look at china.... 1 child per family. they should do that same thing here. would help regulate the baby making machines on welfare and food stamps.who abuse the system.[...]that is why the first amendment is so wonderful brittany. People can have opinions that differ from others. I feel that any mother that has to get on WIC, state aided insurance for their children, or receive any help from the federal or sta...te level, cannot afford to take care of the children they already have. Which is where I differ from most peoples opinions. I know what its like to grow up poor, and going to bed hungry at night. i also know what its like to only be able to sit in front of a kerosene heater for heat, and only take cold running watered showers. Too often i see mothers driving better cars than i do, and are able to eat better than i do. The only point i am making is, if a person is adult enough to make such decisions as having children, make sure you can afford to take care of that child, without the aid of these programs. When our parents were our age and having children, they never lived with their parents, nor did they ever ask for help. At least mine never did.
Setting aside the fact that this person advocates population control, i.e., complete control over a woman's fertility whether she likes it or not... no, wait, let's not set that aside. They're talking about how great the first amendment is while arguing for the destruction of personal freedom? How do you even wrap your mind around that kind of logic?
No, wait, original point. I read this person's comments and they really hit home. Because I'm on government assistance.
When I started writing, my husband, son and I were hanging on by our fingernails. Because we couldn't afford daycare but fell above the acceptable assistance level, I stayed home with my infant son while my husband worked fifty hours a week to make ends meet. My first contract, for Blood Ties 1, 2, and 3, was a lot of money at the time. 18k for three books. I was super excited, because now I could afford Netflix. Let that sink in. I could finally afford a nine-dollar-per-month dvd rental service, and it was a big deal in our house. So, we weren't the poorest people in the world, but we definitely weren't middle class or anything. We were barely working class.
When it was time to negotiate the contact for my next book, I was super psyched. I had an agent, so I bet I would get, like, 20k for three books this time! After negotiations, I ended up with a $200,000 advance for four books. We lived of off that for four years. We bought a house. Not a big one, but still, we owned a house. We bought a car. We decided to have another kid. Royalties that came in were high. My husband quit the job he hated and went back to school. Everything was fine.
And then it wasn't. When things took a downward turn, I didn't immediately panic. "We can hold on until Joe finishes school and gets a job. We have savings. This will blow over." I waited for a year for things to just "blow over", and they didn't. Our savings dried up. I got a job at McDonald's. My husband quit college and went back to work at the same job, this time at half the pay. Our resources were tapped out. I had to apply for welfare.
I'm not proud to say that we've been on foodstamps and energy assistance for a year now. I'm not proud to say that because of my pride, I waited until we were destitute to take action and seek the help that my government offers. We lost that house, which was, incidentally, the house I lived in during my teen years and held a lot of memories. I'm not proud about any of this. But pride doesn't feed your kids or keep them warm, so I can't afford pride.
And yet, the attitude persists that people on welfare are there because they're bad people. I don't think it's morally repugnant to do what needs to be done to provide for your children. In fact, I think a bad person is one who will let their children go to bed hungry when other options are available, simply because they value their pride and appearance over the well-being of their kids. That facebook commenter reserves the right to her opinion, and I reserve the right to mine.
I don't think anyone actually sits down and says, "I'm going to have this baby that I can't afford because life is more fun when it's hard." I don't think anyone actually says that they're going to intentionally live off of public assistance, and if they do, it's not much of a life, so don't envy them. In order to recieve cash assistance in the state of Michigan, you have to look for a job for forty hours a week. That's forty hours a week of pounding the pavement, filling out applications. You also have to tell the places that you're applying that you're on cash assitances, so they can sign your form to prove that you've been out looking. That's right, you get to tell a stranger that you're on welfare, and open yourself up to the derision of people like our facebook friend up there. In public. In the end, you get something in the area of a hundred bucks a month for a family of four.
There's a story that I hear all the time, from literally everyone. A woman goes to the checkout at the grocery store. Usually, the woman in question is described as "black" in a whispered voice because apparently black people put hidden mics around the houses of white conservatives to catch them being racist or something. I don't know, I don't get the whispered "black" that almost always accompanies this story. But I digress. This woman goes up to the checkout with some kind of luxury item in plain view. Many times, it's a brand name purse or expensive-looking manicure. She heaps piles of exotic groceries onto the belt: t-bone steaks, lobster, organic produce. Somehow, she also gets alcohol and cigarettes in there, and she whips out her assistance card and waltzes out with those groceries, six screaming kids in tow. On rare occassions, she actually is overheard telling the cashier how great it is to keep having babies and getting free stuff, so she's never going to work. Almost always, the person telling the story was standing behind her in line, their meager peasant rations pitfully malingering at the feet of the welfare queen's bounty.
It's all bullshit. For one thing, this story is so widely repeated that it just can't be true. I'm not saying that you didn't see a woman with an expensive purse using a foodstamp card. In fact, I often carry my Coach purse, which I bought five years ago, because it is sturdy and if something happens to it, there's a lifetime guarantee on it. What I'm saying is, I was a cashier. My husband was a cashier for almost seven years. Neither of us has ever seen this woman who gleefully hands over her foodstamps and chats loudly about how great it is to commit welfare fraud.
I'm going to break this down for you. Let's pretend you really, truly did see this woman with her expensive clothes or nails using her foodstamp card. Perhaps she bought those clothes before she became poor. It's possible she has to dress a certain way for her job. And if she is buying steak or lobster, maybe it's her birthday. Or maybe she's cooking for her boss or parents or something and she doesn't want them to know how bad it's been.
No one is omniscient. None of us can know what every single person on welfare is thinking or feeling. But what it is about simply needing help, asking for it, and receiving it that makes so many people assume the worst about a person? Maybe instead of worrying about how many people are abusing the system, we could say, "Thank god that's there to help people in need." Maybe we could say, "Thank god I don't have to ask for that kind of help, only to be looked down upon."
I'm Jennifer Armintrout, USA Today Bestselling Author and public assistance recipient, and I am a good person. And so are a lot of people in the same boat with me.
WOW!!! All I can say is RIGHT ON JENN!! I know there are a lot out there who abuse it, but there are also a lot out there who deserve it and no one has the right to put everyone in the same boat, no one is perfect, and no one is the same. *HUGS* and keep on babe, you will make it and forget a$$holes like that person
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I shared it on facebook along with a plug for your books. After reading the Blood Ties trilogy, you are on the short list of authors I'll actually pay money for a book from and not just make the library buy them for me!
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I so agree with you!!! My husband got laid off and couldn't find a job so now we lost our house of 10 years and they say we don't qualify for assistance. I'm just glad our kids are grown.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone on these programs are dead beats and really do try to avoid asking for help.
Thank you for saying out loud what a lot of people would love to say but are afraid to. Thank goodness we have a great family that has been there to help us get back on track.
I hope things get better for you and your family.
You go girl!! My family grew up on public assistance. There were 10 kids in my family, six of us adopted by my aunt so that we would not have to be in the foster care program. We ate ALOT of beans and rice and drank a lot of powdered milk. We learned at an early age to work for what we wanted. I start throwing newspapers at 5 years old, and started cleaning the elderly people on our paper routes houses when I was 7. I did this until I was old enough to get a job. So I totally understand where you are coming from. My aunt was was unable to work due to disabilities but she worked getting paid under the table to pay rent and utilities. She did everything she could to take care of us, to make sure we were fed and somewhat warm in the winter. When I was 27 and a single mother, I applied to the WIC program and was denied. I did have a job, and I think that was probably the main reason I didn't get the assistance. I did see women in the WIC office better dressed than me, driving cars, (I didn't have a car and I rode the bus everywhere), and they were wearing tons of gold jewelry. I won't say what race they are because I am not a racist person and because every race can and will abuse the welfare system. But all I was asking for was for help to pay for formula cuz that stuff is expensive, so that I could try to give my child a better life than I had. I made do, and I went without a lot so that my child would have the things she needed. It did annoy me that I would see people at stores buying expensive food with their food stamp cards while I ate ramen so my child could have nutritious food that she needed. Some people just don't have their priorities straight and never will. They will abuse the system that some people truly need the help from, therefore giving the people that need the help a bad
ReplyDeleterap. It is the people that abuse the system that piss me off, not the people that truly need the help.
And if that one person is so gung ho about the government limiting people to one child, then they should move to China and quit bitching about it. So do what you have to do to take care of yourself and your family and don't let these close minded idiots upset you for a using a system that is meant to help people. One day your family will be back on it's feet and things will get better, ut until that day comes, do what you have to do.
Fantastic post, Jen. I'm a best selling writer of ebooks with two kids and no spouse. I make about 500 a month on sales because ePirates steal my work and upload it to the internet for free. I work 70-80 hours a week writing and doing the day job. It's hard work to qualify and receive assistance from the government.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what I'd do without the foodstamps they allow me. But guess what, I don't qualify for insurance, nor do I qualify for cash assistance, nor energy savings. Why? I make too much. $500. I'm grateful for what they do send.
To the nay-sayers out there, realize you have to be scraping the barrel to get SOME assistance. You have to be in the negative column of non-earnings to get moderate assistance. But none of it is enough to live on.
It's assistance folks, not a living. There's no way to live on it fully, nor was that the point. I, for one, appreciate every dime and work hard for the day I don't need to collect it. Until then, thank you Uncle Sam. You've helped me catch a break, and I won't disappoint you.
For me, I signed up for welfare during a divorce 35 years ago. I had been staying home with my daughter and now needed to become her support, so I went back to school for two years. Since then, I've repaid the money in taxes many times over. I wish my tax dollars went more toward helping others, especially in these difficult times, rather than being used to fight wars.
ReplyDeleteI'm recently started receiving Social Security after many years of work. Some people would like to take that away, too. Ironically, I also pay taxes on my S.S. benefits--which seems like double taxation. I was self-employed for two decades and paid ALL of my Self-Employment tax whereas the employed pay half and their employers pay the other half. Does the American public know, or even care, about those facts?
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI'm truly sorry to hear how hard things have been for you and your family. I am a fan of your writing and have bought several of your books. I was surprised when I read this post because, as it seems to me, when you hear of somebody like, for instance, a published writer, you automatically think of them as having a big fat bank account. But it really isn't necessarily true, is it? Last year I met the author of an UF novel that I liked while they were at work at Pier 1. Writers are regular people, too.
I do agree with you that there are plenty of people out there who need the help and take it without taking advantage at the same time. There shouldn't be any shame in that. But, there are also plenty of people who do take advantage and as someone who grew up in a family who was thisclose to going on assistance, this makes me angry. I was a cashier too and saw those same people buy their regular groceries with their Independence cards followed by snow crab legs paid for by their gold credit cards. If they can afford to have a gold credit card, why can't they afford to buy their bread and milk? That doesn't seem fair to me.
I am a fan of your work and regularly read your status posts on facebook. I think in spite of the fact that your celebrity is not currently allowing you to live in comfort it does allow you a much wider audiance and forum for you to voice your opinions, which is a good thing. I believe however, you have missed the point of "the conservatives" frustration over the state of welfare in our country.
ReplyDeleteIf you are laid off, have an accident, some tragedy occurs in your life that requires you to obtain government assistance... thats what its for. The use of that assistance was intended to be temporary for most families, unless someone is permanently unable to work because of some kind of disability or continuing illness.
Right now, many families (like it or not) are stuck on welfare because there are no jobs available... and again, that is what the system is for and considered acceptable even to conservatives. What isnt acceptable, are people that make welfare a way of life.
Years ago I had to work 2 full time jobs because my husband was to ill to work. There were times when I had to choose between purchasing his insulin and heart medicine or heating oil because my earnings were $140 over the minimum to be able to get assistance but if I quit one of the jobs, that would automatically disqualify me too. There was a guy who worked where I did... his girlfriend, the mother of his 3 children, received section-8 (paying only $68 a month for rent), medicaid, food stamps, and AFDC (money). He worked but never paid a dime to the support of those kids. He did drive a nice car and wear $100 tennis shoes. I worked 2 jobs, couldn't get any aid, and couldn't afford to buy my husbands medicine. It is that abuse of the system that "conservatives" are against.
