POLS 207 1st Edition Lecture 23 Outline of Last Lecture I The Courts Outline of Current Lecture II Poverty III Education IV Crime V Abortion Current Lecture Poverty Rate by Race Poverty rate had been on a general decline till 2000 and then it began to rise Hispanics and African American have higher poverty rates than Anglos and Asians Poverty Rate by Age The group is the most poverty is under 18s Previously it was the over 65s but their rate has dropped drastically This is due to social security and other programs So they now have the lowest poverty rate 18 64 has gone up but it has more or less stabilized The worst is under 18s Crime Rates Since 1960 Both rates have been declining since the 1994 peak No policy that is completely effective Predictions of Liberals Education may be the key to dealing with problems o Education and Poverty Negative Correlation Strong r 73 Increase high school completion decrease poverty Texas is essentially on the regression line o Education and Crime Negative Correlation r 37 Education goes up Crime goes down Texas has slightly more crime than predicted by education o Poverty and Crime Weak Positive Correlation r 31 Texas is an outlier with more crime than the poverty rate predicts More poverty more crime Highest GDP is in Qatar because they value education highly They get money for their child from the government when it is born How can Governments Increase Education Levels High School completion is an explicit goal for all states Is there a positive relationship between educational resources and results High School Completion Bachelor s Degree Positive correlation r 45 Texas has a higher degree rate than high school completion suggests Contemporary Educational Expenditures and High School Completion All money given at the start of the year data taken after that year o No correlation o Texas spends more than the completion rate would suggest Lagged Educational Expenditures and High School Completion Lagged throughout a generation spending in the 80s matched with high school completion in 2006 o Weak positive correlation o Texas is in a similar position anyway With education you need time for the programs to show its effect More money into higher education more higher education degrees More spending in the past leads to only a moderate increase in higher education degrees Graduating people from high school leads to more degrees r 57 How can Governments Decrease Poverty Levels Lower Poverty is an explicit goal for all states Is there a positive relationship between welfare program efforts and results Medicaid and Poverty Negative correlation o More Medicaid less poverty SNAP and Poverty No correlation o R 06 SNAP is not very useful TANF and Poverty Moderate negative correlation r 56 More TANF benefits less poverty SCHIP and Poverty No relationship Texas gives barely any health insurance coverage Welfare Support in Texas TANF 1050 per year Food Stamps 1100 per year SCHIP 500 per year Medicaid 4000 per beneficiary How do Governments react to crime rates Total Crime Property Crime Violent Crime Abortion Policy and Abortion Rates Expenditures are not paramount Direction of causality Causal or spurious relationship Abortion rates have gone down drastically as have abortion providers These have been reduced by states they have made it very difficult for them to remain open