Welfare
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In our case my husbands work hours are such that I cannot find a job willing to only have me work during hours he is off to be with the kids. I have tried. I also live in an old mobile home that will not pass standards to run a home daycare without thousands of dollars of work. When I can I do watch a friends child but that is not guaranteed money. Until the past 6 months we have been more than able to afford for me to stay home. Things changed and after being out of the workforce for 4 years I am not exactly on demand. Add in the current job market and things are even more against me. I have tried to find a job believe me. Call them excuses if you want but this is my life.
ETA: I earn money from doing surveys online, couponing, swagbucks and several other sites. Last month I earned $273 from these things. So I am not just home sitting on my *kitten*. If we do qualify for assistance then it will be temporary. Just long enough to get our tax refund and get out from under medical bills and getting behind due to my husband being ill this summer.0 -
If you are capable of working, get a job.
If you are not and you pay taxes, then I guess welfare is for you, but if you can't or won't work and are collecting monies from welfare, you should not be procreating.
There is a lot of abuse of the system.0 -
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And how exactly do people know what day to show up to get food? Do they give it out to anyone who shows up? Could someone making $70,000/yr decide they don't feel like spending money on groceries and just go get some food for free? You want to complain about the 2% of welfare recipients who are on drugs and say they need to be tested to abuse the system then why aren't there qualifications to get food from the churches? Wouldn't those people just abuse the system even worse if the people just handed out food to anyone who showed up? What would stop them from going to 7 different churches every week? Then they don't need to keep popping out babies or supposedly making their daughters have babies (the plural of anecdote is not data) because they could just sit home with no kids and get their needs met.
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I volunteerr for a church run fooid bank and there is TONS of abuse.You dont really need to show anything to get food and yeah someone who makes good money can show up to most of these places and get food. Food banks usally do not require anything other than documentation on how many are in the household.. There is quite a bit of abuse but they dont turn anyone away. Its actually making me a little jaded so I try to stay in the warehouse0 -
I volunteerr for a church run fooid bank and there is TONS of abuse.You dont really need to show anything to get food and yeah someone who makes good money can show up to most of these places and get food. Food banks usally do not require anything other than documentation on how many are in the household.. There is quite a bit of abuse but they dont turn anyone away. Its actually making me a little jaded so I try to stay in the warehouse
I can completely understand that. I admire your willingness to help though.
in 2003 my hubby was activated with the National Guard and sent to Iraq. At the time we had a 5yo and a 2yo. I was a SAHM. I didn't go out and get a job because I felt the kids had enough upheaval with their dad being gone for 14 months without throwing them into daycare as well. Plus, it was only 14 months then we'd be back on track. Hubby took a 75% pay cut when he was activated. We owned a very nice house in a very nice neighborhood and had 2 three year old vehicles that we bought brand new. We went from being close to the top 5% of income to qualifying for WIC literally overnight. I got a lot of rude looks when I'd hand over a WIC coupon. I have nice jewelry (I worked as assistant manager of a jewelry dept when I was single and got a very nice discount) and had some designer clothes (Goodwill and garage sales.) and drove a 3yo minivan. I ocassionally got a rude comment too but I'd let them know where my husband was and that usually shut them up. So we looked like we were very well off but our income was legitimately low enough that I felt no discomfort about using WIC.
Fast forward to today. I still have that same minivan. (I don't drive much. It only has 67,000 miles.) It's got a few dings from shopping carts and a hubcap fell off somewhere in Germany. I've gained weight and don't really wear my jewelry anymore. I still wear the same clothes but they are a bit more worn looking. If I stopped into a food bank for a handout I'd look like someone who probably does need help. But the reality is we are doing even better financially than we were before my hubby was deployed. I drive the same car because it runs fine. I wear the same clothes because they still fit and look fine. I don't need the latest and greatest. I prefer to get as much for my moeny as I can.
So, really, try not to judge a book by it's cover. That well dressed woman in the nice car may be in a situation like we were when hubby was deployed while those people who look middle class may well just be too cheap to buy their own groceries hat they could easily afford.
