed by...
1. According to official statistics in the United States, a family is considered to live in...
1. According to official statistics in the United States, a family is considered to live in poverty if its money income: A. is below three times an average family's minimum food budget. B. is below the income earned by 90 percent of all Americans. C. is below the income earned by 80 percent of all Americans. D. and all government transfers are below three times an average family's minimum food budget. 2. The minimum food budget used to determine the...
The official poverty line has been the subject of much debate over the last few decades....
The official poverty line has been the subject of much debate over the last few decades. On Google or another search engine, look up and read the work of Molly Orshansky. Her work focused on finding a measure of poverty that reflected a bundle of goods that people in different circumstances must be able to purchase. Describe the debate and the resulting system for setting the poverty thresholds. Should they be updated? If so, what would you recommend?
There is a single line in Towards the End of Poverty that states, “Take a bow,...
There is a single line in Towards the End of Poverty that states, “Take a bow, capitalism.” Why should “capitalism” take a bow in your opinion? Please support your answer.
The official product store clerk at a university states that at least 40% of students have...
The official product store clerk at a university states that at least 40% of students have purchased one of the shirts with the university logo. However, the store owner believes that this figure is not true and that the design of the T-shirt should be changed to a more attractive one. To find out if the clerk is right, the owner asks 80 students if they had ever bought at least one of the university's T-shirts, 28 of them in...
Hair color in the United States is known to be 40% blond, 40% brown, and 20%...
Hair color in the United States is known to be 40% blond, 40% brown, and 20% black. Miranda does a study to see if the proportions match, and her survey showed 43 people with blond hair, 32 people with brown hair, and 15 with black hair. Use a chi-square test with a level of significance α=0.05.
9.) Taxation, Distribution of Income and Resource Allocation The United States declared a “War on Poverty”...
9.) Taxation, Distribution of Income and Resource Allocation The United States declared a “War on Poverty” in 1964, and within a decade the fraction of families below the official poverty line had dropped substantially. Today, the richest 20 percent of households receive more than 50 percent of the income, whereas the poorest 20 percent of households receive less than 3.5 percent. In what ways do individual incomes differ? Why has the poverty rate increased since the 1970?
By themselves, the United States, the People’s Republic of China and India account for almost half...
By themselves, the United States, the People’s Republic of China and India account for almost half of world greenhouse gas emissions causing catastrophic climate change. Many of the poorest countries, including those producing the fewest greenhouse gases, will suffer the most from climate change. Even the rich will suffer from climate change. Use game theory and the prisoners dilemma to explain why China, India, and the United States don't agree to stop polluting. Why don’t countries most threatened, pay the...
Discuss a set of trade barriers that exist in the United States and the impact it...
Discuss a set of trade barriers that exist in the United States and the impact it has on our economy.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT