November 15, 2020 - "Faithful Citizenship Answers 11 - 20"

This week we will go over the answers to the last ten questions in the Faithful Citizenship Quiz.
 
11.  According to a study by the University of Chicago, which factor best predicts that a boy will exhibit good behavior in fifth grade and avoid being suspended in eighth grade? The answer:  B—Being raised in an intact home with both his father and mother.  Being raised in an intact home with both his father and mother. In addition to confirming again that both moms and dads matter for children, this recent study is unique because it illuminates the crucial influence that fathers have on their sons. The researchers found that even when controlling for school quality and other external factors, the presence or absence of a father at home was the biggest single correlate with a boy's ability to interact appropriately with peers and adults. A similar effect on girls was not found. 
12.  Children in single-parent families comprise __________ of all American children, yet they account for __________ of all poor children.  The answer:  A—27%, 62%.  Sadly, children in single-parent homes are much more likely to suffer poverty than children being raised by their father and mother – not only material poverty, but also the poverty of lacking one of their parents, usually their father. Strong marriages are the foundation of a strong society. 
13.  Unauthorized migrants take advantage of our welfare system to their own advantage and at the taxpayer’s expense.  The answer:  B—False.  On a federal level, and with very few exceptions (for example, prenatal care). Unauthorized immigrants are ineligible to receive assistance through means tested public benefits.  On a state level, individual states have to make an affirmative legislative decision to provide services to the unauthorized populations, the default position is such that the unauthorized population is prohibited from receiving such benefits.
14.  Undocumented immigrants pay taxes.  The answer:  A—True.  Undocumented immigrants pay taxes.  Between 50-75% of undocumented immigrants pay federal, state, and local taxes.  Further still, undocumented workers pay sales taxes where applicable and property taxes—directly if they own and indirectly if they rent.
15.  Studies show that unauthorized immigrants provide a net gain of how much to the Social Security System each year?  The answer:  D--$7 billion.  7 billion dollars is the number commonly cited by experts as the amount unauthorized migrants contribute to the social security trust fund annually.  Because they are unable to collect social security due to their unauthorized status, this money helps to ensure the fund’s long term viability for future generations of retirees.
16. Torture is intrinsically evil.  The answer:  A—True.  Torture is an intrinsic evil because it is a violation of the dignity of the human person, who is made in the image and likeness of God. Even those who may have done evil never shed their intrinsic dignity.
 
17.  What percentage of victims maimed or killed by landmines and cluster munitions are civilians? The answer:  D—90%. Ninety percent of people killed or maimed by landmines and cluster munitions are non-military civilians.  In addition, 30-40 percent of those killed or maimed by landmines are children.  The United States and Cuba are the only countries in the Western Hemisphere who have not yet signed the Mine Ban Treaty which bans the use of landmines.
18.  Life-saving poverty-focused international assistance that fights hunger, disease and poverty make up what percent of the U.S. federal budget?  The answer:  A—1%. Life-saving poverty-focused international assistance that fights hunger, disease, and poverty makes up less than 1% of the U.S. federal budget.  These life-saving programs included agricultural assistance for subsistence farmers, vaccines for preventable diseases, assistance to orphans and vulnerable children, disaster assistance in places like Haiti, peacekeeping forces to protect innocent civilizations in troubled areas such as Sudan and the Congo, and support to migrants and refugees fleeing conflict or persecution in nations such as Iraq.
19. Which are the effects of climate change?  The answer:  All of the following:  Increased temperatures, rising sea levels, and changes in rainfall that contribute to more frequent and severe floods and droughts. Increased temperatures, rising sea levels, and changes in rainfall are all impacts of climate change, and they affect people living in poverty the worst, even though these people contribute the least to climate change. In many poor countries, these impacts of climate change have led to increasingly limited access to water, reduced crop yields, more widespread disease, increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters, and conflict over declining resources—making the lives of the world's poorest people even more precarious.
20. People with disabilities have a much more difficult time finding the resources they need to live in dignity.  The answer:  A—True.  In 2008, the Census Bureau started collecting statistics on disability status as a way to study the intersection of poverty and disability. The data clearly demonstrate that people with disabilities have a much more difficult time finding the resources they need to live in dignity. In 2010, 28 percent of people with disabilities lived in poverty, a rate over twice as high as people without a disability (12 percent).
 
During this month of November, please don’t forget to pray for the Souls in Purgatory!
 
Until next week,
Fr. John