FTR, I am not now nor have I ever gotten food from a food bank. The only aid we ever got was WIC for 18 months (no job when hubby came home/moved to AZ.)0 -
I volunteerr for a church run fooid bank and there is TONS of abuse.You dont really need to show anything to get food and yeah someone who makes good money can show up to most of these places and get food. Food banks usally do not require anything other than documentation on how many are in the household.. There is quite a bit of abuse but they dont turn anyone away. Its actually making me a little jaded so I try to stay in the warehouse
I can completely understand that. I admire your willingness to help though.
in 2003 my hubby was activated with the National Guard and sent to Iraq. At the time we had a 5yo and a 2yo. I was a SAHM. I didn't go out and get a job because I felt the kids had enough upheaval with their dad being gone for 14 months without throwing them into daycare as well. Plus, it was only 14 months then we'd be back on track. Hubby took a 75% pay cut when he was activated. We owned a very nice house in a very nice neighborhood and had 2 three year old vehicles that we bought brand new. We went from being close to the top 5% of income to qualifying for WIC literally overnight. I got a lot of rude looks when I'd hand over a WIC coupon. I have nice jewelry (I worked as assistant manager of a jewelry dept when I was single and got a very nice discount) and had some designer clothes (Goodwill and garage sales.) and drove a 3yo minivan. I ocassionally got a rude comment too but I'd let them know where my husband was and that usually shut them up. So we looked like we were very well off but our income was legitimately low enough that I felt no discomfort about using WIC.
Fast forward to today. I still have that same minivan. (I don't drive much. It only has 67,000 miles.) It's got a few dings from shopping carts and a hubcap fell off somewhere in Germany. I've gained weight and don't really wear my jewelry anymore. I still wear the same clothes but they are a bit more worn looking. If I stopped into a food bank for a handout I'd look like someone who probably does need help. But the reality is we are doing even better financially than we were before my hubby was deployed. I drive the same car because it runs fine. I wear the same clothes because they still fit and look fine. I don't need the latest and greatest. I prefer to get as much for my moeny as I can.
So, really, try not to judge a book by it's cover. That well dressed woman in the nice car may be in a situation like we were when hubby was deployed while those people who look middle class may well just be too cheap to buy their own groceries hat they could easily afford.
FTR, I am not now nor have I ever gotten food from a food bank. The only aid we ever got was WIC for 18 months (no job when hubby came home/moved to AZ.)
Oh im not talking about the people who drive nicer cars are have nicer clothes on,even when me an my husband were struggling we always had pretty nice cars.Hes a car salesman so we can get really good deals,and no money down and such. I live in a pretty small town so I run into alot of people that I see in the pantry. Its sometimes a little disheartning to see someone get food and asking for extra than we normally give because they just cant afford food that month but then see them later on the same day closing out a 150$ bar tab at the town bar.
But you know I try not to let it get to me. I have used food banks in the past so now that I dont need them I try to give back. Its a pretty good work out too.
There are always going to be people who abuse things like this,its just the way of the world. I will still go and help because there4 are those that are truely in need as well.0 -
Drug testing for benefits, end of story. Stop being enablers.0
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Drug testing for benefits, end of story. Stop being enablers.
I like that. A lot.0 -
and increase the crime rate how many times?0
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and increase the crime rate how many times?
Are you suggesting that we are paying for "protection"?0 -
and increase the crime rate how many times?
Are you suggesting that we are paying for "protection"?
No, just that there are real economic costs involved in making any choices. We live in an interrelated society. I certainly can understand the emotional reactions that people have when they feel that welfare benefits are being abused--hey, I'm human and I work for a living. I don't like waste and abuse any more than anyone else.
But I also think that emotional, visceral reactions make for really, really, really, really, really bad, sucky economic and social policies.
And the fact is that if a society decides not to invest in social services, or not to invest in a "safety net" or early childhood development, childhood medical care, nutrition, etc, that decision is not "free". There will be a cost, whether it's having to build more prisons, increased health costs, decreased productivity, etc. People need to think in those terms.
Of course, that doesn't mean that current programs should be accepted without question. I have never advocated that and never will. But, my position on supporting social services is about 20% altruism and 80% hard-nosed bottom line.
You will pay one way or the other.0 -
I think its odd that people are worried about drug addicts eating but rarely ever bring up the fact that the Gov who signed this into law has a 62 million dollar investment into the company that would be doing the drug testing.
Big picture, someone will get rich off of this and with all the lobbyists in Washington you have to know that this isn't to save the tax payers, its to change where that tax payer money is going.
In Florida, 2% failed, and about 2-4% didn't come in to take the test. That to me equates to children going hungry. Its hard for me to imagine that people see this as a win. Not only did those kids win the bad parent lottery they also lose any help or benefits from the country that they live in? Gross. Addicts are called addicts for a reason, if it was simple or easy for these people to quit, they wouldn't call them addicts.0 -
Exactly. And frankly every active pro-lifer I know has done what they could to help support the mothers, not just the babies. It's a shame that many of these mothers aren't aware of the programs, not just government sponsored, but also church sponsored, that are designed to help them when they choose life. But I know that many have tried, but we can't force a woman going into an abortion mill to listen to those of us who are a safe distance away and on public property to tell them of the love that is out there for not just their children, but also for them.
