Assignment#2_IncomePovertyandWealthinUS_Fall2023

POVERTY IN THE U.S. 3. a. How many people are poor in the United States given the official poverty measure? What percentage of people are poor? i. Number = 37,900,000 ii. Percent = 11.5% b. Now, discuss how poverty rates vary by each of the following independent variables: i. Education level 1. No High School Diploma: 25.2. 2. High school, No College: 13.3 3. Some College: 9.3 4. bachelor's Degree or Higher: 4.3 ii. Work experience 1. All Workers: 4.8 a. Worked Full-Time, Year-Round: 1.9 b. Less than Full-Time, Year-Round: 12.8 2. Did Not work: 30.7 iii. Race 1. White: 10.5 a. White, Not Hispanic: 8.6 2. Black: 17.1 3. Asian: 8.6 4. American Indian and Alaska Native: 25.0 5. Two or More Races: 12.2 iv. Hispanic status 1. Hispanic (Any Race): 16.9 2. White: 10.5 a. White, Not Hispanic: 8.6 v. Gender 1. Male: 10.5 2. Female: 12.5 c. This data is based on the official poverty measure. Provide one criticism of this way of measuring poverty. i. One of the main things is the official poverty measure does not include items like food assistance, or other family expenses that are not seen as cash income.

SUPPORTING AN ARGUMENT ABOUT INCOME AND INEQUALITY 5. Let’s say that you are talking with someone, and they say: “Average family income in the United States has gone up every decade since about 1950 and poverty rates are down since 1960. Things are great for Americans economically.” Now, the data on average family income increases and poverty declines over time are accurate (given replicated studies from credible sources), but there are many additional types of data that you would want to consider in order to determine whether people are better off economically today compared to around 1950. Discuss three additional statistics or data on other economic topics that you would want to know if you wanted to understand the economic situation of Americans. To answer this question, focus explicitly on economic issues and economic changes . (The Instructor Recorded video from Week 2 might help you think about this, along with discussion in class.) (1) For one, we would want to know about the inflation rates of that time. For example, we would want to know about the cost of living, as that is a part of inflation. How much is it costing the general American to take care of themselves? (2) We would also want to know how much it cost to buy something in the past because as the saying goes “A dollar today buys less than a dollar bought yesterday”. (3) You would have to convert the mean, median, and modes of the pasts data to the current dollars of today. For example, how much would a house from 1950 cost if it was in 2022?