The Causes of Poverty: Thinking Critically about a Key Economic Issue

Autor/in	Otlin, Josh
Titel	The Causes of Poverty: Thinking Critically about a Key Economic Issue
Quelle	In: Social Education, 72 (2008) 2, S.75-79 (5 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0037-7724
Schlagwörter	Poverty; Citizenship; Democracy; Public Policy; Economics Education; Civics; Economic Factors; Social Studies; Welfare Services + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Armut; Staatsbürgerschaft; Demokratie; Öffentliche Ordnung; Wirtschaftskunde; Staatsbürgerkunde; Ökonomischer Faktor; Gemeinschaftskunde; Fürsorgeeinrichtung
Abstract	Economics is a central part of civic education. Students need to know about the Constitution and the party system, but active citizenship in the twenty-first century requires much more than the standard civics courses offer. Economic issues dominate public policy debates ranging from Social Security to immigration to international security. If students cannot evaluate economic arguments, they can do little but watch democracy from the sidelines or step into the fray partially blindfolded. In this article, the author presents a lesson he has developed on poverty, which shows students that "arguments about economic issues are based on interpretations of data, and that different analysts can reach different judgments about those data." After examining statistical information on people and families living in poverty, students evaluate alternative arguments about the causes of poverty, and attain a better understanding of different approaches to dealing with the problem. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street 500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10