Reference no: EM133512735
Assignment:
Do you have an image of what it means to live in poverty? Perhaps your image is formed by depictions in literature, on television, or in political rhetoric. Perhaps you have a personal experience with trying to live below the poverty line. If you don't have personal experiences trying to "get by" below the poverty line, do you know where the poverty line lies? For this Discussion, you will visit the Economic Policy Institute to understand what it might take to make ends meet in your own family.
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1. Describe the EPI's estimation of what it costs your family to live in your area.
2. Describe what you or your family would have to give up to live within the EPI's budget.
3. Explain how easy or hard it would be to give those things up.
4. Determine if the definition of what constitutes poverty is realistic.
- For example, is the poverty line too low? Is it too high? How would your life change, and is it plausible to maintain key aspects of your life when living below the poverty line?
DiNitto, D. M., & Johnson, D. H. (2016). Social welfare: Politics and public policy (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
- Chapter, "Ending Poverty: Is It an Issue Anymore?" (pp. 107-152)
- Chapter, "Preventing Poverty: Social Insurance and Personal Responsibility" (pp. 153-194)
- Economic Policy Institute. (2016a). Basic family budget calculator-Introduction, methodology, and data download.
Economic Policy Institute. (2016b). Family budget calculator.
For Discussion 1, you use the EPI Family Budget Calculator. First, read this page.
Gould, E., Cooke, T., & Kimball, W. (2015). What families need to get by: EPI's 2015 family budget calculator.Links to an external site.Economic Policy Institute.
Next, you will use the calculator on this page for Discussion 1, following the instructions found in Discussion 1.
Fisher, G. M. (1997). The development and history of the U.S. poverty thresholds-A brief overview.U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
This article discusses the history and definition of the U.S. "poverty threshold," which is sometimes called the "poverty line." Technically, the poverty threshold is used by the Census Bureau for statistical purposes and the "poverty guideline" is used by the DHHS to determine program eligibility.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.).Frequently asked questions related to the poverty guidelines and poverty.