Multiple Choice Questions:
1. The proportion of income received by the richest 5 percent of Americans has
a. Edged upward since the 1980s.
b. Held steady since the 1980s.
c. Decreased slightly since the 1980s.
d. Decreased significantly since the 1980s.
2. The measured distribution of income may appear more unequal as a result of
a. An increase in the proportion of young people in the population.
b. An increase in the number of two-income families.
c. An increase in the number of divorced couples.
d. An increase in the proportion of retired older people in the population.
e. All of the above.
3. Which of the following are over-represented among those with low incomes?
a. College students working toward their graduate degrees
b. Single-parent families
c. Young, inexperienced workers
d. All of the above
4. American income inequality data indicate that
a. Most poor families never significantly rise above poverty, but rich families get poorer over time.
b. Most rich families remain rich, but poor families move up substantially through the income distribution over time.
c. There is substantial movement over time among income groups in America.
d. Rich families stay rich and poor families stay poor in America.
5. Which of the following is false?
a. The poverty line varies with the size of the family.
b. The poverty rate is adjusted for inflation.
c. The poverty rate is set at three times the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet.
d. The receipt of food stamps cannot lift a recipient family from below the poverty line to above the poverty line.
e. None of the above is false; all are true.
6. Large-scale income redistribution would make incomes ___________ and ___________.
a. More equal; larger
b. More equal; smaller
c. Less equal; larger
d. Less equal; smaller
7. Large-scale income redistribution would tend to reduce the level of
a. Income inequality.
b. Savings and investment.
c. Human capital (education).
d. The number of overtime hours worked in society.
e. All of the above.