Think you know poverty? Take this quiz
1. Inequality of incomes has improved in the last 25 years. (True/False)
2. People graduate from college to become doctors, lawyers, politicians, judges, social workers, educators and fill many other professions without ever having studied the history of poverty –its structural causes, or the models we have used to address poverty in America. (True/False)
3. People earning minimum wage are able to afford a modest, two bedroom apartment in America. (True/False)
4. The Federal Poverty Guideline is an accurate indicator of how many people live in poverty in America. (True/False)
5. The majority of American’s believe poverty is caused by people’s behavior and bad choices. (True/False)
6. Prison will solve poverty related problems. (True/False)
7. People in poverty are to blame for drugs, alcohol, sex abuse, child abuse, domestic violence and other social ills. (True/False)
8. Parents who do not go to school conferences must not care about their children. (True/False)
9. Head Start, the preschool program designed for children in poverty, is available to all four-year old who live in poverty. (True/False)
10. People get rich by begging on the streets, getting welfare and having babies to get more welfare. (True/False)
11. People in poverty are irresponsible because they buy cable television, cigarettes, and Nike shoes. (True/False)
12. If you work hard, you will move up the economic ladder in the American labor market. (True/False)
Source: Communications Across Barriers