Poverty Analysis
Professor Karen A. Woodrow-Lafield
Fall 1997 and Fall 2000
Sociology 4123 and Sociology 6123, Mississippi State University
Class Timings
M W, 12:00 to 1:15 pm
Class Location
Bowen Hall, Room 224
Contact Info
Office: 214 Bowen Hall, Phone: 601-325-7888,
email: Woodrow_Lafield@Soc.MsState.Edu (currently WoodrowLafield@cs.com )
Website: http://www2.msstate.edu/~karen/ (currently http://home.comcast.net/~karenwoodrowlafield )
Office Hours
M W, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, or by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
After a lengthy debate about official measurement of poverty in the United States, the National Research Council organized an expert panel to consider the issue. The report from this undertaking touches nearly every aspect of poverty analysis: historical perspective; definitional and measurement issues; socio-cultural factors; delineation of poverty groups; social consequences of poverty; and poverty programs and organizations. Poverty analysis is a broad, multi-disciplinary, and controversial area. This course uses the panel report as an essential foundation for students becoming professionals engaged with substantive pursuits that involve any dimension of poverty analysis for the new century. The goals are to forge an understanding of the complexities of measuring poverty and establishing new ways of doing so that are satisfactory to various constituencies.
TEXTBOOKS:
* Measuring Poverty: A New Approach. 1995. Constance F. Citro and Robert T. Michael, Editors. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. (portions at http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/poverty/)
* The War Against the Poor. 1995. Herbert J. Gans. New York: Basic Books.
* Dalaker, Joseph H. 1999. Poverty in the United States, 1998. Current Population Reports, P60-207, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. (http://www.census.gov/prod/99pubs/p60-207.pdf)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
READINGS
Students should complete the appropriate text chapters in advance of classes as outlined in the readings schedule and suggested by the instructor. Supplementary readings may be distributed to students or two copies may be placed on file in the departmental lounge for overnight borrowing. Other materials may be suggested without being required. You may wish to use these for individual research projects.
INTERNET RESOURCES
This syllabus mentions some relevant Web sites and students are encouraged to explore the Internet for other relevant ones. The Bureau of the Census (http://www.census.gov) has been recognized as a leader among federal agencies in making information accessible via the Internet. This is especially true in the case of poverty analysis. We will frequently use resource site and especially use the latest poverty data, upon release in September. Other key sites are the Institute for Research on Poverty (http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/), Joint Center for Poverty Research (http://www.jcpr.org), and The Urban Institute (http://www.urban.org).
INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROJECTS
Graduate students should select a poverty topic for individual research. Written materials due include (1) a fairly complete, annotated bibliography of key sources, (2) a 1-2 page outline (single-spaced and typed), and (3) a paper of journal-article length.
Undergraduate students should select a book about poverty and submit a review essay of 6-10 pages that includes references to course readings and may include published reviews among references.
Everyone should meet with the instructor by early October to indicate chosen topics.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
All occurrences of academic misconduct will be dealt with in accordance with the guidelines and procedures outlined in the Academic Misconduct Policy. This policy may be accessed on the web at: http://www.msstate.edu/web/security.html
GRADES
EXAMINATIONS
There will be a midterm exam and a final exam.
CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Attendance at every class will be important for building your knowledge base, maximizing performance, and learning from colleagues. There will be regular assignments based on assigned reading. These will always be fairly short (1-4 double-spaced typed pages), but their nature may vary from a simple summary of a chapter’s highlights in your own words, to description of a chapter’s aspects that most interested you, to answering an essay question or developing discussion questions.
YOUR GRADE
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 25%
Research Project 25%
Participation and written summaries 25%
COURSE CALENDAR, LECTURE AND EXAM SCHEDULE, AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
August 21 Chapter 1 (Pp. 17-96) and Appendix A, “Dissent,” (Pp. 385-390)
August 23
August 25 Supplemental reading:
Gordon Fisher, “The Development of the Orshansky Poverty Thresholds and Their Subsequent History as the Official U.S. Poverty Measure,” (http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/povmeas/papers/orshansky.html)
Gordon Fisher, “The Development and History of the Poverty Thresholds,” Social Security Bulletin, Winter 1992, Vol. 55, Number 4, Pp. 3-14.
Weinberg, Daniel H. “Redefining the Official Poverty Measure,” GSS Newsletter Winter 1996.
Ross, Christine, Sheldon Danziger, and Eugene Smolensky. 1987. “The Level and Trend of Poverty in the United States, 1939-1979.” Demography: 587-600.
