benefits can reduce the harshness of the poverty trap.

15.3 The Safety Net

We call the group of government programs that address poverty the safety net. In the United States, prominent

safety net programs include Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program (SNAP), the earned income tax credit (EITC), Medicaid, and the Special Supplemental

Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
382 15 • Self-Check Questions

15.4 Income Inequality: Measurement and Causes

Measuring inequality involves making comparisons across the entire distribution of income. One way of doing

this is to divide the population into groups, like quintiles, and then calculate what share of income each group

receives. An alternative approach is to draw Lorenz curves, which compare the cumulative income actually

received to a perfectly equal distribution of income. Income inequality in the United States increased
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