Men should be more than sperm doners... you make a baby, you should pay for its support. I certainly shouldn't work my ass off and have my tax money pay to support those children. And while I am whole-heartedly against any government being able to tell you if or how many kids you can have, I would say to a woman... if you don't have the means to support your children, and their fathers are deadbeats...perhaps you shouldn't have anymore kids.
Look... these are tough times... if people need help surviving now its understandable... as whole most people count their blessing that they dont have to be on aid. But the system is screwed up.
My 33 year old son had surgery which left him paralyzed...after trying to work for nearly 3 years his health deteriorated so much he had to file for permanent disability. While waiting for social security disability to be approved, he applied for aid. They gave him $198 in food stamps. Told him they'd have to make a medical determination before they'd give him medicaid, and he wasnt entitled to any money. Why---he'd worked his whole adult life... he'd paid taxes... he couldn't get anymore cause he didn't have children. WTF.. One screwed up system.
I would be the first to encourage you to speak out about social injustice... but lets be real... I understand if you carry a coach bag to buy your groceries with food stamps because your life style has forcibly changed from the time you were able to purchase that bag. The complaint is with those that are buying coach bags Monday morning and using food stamps to buy there groceries Monday afternoon. AND- that isnt a figmant of "the conservatives" imagination. It is a fact. It happens regularly.
There are two things in this world that scare me... "Staunch Right Wing Conservatives" and "Bleeding Heart Left Wing Liberals." The world lives in between.
First, dear Jennifer, I'm stunned and saddened to hear of the hard times you are having to experience. You are a gifted writer who has brought much pleasure to many. I pray things turn around for you very soon. This economy has most of us looking at being just a paycheck away from being in the same situation and these programs are so very inportant. Too important to lose them through fraud and abuse. I see the other side. Due to my profession and the professions of some of my family members I am witness to many of the dishonest, the illegal immigrants, and the drug abuses to list a few. They are pressuring our medical system into collapse, utilizing resources desperately needed for a true helping hand so they may not be there in the near future and are at the root of much of our crime. It is also mind boggling to realize the generations that they have and will continue to breed that will repeat the actions of their parent(s). My world is full of these people and I witness their attitude of entitlement and thei fraudulent abuses of the system on a daily basis and it sickens me. I am particularly concerned that because of these low lifes, those lifeline programs could go under and not be there for the truly deserving. We don't need to be telling our government to do away with these programs but we should all be demanding they be better controlled . I know some of you have had a difficult time receiving benefits but the generations that only know how to live off the system don't have that problem I assure you because they are taught from a. Young age how to work the system. We need to all be more vocal about this or there will be nothing there if God forbid you or your loved ones need one or more of these programs. They are out there. MANY who never work, have another child and call it a raise, drive up in their cars with expensive wheels that are worth more than the cars of the people handing them donations of toys so their children can have a Christmas. Use our emergency rooms for a family doctor and start complaining about their care as soon as they hit the door, expecting to get their bill written off due to their complaints and threatening the careers of hard working honest people who have devoted their lives to the caring of others. Not caring who they hurt to get what they want. I agree not all people in the system are this way but there are a tremendous number. We all really do need to start fighting back or there will be nothing for any of us in the future.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on welfare. I get pretty steamed when people point out the flaws in the system because honestly, if it weren't for that system, regardless of whether or not my parents were scammers or deadbeats or whatever, I wouldn't have eaten or gone to the doctor as a kid.
ReplyDeleteThe argument that people take advantage of the system? Of course they do. Any system that exists is going to be taken advantage of by some percentage of the population. It doesn't mean that the system shouldn't exist for people who really do need it. It'd be like saying "Well, we shouldn't have *school* because some kids cheat on tests and it's unfair to other kids who don't."
Also, like you said, from the stance of someone who's been on it, it's not like people are just taking their foodstamps and having parties, it's not much of a living if it even meets your daily needs. We had to supplement it by getting discarded produce from the grocery store, buying bags of old bakery products and digging through the dumpster at goodwill for basics like backpacks and shoes, not to mention the 5 solid years I spent without indoor plumbing. So... yeah. Not some big "fuck the gubberment, I'ma use this money for steak and lobster" gesture.