Sheldon H. Danziger, Gary D. Sandefur, and Daniel H. Weinberg (ed.), 1994. Confronting Poverty: Prescriptions for Change. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hogan, D and D. Lichter "Living Arrangements and the Welfare of Children and Youth," in R. Farley (ed) State of the Union.
Miller, S. M. and Else Oyen. 1996. “Remeasuring Poverty,” Poverty & Race 5 (September/October).
August 28, 30 Appendix B, “Data Sources for Measuring Poverty,” (Pp. 391-420)
September 1 Supplemental Reading:
Little, Roderick J.A. and Nathaniel Schenker. 1995. “Missing Data,” Chapter 2, Handbook of Statistical Modeling for the Social and Behavioral Sciences, edited by Gerhard Arminger, Clifford C. Clogg, and Michael E. Sobel. New York: Plenum Press.
[August 28 Last day to Add/Drop without penalty]
Miscellaneous:
DeParle, Jason. 1992. “At Poverty Conference, Gloom and Dashed Hope,” New York Times, June 1.
Thomas, Jr., Robert McG. 1997. “Horace Bristol, 88; Depicted War and Poverty,” New York Times August 7.
Pear, Robert. 1992. “Ranks of U.S. Poor Reach 35.7 Million, the Most Since 64,” New York Times, September 4.
Terry, Don. 2000. “U.S. Child Poverty Rate Fell as Economy Grew, But Is Above 1979 Level,” New York Times, August 11.
POVERTY THRESHOLDS
September 6 Chapter 2 (Pp. 97-158)
September 8 Supplemental Reading:
Casper, Lynne M. and Ken Bryson, 1998. Household and Family Characteristics:March 1998 (Update), Current Population Reports, Population Characteristics, P20-415.
Lugaila, Terry A., 1998. Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1998 (Update), Current Population Reports, Population Characteristics, P20-514.
Amartya Sen. 1976. “Poverty: An Ordinal Approach to Measurement,” Econometrica 44:219-31.
Shenon, Philip. 2000. “Samuel R. Pierce, Jr., Housing Secretary in Reagan Administration, Is Dead at 78,” New York Times, November 3.
ADJUSTING POVERTY THRESHOLDS
September 11
September 13, 15 Supplemental Reading:
Edin, Kathryn and Laura Lein. 1997. Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
DEFINING RESOURCES
September 18
September 20 Chapter 3 (Pp. 159-202)
September 22 Dalaker
(http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/povty98.html)
Supplemental Reading:
Johnson, Hans and Sonya M. Tafoya. 1999. Trends in Family and Household Poverty, California Counts No. 3.
http://www.ppic.org/
September 25 “An Open Letter on Revising the Official Measure of Poverty,” to OMB Director Jacob J. Lew and Census Director Kenneth Prewitt
September 27, 29
September 30 The Bureau of the Census released 1999 poverty estimates. View the webcast of the press conference, either collectively or individually. We examine this new release carefully (press releases, Internet-accessible reports and tabulations, media coverage).
Additional course readings:
Holmes, Steven A. 2000. “Incomes Up and Poverty Is Down, Data Show,” New York Times, September 27.
Dalaker, Joseph and Bernadette D. Proctor. 2000. Poverty in the United States: 1999, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P60-210, September, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Supplementary readings:
U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. Money Income in the United States: 1999, Current Population Reports, Series P60-209, September, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Pear, Robert. 2000. “Number of Insured Americans Up for First Time Since ’87,” New York Times, September 29.
Mills, Robert J. 2000. Health Insurance Coverage: 1999, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P60-211, September, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
[October 2 Last day to drop any course with Advisor’s and Dean’s Signature]
Research topic idea should be selected by now.
Supplemental Reading:
Naifeh, Mary, 1998, Dynamics of Economic Well-Being, Poverty 1993-1994: Trap Door? Revolving Door? Or Both? U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports P70-63, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED POVERTY MEASURE
October 2 Chapter 4 (Pp. 203-246);
Appendix C, “The Interdependence of Time and Money,” (Pp. 421-432)
October 4, 6 Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, The Millionaire Next Door, Longstreet Press. 1996.
Dacyczyn, Amy. 1993. The Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Visible Alternative Lifestyle. Random House.
Nieves, Evelyn. 2000. “Forget Washington: The Poor Cope Alone.” New York Times, September 26.
Greenhouse, Steven. 2000. “New York Advance in Employment Led by Low-Wage Jobs,” New York Times, October 1.
October 9, 11 See also http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/povmeas/papers.html
October 13 Nieves, Evelyn. 1997. “Can This Couple Find Luxury With Welfare?” New York Times, March 27.