Many pro-lifers do this. This isn't a made up occurrence. I've heard several pro-lifers myself that want to outlaw abortion, but then turn around and say "I don't want my tax dollars going to support that *kitten*! She should have kept her legs shut!"
Well, that's horrible. I've never heard any one of the pro-lifers I know say such a thing. I can be pro-life and still disagree with abuse of the welfare system, though.0 -
Dang you...I agree with you on yet another issue. Must be something in the northern Illinois airand increase the crime rate how many times?
Are you suggesting that we are paying for "protection"?
No, just that there are real economic costs involved in making any choices. We live in an interrelated society. I certainly can understand the emotional reactions that people have when they feel that welfare benefits are being abused--hey, I'm human and I work for a living. I don't like waste and abuse any more than anyone else.
But I also think that emotional, visceral reactions make for really, really, really, really, really bad, sucky economic and social policies.
And the fact is that if a society decides not to invest in social services, or not to invest in a "safety net" or early childhood development, childhood medical care, nutrition, etc, that decision is not "free". There will be a cost, whether it's having to build more prisons, increased health costs, decreased productivity, etc. People need to think in those terms.
Of course, that doesn't mean that current programs should be accepted without question. I have never advocated that and never will. But, my position on supporting social services is about 20% altruism and 80% hard-nosed bottom line.
You will pay one way or the other.
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Then you don't understand how it all works. I'll give you my experience for example. My husband is self-employed, I am the only employee where I work. We have to pay for our health insurance out of pocket (which we do). However, because it is individual insurance and not group plan pregnancy is not covered and I can not buy maternity coverage in our state as an individual. When I became pregnant I didn't have $14,000 minimum saved to pay for maternity care, delivery, and one night stay in the hospital (and that amount is based on 0 medicine and vaginal delivery). So, I had to apply for medicaid to cover maternity. They made me go to classes ever two to three months, gave me WIC (though I said over and over that I didn't need it, it was just that maternity wasn't covered, that it would be better to give the WIC food to a family who needs it more) and after my son was born another year of WIC and classes. I know many others who have had to use medicaid even though both husband and wife were working full time, they just weren't making enough to cover all their expenses.If you are capable of working, get a job.
If you are not and you pay taxes, then I guess welfare is for you, but if you can't or won't work and are collecting monies from welfare, you should not be procreating.
There is a lot of abuse of the system.0 -
You can work nights and weekends and have your hubby watch the kids. You can work at a daycare center and bring the kids with you at a substantially discounted rate. You can open your own home based daycare and take in another kid or 2 (or however many based on your local laws).What some do not realize is that sometimes that mom staying home is actually helping her family out more than going to work. We have had to apply for food assistance recently. Like many Americans times have gotten tough on us. Rising costs combined with less hours for my husband have made it that way. But if I return to work (would be retail until I can finish my schooling) then after daycare costs and travel expenses were taken out we would actually have less money than we do with me at home. Now we at least qualify for assistance. If I worked even though we would actually be deeper in the hole we would not qualify for help. We have done everything we can to avoid getting assistance but it has simply become necessary.
My point being is there are cases you do not know the whole story. You cannot judge everything by what is right in front of your face.
I don't know how many kids you have or what their ages are but in most cases when someone says "I can't afford to work!" it's a cop out. Yes, there are some cases where that is true and it may make for a short term hardship but typically, financially speaking anyhow, there is more income with another worker in the household.
That said, if you want to be a SAHM and can afford to, more power to you. I haven't worked outside the home in almost 15 years and our boys are 14 and 11. I do own my own tax and financial planning business that I do from home though so I am contributing financially. If things ever got tough for us I'd go out and get a job outside the home when the kids are in school if I want to make sure to have that family time or on whatever schedule I can if we just can't make ends meet.
There are also extenuating circumstances where you won't hear me say one peep against someone getting aid and still being a SAHM. Those don't generally include having more kids than you can afford, not wanting to work, or making excuses that it would cost money to work. I'm talking about things like a spouse of a military reservist who gets activated and has a drop in pay that leads them to government aid, caring for a sick relative or child, being disabled (legitimately, not "I have a disease -- I'm an alcoholic. So I can't work." BS), working your own farm, etc
I agree. Somehow there are always people in extreme situations who make things work. When my parents got divorced, my dad didn't make enough to afford his own house AND pay child support. SO he worked 1 full time and 2 part time jobs to make ends meet. Now he works 1 one job and does very well for himself, for us kids and his second wife.
There was a time where I was making enough to barely pay my daycare and gas but would have been "better off" staying home and using assitance. I struggled for a few years but eventually it passed. You have to work through it but eventually you CAN make things better for yourself.0
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