Thank you for being so honest. I too live in Michigan and it freaking sucks here. Most people I know are on some kind of assistance because there aren't a lot of jobs and the ones that are available don't offer benefits. My husband works 50+ hours a week and I make what I can writing. My kids get health insurance from the state. There have been times through the years when we needed food stamps too. I'm thankful we're past that but I'm also thankful that help is there, I'm thankful my kids have some kind of health coverage because we couldn't afford it otherwise. I learned a long time ago my kids come first and if that means swallowing my pride so be it. Anyone who has never been in that situtation can't judge. No one should ever judge unless they really "know" how it is even then everyone's different and has a right to make their own choices.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I'm just gonna say this and probably piss some people off.
ReplyDeleteI have used food stamps and then bought a luxury food item with my debit card. Why? Because I didn't think it was appropriate that if I was going to give into temptation, that I cost the government money to do so. The expense hurt my bank account and I winced with the purchase, but it was my expense and the event for doing so was nobodies business but mine.
I've also bought quality food on stamps. Why do people think that just because I'm flat broke and need help, that my stamps have to go to buying only peanut butter, bread, eggs, and milk? Why do they think that the other items should be ramen and mac&cheese? Why do they think that my health and the health of my children should not be worthy of real beef roasts and quality produce, of cheese that isn't made from powder, and GASP fish from the meat counter?
Because I'm poor I need to eat food labeled as specific to the poor? That I should look sickly and apologetic when I grocery shop? That my clothes look like shit? No. I came from a very wealthy family. I have clothes that look it. I have jewelry that looks it (though a lot if not most has been pawned off). I keep myself showered and clean and my eyes lifted when I walk.
I'm not ashamed of me. I buy food that feeds the needs of the body. I shop at dollar stores and cast off bread stores. I shop at regular stores for discounts and bargains, and yes, I buy things that "normal" people buy.
I'm not less of a person because I need assistance. So some of you need to stop being less than human in your response. I'm not going to apologize for needing stamps right now. Will I stay on them? No. Will I abuse them? Well, according to some of you, I am.
What I say? Fuck you. Mind your own business. And one day if you need help, I hope you remember your judgmental asses and can still look your reflection in the eyes.
I absolutely get raving, raging angry when I hear people say comments about people on welfare, and the children they have....the clothes that are worns...etc. It really pisses me off. I know there are people that see welfare as a way of life, and I also think they just don't know any better, or haven't been able to acheive any more than that. How can people be so judgemental when the country is in such bad shape right now?
ReplyDeleteAnd how do people KNOW that a purse is bought on Monday and that same day they use their foodstamps to buy steak? Damn. Sounds like stereotyping to me.
Yep - I was on AFDC for a while. poverty. It's not fun. I had three kids at the time and we had both lost our jobs. I was going to school. Then = GASP! = I became pregnant! wow. a raise. (haha not much of one, believe me). Guess I should have had an abortion to make all those assholes happy so they didn't personnally have to take care of my family. But no, while I support the right of people to get abortions, I don't personally believe in me getting an abortion. So my youngest is now 22 years old and one of the sweetest, funniest guys I know. Guess he should have been aborted though. because we were on AFDC and didn't have the right to more babies, happiness, or decent food.
I haven't been on AFDC for a very long time now, but I still get angry at the judgemental way I hear even the teachers I work with talk.
The think is, you just don't know. You don't know exactly how a person might have gotten a car, or a nice outfit, or a good manicure. A lot of poor people I know give each other manicures, and haircuts. I know some that have been lucky enough to be given a car, and no - I wouldn't have declared a gift of a car because the afdc people would have deducted it from the foodstamps. And people do need a way to get around - in my city we don't have busses that run every 10 minutes. ours run every half hour to an hour. It takes up to an hour and a half sometimes, just to make it across town.
When my mom was putting herself through college, she was on AFDC, and cleaning houses under the table so she could have more than just enough to pay rent and buy crap food. We got good produce, good meat and a lot of spaghettie type dishes to eat. We had clothes to wear and shoes because my mother did whatever she could for cash for us.
