Social Inequality In Welfare

Devon Kaminski

Soc 309 Final Paper

Liz Stygar

12/9/16

Throughout this semester, we have discussed many topics that intersect with one another. The more topics covered in class, the clearer it became that there was a link between everything in society. Although everything intersects in some way, the topics I have chosen to discuss are the connections between poverty and welfare with racial and ethnic inequality. Many people have fallen victim to poverty and had to take up welfare, but there is vast amounts of inequality in the welfare system. The stigma around welfare is a cloud of misconception. During a survey in 1973, only twelve percent of the respondents recognized that a large majority of welfare recipients are white (Ogren, 1973).

Viewing poverty as a stepladder for the upper-class does not justify the maltreatment of the people in those situations. For example, Wald explains that “having a higher level of education increases the likelihood that Whites will state that welfare spending should be increased while having a higher income increases the likelihood that Whites will state that welfare spending should be decreased. Her research views the relationship between education and welfare could indicate that education leads people, including those who have high incomes, to express less hostility to welfare, perhaps because education reduces beliefs in racial stereotypes and heightens sensitivity toward racial issues (Wald, 2005). While it appears that Wald’s research claims education is the solution to the problem, it is a matter of who and how we are educating. The people who need the education to help better themselves and their families may not have access because of the lack of resources available to them. Their money could have to go towards bills or other resources whereas if they had proper or fair access to welfare, they might be able to save up for education and then avoid welfare dependency. This is probably a microlevel example but it could apply to someone of any race or

These studies focus mainly on the overrepresentation of African Americans in the media but in reality, these stereotypes are prevalent for anyone of a different race or ethnicity. This source is bit dated and touches on income inequalities, which is another chapter in the textbook but it supplements just how far back inequalities among races go. Massey and Mitchell argue that housing segregation is the key factor behind thee unusual and growing concentration of poverty among blacks and some Hispanics and that the persistence of racial segregation is essential to understanding the plight of the underclass (Massey & Mitchell, 1990). Bringing it back to modern time, it appears that racial segregation is still prevalent but in a less forward manner. Those who can afford housing, have it; those who cannot depend on welfare or assistance to provide a place to live. Since many minority groups are discriminated against, this could make getting public housing assistance more difficult than say if a white family were to