4 Social Structures and Poverty Online Quiz Questions

The official poverty measure, because it compares pretax cash income with a threshold that varies by family size and composition

The Supplemental Poverty Measure, because it accounts for benefits, taxes, necessary expenses, and housing costs

The official poverty measure, because it adjusts its threshold by location and housing tenure

Neither measure, because poverty measures exclude government benefits and tax credits

True

False

Human-capital theory, because workers’ skills are the only factor determining their pay

Intersectionality, because job conditions are determined solely by workers’ social identities

Labor-market segmentation theory, because some jobs offer low pay, unstable hours, few benefits, and limited advancement

Cumulative disadvantage, because every worker in a low-wage job has experienced the same sequence of barriers

High housing costs can leave less income for food, transportation, and health care.

Housing costs affect only a household’s shelter, not its access to other resources.

Housing location can shape access to schools, jobs, and transportation.

A home may build wealth for an owner, while high rent can leave a renter with little room to save.

True

False

It proves that discrimination explains the entire earnings difference.

It shows a broad earnings difference, but does not by itself establish its cause.

It means women working full time earned 83% more than men.

It compares the earnings of all women with the earnings of all men, regardless of work status.

It counts certain government benefits and tax credits.

It subtracts taxes and necessary expenses such as work and medical costs.

It compares only pretax cash income with a threshold that varies by family size but not location.

It adjusts thresholds for housing costs and housing tenure.

True

False

Use the annual poverty rate alone, because it reveals how long each person experiences hardship.

Measure income inequality instead, because it identifies how long each household remains poor.

Examine the duration and depth of hardship, because an annual rate can conceal persistent poverty and short spells.

Use the poverty threshold for one year only, because longer time periods make hardship impossible to compare.

The household’s income must be divided equally among all adults, regardless of their needs.

The same income may stretch less far when it supports more people, and caregiving may limit paid work.

A household with one income is always below the poverty threshold.

Family composition affects poverty statistics only when every member earns income.

The household is necessarily below the official poverty threshold.

The household has no housing-related financial strain if rent is paid on time.

The household meets the common description of being cost-burdened, which may constrain other spending.

The household’s housing costs do not affect its resources for other needs.

Unequal resources can shape preparation and opportunity, but poverty alone does not determine achievement.

The association proves that household poverty is the sole cause of educational outcomes.

Family resources cannot influence educational opportunity unless they directly change school rules.

Educational outcomes are unrelated to access to learning resources and activities.

The household is necessarily poor because it has little savings.

The household’s income and wealth are interchangeable measures of the same resource.

The household’s situation measures inequality only if it falls below the poverty threshold.

Poverty concerns resources below a threshold, while inequality concerns how income or wealth is distributed across society; this household may be above the threshold but still have little wealth to withstand a shock.