Poverty and the Governments Role Providing A Safety Net Poverty and the Governments Role

U.S Statistics Roughly 49 million or 15% of the population live below the poverty line in the U.S What is the poverty threshold? Income level below that which is needed to support families Annual salary of less than 23K for a family of four or 12K for a single person (avg. per household is about 52K) Half of the 47 million live in extreme poverty (less than $10K per year in income)

What About Alabama? Poverty rate is 19%, w/those in extreme poverty at 8.4% 45% of single parent families live in poverty Annual Income of 42K, well below the National avg.

What causes poverty? Trade Imbalance/Job loss Lack of education Societal issues Economic System is not creating high wage earning jobs

Governments Role We recognize the need to help the young, old and disabled. How do we combat poverty? Answer: “The Welfare System” Welfare: general term that refers to government aid for the poor Redistribution of taxes Began under FDR following the Great Depression Expanded under Pres. Lyndon Johnsons’ “War on Poverty”

Redistribution Programs Cash Transfers-direct payment of $ to poor, disabled and retirees TANF or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: federal $ is sent to the states and they design and run their own programs Social Security: created in 1935, program collects payroll taxes from current workers and redistributes the $ Unemployment Insurance: provides $ to eligible workers who have lost their job Worker’s Compensation: $ for injury-on-the-job

Other Programs C. Medical Benefits Medicare- over 65 and the disabled B. In-Kind Benefits: food stamps, subsidized housing C. Medical Benefits Medicare- over 65 and the disabled Medicaid- poor who are unemployed or not covered by employers insurance D. Education E. Faith-based Initiatives