And the biggest sin of all? apparently that she had a gold card also - but that was earned by her charging small items, and paying it off on time, over the years building credit.
Just because you have to be on AFDC for a while doens't mean you should just STOP living. It's not enough to have a good living, not enough to really provide and most of the people I know who were one AFDC couldn't wait to get off. Not only because it was hard to live that way, but because even a trip to the grocery store was torture, with the way the clerks treated us and the way other people behaved in line. God forbid that any of them would ever need any type of help.
And those teachers that I work with, the most vocal with their judgements on others? Most came from families that never ever had to worry about where their next meal comes from. I hope for their sake they never have to worry, because the most judgemental will have a hard time looking themselves in the mirror if they had to walk in our shoes.
Some of the comments made, by people who have reaped the benefits of welfare, are ludicrous. No one suggested you should have aborted your baby because you were on AFDC or that you should only buy poor people food. You are quick to be criticize and put down the very people who are working hard and paying taxes so that those programs exist. Look, the reason there is a stigma around welfare isn't because tax paying citizens are judgemental. The reason there is a stigma is because there are people that misuse and abuse a system that was established to benefit people who find themselves on hard times. If you have a legitimate need, get welfare and hold your head high. But really--You should be angry at people who think they've found a free ride and make welfare a way of life. They are the ones sucking the system dry. They are the ones destroying the system. I'm not saying throw it out--I'm saying fix it.
ReplyDeleteHey I'm on public assistance too. Just because Matt is in the military people automatically assume he is paid crazy amounts of money. Not true. They give us a roof over our heads and just enough to pay bills and put a little food on our table. Since Eugene is having health problem he has to be on special formula and if it weren't for WIC he wouldn't be getting what he needs. Thank you for continuing to be outspoken and sticking up for the little people!
ReplyDeleteWow. Such a heartbreaking post. I remember writing to you a few years ago when your first book came out because I was just a few hours north of you in Ludington. It's been a while since I visited your site and to find you in such hard times...I wish things were looking up for you!
ReplyDeleteMy husband, Joe too!, is attending college while I'm the sole provider working full-time and writing. I hate my job, but at least I have one. I shouldn't take it for granted.
Take care. I'll be thinking of you guys. :)
Thank you for sharing your experience; I know it sucks to lay out there how bad things have gotten. We're a paycheck-to-paycheck family of three, and have only made it in the two years since our sons birth by the virtue of the assistance that covered my care pregnancy and my son's healthcare now, by the WIC program (I remember there being weeks where the only food in the house was via the WIC check), and from the generosity of family, which not all people have the luxury of.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me 'round to: . I feel that any mother that has to get on WIC, state aided insurance for their children, or receive any help from the federal or sta...te level, cannot afford to take care of the children they already have.
Oh no! I only have the one unplanned child -- how would this person categorize my level of shame? Probably in with someone I saw once who said, "If you can't afford birth control, you shouldn't be having sex."
I'm well aware that there are people who abuse the system; I worked with a girl who used to intentionally mess up her applications so that she wouldn't get callbacks on them, among other things. However, there are just as many people out there who are working and doing what they can with what they have, and aren't getting assistance because it's fun.
Amen. Thankfully, I've never been in a position where I've needed assistance, but as an official member of the "working poor" living paycheck to paycheck, I'm not that far away from it either. I think if we're being honest, most people are really only a paycheck or two, a bad accident or serious illness away from that situation. If we're all so close to being "those people," I feel compelled to ask what it is, exactly, that makes "those people" — many of whom, as you pointed out, are simply trying to clothe, shelter and feed their kids — so very different and inferior to "us"?
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear that you have fallen on hard times!
ReplyDeleteI was in a different boat. Almost 8 years ago, I got pregnant with twins. We had planned for one. Two? Nope. Talk about shocked. Anyway, I was lucky, I didn't have the typical twin pregnancy. I worked full-time until 36 weeks. I only stopped after I got so big I couldn't drive my 45 minute commute safely anymore. I got 8 weeks of paid maternity leave, but then I had to quit. I could afford daycare for one and still have enough money to justify working, but two? well I would be working just to have the kids in daycare. So it seemed pointless.
