This morning, a friend posted a link on Facebook to an article, What the Right Doesn’t Want You to Know About Welfare. I dislike the title; but in general the article gives a realistic counterpoint to the myths that are often spread about people receiving welfare benefits. I was and am glad to see it circulating.
I would, however, like to point out a few facts in addition to those in the article. The welfare system in many states is not an all or nothing system. You don’t either receive your benefits or not, assuming you work. If you work a low-paying job, or you receiv disability income and your income is at a certain amount, you may receive partial benefits. If your income varies, you must report it each month and your benefits will be recalculated depending on your income. If you pay for your own medical expenses related to a disability, or if you are on Medicaid spend-down, you must report these as well and your benefits are recalculated every month based on your reports. It is a very difficult and stressful way to live; and you never know quite what resources you have available to feed yourself or to pay your bills. Working your way out of that system is extremely hard if you are employed in a low-wage job, especially if there is little opportunity for advancement.
I often hear criticism of people on welfare for having cars and IPhones… I really become angry when I hear this. Did you ever try going a month without using your car, and without getting rides from your friends? If you have kids and you try to do this, you would know that it isn’t safe. In some places it isn’t doable. In my town the bus doesn’t run after 6:00 P.M. So assuming that it is efficient to take the bus to work and use it for all your errands (and it isn’t), you wouldn’t be able to get home at a reasonable cost after 6:00 P.M. Since many low wage workers work evening jobs, this is a significant problem. A car is not a luxury.
If you are a parent, how often has your child’s school called you because your child is ill? I used to keep a child in my home whose mother worked in a retail setting. If I called her employer because the child was ill, the employer would simply tell me that she was working and hang up. Can you imagine your child’s school or care provider being unable to call you in case of emergency? Furthermore, that person likely does not have a home phone. When filling out applications for job interviews, what phone number do you suppose they will put down for an employer to call to schedule an interview?
That phone might be important to you. If you’re willing to criticize someone else for having an IPhone, put yours in the bottom dresser drawer for a month and don’t check your voicemail. Consider it the IPhone equivalent of the SNAP challenge. If you think this is unreasonable, consider what you think people on welfare should be going without. Using that IPhone, a person can look for jobs, keep up with their bank transactions, pay bills, stay in touch with their child’s caregivers, and numerous other things that are important in daily life. If that is how they choose to spend part of the income they earn from their job, what is that to you? It is not much different from spending money on a land line and Internet service they can’t use much because they are never home. In fact, it is probably a wiser investment. Their TANF benefits and SNAP benefits still go to feed and clothe their children.
The real question here is whether welfare recipients should ever have anything good in their lives. The way some of these posts are written, a person on welfare should never have cookies in their cart, never have a pet, never own a TV… Well, goodness, they should probably never have reason to smile! Is that really how people feel, that people should be punished for being poor? Because that’s how it comes across.
Having spent a good part of my adult life living on low budget, I can tell you that I have developed a few strategies for living with it.
- Make sure I have a little wiggle room in my budget because things always come up.
- Have a pet because pets aren’t a one-night stand experience.
- Spread out my fun budget over the month if possible.
- If there is no fun budget, create fun at home.
Really, it’s ok for that kid to like chocolate cupcakes!
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