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Poverty

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The New Deal. In early 1933 nation needed immediate relief, recovery from economic collapse, and reform to avoid future depressions, so relief, recovery and reform became Franklin D. Roosevelt`s goals when he took the helm as president. At his side stood a Democratic Congress, prepared to enact the measures carved out by a group of his closest advisors u0097 dubbed the u0093Brain Trustu0094 by reporters. One recurring theme in the recovery plan was Rooseveltu0092s pledge to help the u0093forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.u0094 Birth of the u0093New Dealu0094 The concepts that became the New Deal had been discussed in earlier years but without effect. The statement by National Catholic War Council in 1919, drafted by Father John A. Ryan, contained recommendations that would later be regarded as precursors of the New Deal.

Herbert Hoover Opening the way for the New Deal, President Herbert Hoover was defeated by Franklin D. The "Hundred Days" The u0093Second Hundred Days" Election of 1936. Did the New Deal Work? While today's economic slowdown pales in comparison to the Great Depression, when it comes to political action, the ghost of the 1930s may still be haunting Washington, D.C. President Franklin Roosevelt explained the need for the New Deal this way in his 1932 address to the Democratic National Convention: "While [Republicans] prate of economic laws, men and women are starving.

We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings. " That's not so different from the sentiment behind modern-day calls for action, like Rep. Barney Frank's plan to bail out homeowners. When the market takes a wrong turn, it's the job of government to grab the wheel—by boosting spending or cutting taxes—and steer the economy back on the right path. But if there's anything more unpredictable than the direction of the market, it's the effects of government tinkering with economic policy.

A split Just how divided are experts? Fears of confiscation. Ten Important Questions About Child Poverty and Family Economic Hardship. What is the Nature of Poverty and Economic Hardship in the United States? How Serious is the Problem of Economic Hardship for American Families? Is it Possible to Reduce Economic Hardship among American Families? 1. What does it mean to experience poverty? Families and their children experience poverty when they are unable to achieve a minimum, decent standard of living that allows them to participate fully in mainstream society.

To achieve a minimum but decent standard of living, families need more than material resources; they also need “human and social capital.” The experiences of children and families who face economic hardship are far from uniform. 2. The U.S. government measures poverty by a narrow income standard — this measure does not include material hardship (such as living in substandard housing) or debt, nor does it consider financial assets (such as savings or property). Figure 1: 2009 Poverty Guidelines, U.S. 3. 4. 5. 6. Figure 3: Low-income children by race/ethnicity, 2007. POVERTY TERMED A DIVORCE FACTOR. Poverty is a major factor contributing to the breakup of American families, the Census Bureau said today. More generally, it said, stresses associated with economic insecurity and financial need make it more likely that families will dissolve. "Poor two-parent families were about twice as likely to break up as were two-parent families not in poverty," said Donald J.

Hernandez, the Census Bureau demographer who wrote the report. The report presents the bureau's first systematic analysis of the social and economic conditions under which households were created and dissolved in the 1980's. The bureau issues annual estimates of the number of people below the Government's official poverty level, which was $13,924 for a family of four in 1991. The new report documents the movement of families into and out of poverty and describes the reasons for such movement. The report is based on a survey of more than 33,000 households. Mr. "When you look at one-year transitions into poverty," Mr. SCHOOL: The Story of American Public Education. In the one-room schoolhouse sat students of all ages and abilities. The sole teacher was usually an unmarried woman; sometimes the students were older than the teacher. Using only the most basic resources — slate, chalk, and a few books — teaching and learning consisted mainly of literacy, penmanship, arithmetic, and “good manners.”

Recitation, drilling, and oral quizzes at the end of the day were the norm in classrooms across America. The power of community and the high value placed on education are evident in the shared efforts involved in maintaining the schools. Farmers supplied the wood or other fuel for the stove to keep the schoolroom warm in the winter. Parents built school desks and took turns cleaning and stocking the stable that housed the horses the children used to get to and from school each day. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the American school is a much different place.

Photographs from ONE-ROOM SCHOOL. Photographs from A One-Room School. Going to School in Rural America during the 1930s. Going to School Country schools went through hard times in the 1930s. The value of farm land plummeted, and that meant that property taxes that supported schools fell as well. During the Great Depression, some school districts couldn't pay their teachers. One-room grade schools were still common in York County, Nebraska, and other Great Plains states.

Children from several grades sat in one room, often led by a teacher not much older than the students. The dust and heat or snow and cold sometimes made it hard for children to learn and for teachers to teach. Like many farm children, Herman Goertzen rode his horse to grade school. Mildred Opitz used to go to the barn early in the morning before school and harness the horses.

One of the main goals of education, of course, was and is to teach students to read, and the 1930s was a vibrant time for literature for both young people and adults. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Summary: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (often represented as a pyramid with five levels of needs) is a motivational theory in psychology that argues that while people aim to meet basic needs, they seek to meet successively higher needs in the form of a pyramid. Originator: Abraham Maslow in 1943. Key terms: deficiency needs, growth needs, physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, self-actualization Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Abraham H. Maslow felt as though conditioning theories did not adequately acapture the complexity of human behavior. In a 1943 paper called A Theory of Human Motivation, Maslow presented the idea that human actions are directed toward goal attainment. Any given behavior could satisfy several functions at the same time; for instance, going to a bar could satisfy one’s needs for self-esteem and for social interaction.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has often been represented in a hierarchial pyramid with five levels. Figure 1. Deprivation Needs Growth Needs Criticisms. Dust Bowl — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts. Ranchers and farmers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, driven by the American agricultural ethos of expansion and a sense of autonomy from nature, aggressively exploited the land and set up the region for ecological disaster. Most early settlers used the land for livestock grazing until agricultural mechanization combined with high grain prices during World War I enticed farmers to plow up millions of acres of natural grass cover to plant wheat. In response, the federal government mobilized several New Deal agencies, principally the Soil Conservation Service formed in 1935, to promote farm rehabilitation.

Working on the local level, the government instructed farmers to plant trees and grass to anchor the soil, to plow and terrace in contour patterns to hold rainwater, and to allow portions of farmland to lie fallow each year so the soil could regenerate. The government also purchased 11.3 million acres of submarginal land to keep it out of production.