I ended up taking a part time job when my husband was off. We still couldn't afford the formula and diapers needed for two babies.
Even though we struggled, and had it not been for family, would have sunk in that first year, we could never qualify for any programs. Why? we made a whopping $100 more than the qualifying limit.
Fast forward 7 years. I'm now seperated. Living on my own, raising two kids (with the help of their father, wanted that out there because my ex is not a deadbeat dad) and struggling again. And for the second time, I don't qualify for assistance. This time because of $50.
That is where my resentment for these programs comes in. They are great programs. I believe in them. But I do also know there are people out there that abuse these programs. I personally know one of these people. And it makes me sick.
I'm a taxpayer, but every time I've needed help, the government wasn't there for me because I made "too" much money. There are deserving families out there using government aid. Moreso in this economy than ever. And I'm so thankful they have been able to get the assistance that I never have.
However, I won't lie that I am bitter towards those who abuse the system. You may have never seen it, but it is out there. I've witnessed it. Not in a public domain like you said, but a co-worker "bragging" about the help she gets. In those cases, I feel more than ever my tax dollars are being wasted. Tax dollars I have paid and could not use when I needed them the most.
I am a liberal. I'm for these programs. But I am also for weeding out those that make government assistance a way of life. I'd like to see new rules made, stricter compliance, and make it to where those of us that fall in the gray area because we make a measily $100 over the limit can also get aid.
I'm glad the government was there for you, though. Your example is why I don't give up on these programs all together. Because there are people like you who need it and truly appreciate the help you are getting.
I completely agree with you. I was raised by an alcoholic GM employee. So when I was a kid we had a great life financially. We had the best furniture we went out to eat all the time if I wanted something we could afford it. I have two sisters were are all 5 years apart and every year for Christmas they spent $300 to $400 on each of us. However since my dad was an alcoholic he was overly abusive. I had a lot of emotional problems when I was a teenager because of it. When I was 15 a 21 year old boy I just met took advantage of me and I got pregnant. I decided that if I got an abortion it would haunt me forever, mind you I am pro-choice I just couldn't ever get one. So I decided to keep the baby. by that point my parents were divorced and when my dad found out he kicked me out of his house and my mom couldn't afford another mouth to feed. I moved out of my moms and in to a program in Ann Arbor. From there I moved to a program in Pontiac. I was on cash and food stamps from the age of 15 to 17. I didn't live at home, I had a baby and I was in high school. Then I met Logan. We ended up moving in together. I was able to get a job and get off all assistance. Then we got in a car accident. We lost everything. Some asshole runs a red light and we lose our car, I lost my job because I just couldn't work. For 3 weeks after the accident I couldn't do anything for myself. I couldn't stand long enough to cook or shower, because of the injury's to my legs I couldn't go to the bathroom or get off the couch by myself. We had to me in with my dad. We lived there for two years. We had to get back on assistance and my dad hasn't changed by the way. he would spend his time telling me that I was just making excuses because I was too lazy to work or raise my own kid. Now I am 21 years old. Me and Logan have our own place again. I am still on food stamps and my daughter has medicade. Logan works full time and is in college full time. I am a full time college student and our 5 year old daughter wont be able to start kindergarten until the fall. We are doing the best we can with what we have.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest problems with the Michigan welfare system is that the amount of earned income is too low for people to successfully become independent. For example, when I lived in Ann Arbor I got $400 a month in cash assistance and $200 in food stamps now if I got a job working 25 hours a week at min wage that would be $740 a month before taxes. They don't take anything away for the first $200 you make after that they take $80 from each program for every $100 you make. There goes my assistance. So how am I supposed to live on $740 a month with an infant? Since I lived in a program rent was $100 a month and they paid for the bus. They need a better transitional system to help people get back on to their own two feet.
I hate having to be on assistance but I dont have time for a job. I am in school 12 hours a week so is Logan. He works nights and he is at work 40 hours. Plus drive time. Someone always has to be with Naomi so between me and Logan we each get 4 hours a sleep and then working hard working ourselves into exhaustion all to still be poor and struggling.