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Chapter 18: Social Welfare Policymaking

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This activity contains 3 questions.

	Income, Poverty, and Public Policy Deciding who is poor and who is not poor is not an easy thing to do. As the text notes, even though the government establishes an official "poverty line" it often does not reflect the reality of how people live. Let's read about how one group, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, is trying to bring attention to the difficulty in defining poverty. Search the Web Go to http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/povfacts.htm and read the article about poverty in America. Click on the links in the box and discover how the government defines poverty and what the current poverty line is. Finally, take the poverty quiz. Questions to Ask What in your view makes it most difficult to define poverty? What is the result of an arbitrary definition of poverty? What was your score on the poverty quiz? How do you think this will compare to your classmates? Why it Matters In a free market economy some people are not going to prosper as much as other people. Government tries to help those who aren't doing so well with assistance of one type or another. However, when the government sets a poverty line that is not an accurate description of poverty the result is that many thousands of people don't get help who might need it. Get Involved Talk about the poverty quiz in class. How does your score compare to others?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	The Evolution of American Social Welfare Programs As the text notes, social welfare has not been something that government has always handled. Indeed, welfare was something that families or churches provided. However, after the Great Depression government became actively involved in social welfare and because of the Constitution's separation of church and state doctrine, churches increasingly took a back seat. President Bush has, as a central part of his administration's approach to social welfare a policy, tried to bring religious organizations back into social welfare policy. His program is called the Faith Based and Community Initiatives. Let's read more about this program. Search Tips Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/. Click on the "Mission and History" link on the left hand side of the page and review the mission and history of the faith based and community initiatives. Questions to Ask What is the purpose of these initiatives? The president says that faith based programs are unfairly kept out of government social welfare programs. Do you agree? Why or why not? Do you think that President Bush's proposals are a violation of the separation of church and state doctrine? Why it Matters Poverty is a major problem in America. President Bush argues that the way government has dealt with poverty in the past has not worked and has proposed a program that he says will work better. Opponents argue that his proposal is a violation of the Constitution's separation of church and state doctrine. Get Involved How different are your views on the Faith Based and Community Initiatives from the rest of the class'?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Understanding Social Welfare Policy There are many ways that government sets social welfare policy that doesn't involve direct aide. For instance, governments across Europe and North America have in the past several decades come to understand that parents should have some way of taking extended leave to care for newborn or adopted children or sick family members without losing their jobs. Let's review the parental leave laws of the U.S., Great Britain, and Canada. Search Tips Read about parental leave laws in the U.S. at http://www.toolkit.cch.com/text/P05_4370.asp. Read about parental leave laws in Great Britain at http://www.babycentre.co.uk/refcap/538833.html. Finally, read about Canadian parental leave laws at http://www.gov.on.ca/LAB/english/es/factsheets/fs_preg.html. Questions to Ask Which country in your view has the most generous parental leave laws? Which country in your view has the least generous parental leave laws? Do you think the government should pay companies back if an employee takes leave? Why it Matters As both parents are increasingly working, it is becoming more important for family members to be able to take time off to care for newborn or adopted children or sick family members. Governments have taken this up as a social welfare issue. Get Involved Do you agree with parental leave laws? Ask your class how they feel. Have any of their parents taken advantage of these laws?   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

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