October 16 Midterm Exam (Covers assigned material prior to Chapter 4)
October 18, 20
OTHER ISSUES IN MEASURING POVERTY
October 23 Chapter 5 (Pp. 247-293)
October 25 Kathleen S. Short, Thesia Garner, David Johnson, and Patricia Doyle, 1999, Experimental Poverty Measures: 1990-1997, Current Population Reports P60-205, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/povmeas.html)
Kathleen S. Short, John Iceland, and Thesia Garner, 1999, Experimental Poverty Measures: 1990-1998. Updates P60-205.
Time Period
October 27 Unit of Analysis
Supplemental Reading:
Van Hook, Jennifer, Jennifer E. Glick, and Frank D. Bean. 1999. “Public Assistance Receipt Among Immigrants and Natives: How the Unit of Analysis Affects Research Findings,” Demography 36 (1, February): 111-120.
October 30 See also http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/povmeas/papers.html
November 1, 3 Chapter 6 (Pp. 293-317)
USE OF THE POVERTY MEASURE IN GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
November 6 Chapter 7 (Pp. 317-334);
Appendix D, “Assistance Programs for People with Low Incomes,” (Pp. 433-448)
Supplemental Reading:
Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward, 1993. Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare. New York: Vintage Press, Random House.
Morse, Ann, SCHIP and Access for Children in Immigrant Families, January 2000, National Conference of State Legislatures, Denver and Washington (also http://www.
Indicators of Welfare Dependence, 2000, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. (also at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/hspwelfare#caseload)
November 8, 10 See also http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/povmeas/papers.html
November 13
November 15 Chapter 8 (Pp. 335-384)
Assessing the New Federalism, The Urban Institute
November 17 - Annotated Bibliographies and Outlines DUE
- Presentation/Discussion of Research Topics
November 20, 22 Gans, The War Against the Poor
November 23-24 No Class, Thanksgiving and Holiday
November 27, 29 Recapitulation and Discussion of Future Research
[December 5-7 Dead Day(s)] REMINDER: You may submit papers and reviews earlier than the due date of December 6.
December 4 Evaluation of Progress
December 6 Last Class
-- Papers and Reviews DUE
December 12 Final Examination over ALL course materials, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
December 15 Commencement
SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS
David Griffith and Ed Kissam, 1995. Working Poor: Farmworkers in the United States. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Denton R. Vaughan, 1993. “Exploring the use of the Public’s Views to Set Income Poverty Thresholds and Adjust Them Over Time,” Social Security Bulletin 56(2) (Summer):22-46.
Diana Karter Appelbaum, 1977. “The Level of the Poverty Line: A Historical Survey,” Social Science Review 51(3)(September);514-523.
David T. Ellwood and Lawrence H. Summers, 1985. “Measuring Income: What Kind Should Be In?” Pp. 8-27 in Proceedings of the Bureau of the Census Conference on the Measurement of Noncash Benefits. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce.
Markus Jantti, “Poverty in the United States: A Review,” Review of Income and Wealth, Series 42, Number 2, June 1996, Pp. 233-240. Reviews Poverty and Prosperity in the USA in the Late Twentieth Century, by Dimitri B. Papadimitriou and Edward N. Wolff (eds.); Poverty and the Adequacy of Social Security in the EC, by Herman Deleeck, Karel Van den Bosch, and Lieve De Lathouwer (eds.); Work and Citizenship in the New Europe, by Harry Coenen and Peter Leisink (eds.).
Miguel Szekely, “Poverty in Mexico During Adjustment,” Review of Income and Wealth, Series 41, Number 3, September 1995, Pp. 331-348.
George Psacharaopoulos, Samuel Morley, Ariel Fiszbein, Haeduck Lee, and William C. Wood, “Poverty and Income Inequality in Latin America During the 1980s,” Review of Income and Wealth, Series 41, Number 3, September 1995, Pp. 245-264.
Aldi Hagenaars and Klaas de Vos, 1988. “The Definition and Measurement of Poverty,” Journal of Human Resources 23(2):211-221.
Katharine McFate, Roger Lawson, and William Julius Wilson (eds.), 1995. Poverty, Inequality, and the Future of Social Policy: Western States in the New World Order. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Massey, Douglas S. 1996. “The Age of Extremes: Concentrated Affluence and Poverty in the Twenty-First Century,” Demography 33 (4):395-412.
United Nations Development Programme, 2000. Human Development Report 2000. New York: Oxford University Press.
United Nations Development Programme, 1996. Human Development Report 1996. New York: Oxford University Press.