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The deserving poor
Abstract
In this dissertation, three primary concerns about the limits of poverty and generosity are addressed. First, from a methodological point of analysis, we examine the variations in the application of the Factorial Survey method found in these three studies. Second, a more in depth examination of attitudes about, and conceptions of, the poor and the lower limits of poverty is conducted using one of these studies, the 1986 General Social Survey. Finally, a comparison of public attitudes and prevailing public policy is used as a backdrop for the discussion of the social policy implications the findings from these studies offer. The most prominent finding presented in this dissertation is that there appears to be a monetary barrier, or "floor", below which a vast majority of the American public believes no one should be allowed to fall. Over 90 percent of the respondents averaged awarding $200 or more per week to the vignette families, regardless of the circumstances presented in the scenario. Less than 2 percent of the respondents averaged less than \$150 per week in award. Second, this floor represents over TWICE the average payments that are actually provided by the Government to those persons who are deemed eligible for assistance. Indeed, for a majority of the regions in this country, the average income awarded to the vignette families was over 3 times the AFDC awards given to recipients in the lowest supported state for that region. Overall, in the analysis of the Vignette Supplement to the 1986 General Social Survey, the American public perceives that poor families with children, in almost all circumstances, are deserving of support, and that the level of support needed, and approved, is twice the amount currently provided by government programs.
Subject Area
Public policy|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Will, Jeffry A, "The deserving poor" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9035417.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9035417