So now I'm on welfare

[DarkLight]

Be sure to vote for those who are making it easier for job creation next time. Seems the young folks are getting it in the neck for voting Obama in last time.

Yeah, sorry, given that those are generally the exact same people who are in a hurry to label people like me “cheats” for having the gall to be young and disabled…not happening.

I don’t need a job. I need decent, timely health care and to not have to rush myself back to work half-recovered (further damaging my health), or take out huge loans. I need programs that will give me the resources to actually get back on my feet, not just patch things together so I’m not going to die in the next week and wait for the next crisis. People are so damn worried about cheats that they leave people like me dependent on the system. The only way I could have gotten the help I needed in the right-wing area I lived was to go have a baby!

 

[Holly3278]

Don’t feel bad for being on welfare. Everyone has financial difficulties from time to time. As for me, if it were not for welfare, I’d be homeless with no food or medical care. I am on SSI, subsidized housing, Medicaid, and Food Stamps. SSI means I am disabled.

But yeah I can understand why you might be embarrassed. I also have a pair of designer jeans but they were bought with my back pay because my Grandpa who was in charge of my money at the time wanted me to have nice clothes for church and other more formal occasions.

The fact is that there is a lot of stigma associated with welfare here in the United States and I find that to be very sad. There are a lot of people who rely on welfare in order to survive. I wish something would be done about the stigma but I have no idea what can be done. However, I do know one thing that contributes to it is things like Fox News and I generally like Fox News. I think it was last year or maybe the year before that when they aired this story about a “beach bum” who was on welfare and was living a life of surfing and playing in a band. He drove a nice vehicle and they even showed him buying lobster at the store. I was very annoyed with Fox News for showing this because all it does is contribute to the negative stigma associated with those of us who need welfare.

 

[GaryTaylor]

Yeah, sorry, given that those are generally the exact same people who are in a hurry to label people like me “cheats” for having the gall to be young and disabled…not happening.

I don’t need a job. I need decent, timely health care and to not have to rush myself back to work half-recovered (further damaging my health), or take out huge loans. I need programs that will give me the resources to actually get back on my feet, not just patch things together so I’m not going to die in the next week and wait for the next crisis. People are so damn worried about cheats that they leave people like me dependent on the system. The only way I could have gotten the help I needed in the right-wing area I lived was to go have a baby!

Its a frustrating situation rife with red-tape and some callous people. Look deeper though and see the love offered to you by those who do care. It comes from everywhere and anyone. Allow this to enable you to elevate above the dilemma, and you’ll be fine because the situation will not paralyze you by panic, fear and anxiety.

Hang in there my prayers are with you, I have faith in you. Stay busy doing positive projects working to your goal, and pray.

 

[DarkLight]

Its a frustrating situation rife with red-tape and some callous people. Look deeper though and see the love offered to you by those who do care. It comes from everywhere and anyone. Allow this to enable you to elevate above the dilemma, and you’ll be fine because the situation will not paralyze you by panic, fear and anxiety.

Hang in there my prayers are with you, I have faith in you. Stay busy doing positive projects working to your goal, and pray.

Yeah it’s mostly the red tape that was the problem. I spent ages falling through gaps. I’m thankful my new state doesn’t have as many restrictions on food stamps as my old one - the old had no good place for the disabled young adult. And I’m thankful that a good friend had a place for me to stay so I’m not worrying about making rent.

Prayers appreciated as I continue to search for a treatment that will get my symptoms under control. Treatment often initially makes the symptoms worse, which is why having time completely off work was so important.

 

[Petaro]

In Australia, our unemployment benefits are purposefully below the poverty line to encourage people to look for jobs, If assessed as at risk of failing to manage your dole money wisely the government gives you a voucher which you swap for a certain amount of food etc, cigarettes and alcohol cannot be bought using the voucher.
Being on disability pension you get paid a lot more than unemployment benefits and you get a card even though your pension money is paid directly into your bank account.
The card allows you a 50% discount on car registration; a rebate on council rates (tax on property to pay for water; free ambulance cover etc) rebates on electricity (more if you have a Cpap machine, or oxygen concentrator (also paid for by the State); and rebates on gas if you use it for cooking or heating.
The card also gives you discounts in most major stores eg 10% off coffee club; cheap movie tickets; free access to parking at shopping centres; free access to Art galleries and museums and massive discounts on all medicines. You get a sticker for designated disabled car spaces of course.
All these benefits can add up to thousand of dollars a year as well as the pension so no one looks down at you here, envy pure envy.
I note that one in four New Zealanders are on a disability pension, but our government is cracking down on abuse of the system.

 

[DarkLight]

In Australia, our unemployment benefits are purposefully below the poverty line to encourage people to look for jobs, If assessed as at risk of failing to manage your dole money wisely the government gives you a voucher which you swap for a certain amount of food etc, cigarettes and alcohol cannot be bought using the voucher.
Being on disability pension you get paid a lot more than unemployment benefits and you get a card even though your pension money is paid directly into your bank account.
The card allows you a 50% discount on car registration; a rebate on council rates (tax on property to pay for water; free ambulance cover etc) rebates on electricity (more if you have a Cpap machine, or oxygen concentrator (also paid for by the State); and rebates on gas if you use it for cooking or heating.
The card also gives you discounts in most major stores eg 10% off coffee club; cheap movie tickets; free access to parking at shopping centres; free access to Art galleries and museums and massive discounts on all medicines. You get a sticker for designated disabled car spaces of course.
All these benefits can add up to thousand of dollars a year as well as the pension so no one looks down at you here, envy pure envy.
I note that one in four New Zealanders are on a disability pension, but our government is cracking down on abuse of the system.

It’s interesting here. You only get SSI if you’re permanently disabled, and it has pretty strict bank account limits. SSDI is for temporary disability, but you only get it if you’ve been paying into the system by working at eligible jobs. There’s kind of a gap around people with temporary disabilities who don’t have the work history, which is mostly young adults like myself who got hit finishing up school. Food assistance, utility assistance, and housing assistance are all separate systems, with their own qualification rules. Medicaid is also a separate system.

The only two I’m qualified for are food assistance and medicaid. Food stamps give me $5/day that can only be spent on food, and medicaid is just health insurance. I’m getting housing through a friend, but any other expenses are out of my own pocket.

 

[andrewstx]

In England, they say that many people are only one payday away from homelessness. I am surprised to read that you have to have a card which identifies you as being on welfare benefits - here, people just get a cheque to cash, they can spend it on whatever they want. I can’t see how a card helps anyone’s self-esteem.

I do hope your situation improves and please don’t beat yourself up about having to get some help from the system. I’m sure you’ve paid in plenty to the Government over the years, now it’s your turn to get something back.

In the US things are a bit limited. You can not use food stamps to purchase tobacco or alcohol. This makes sense to me since many people wind up on food stamps due to the vast over consumption of drink. And tobacco does no good for anyone.

Public assistance is meant to help people stay alive and not starve. It is not for individuals to have parties with.

A few years back I worked at a small shop, and the family directly across the street would bring in food stamps for food. They were drug dealers with no jobs, but they had a lot of cash from their ‘business’ to buy cases of beer and cartons of cigarettes every day.

 

[GaryTaylor]

In the US things are a bit limited. You can not use food stamps to purchase tobacco or alcohol. This makes sense to me since many people wind up on food stamps due to the vast over consumption of drink. And tobacco does no good for anyone.

Public assistance is meant to help people stay alive and not starve. It is not for individuals to have parties with.

A few years back I worked at a small shop, and the family directly across the street would bring in food stamps for food. They were drug dealers with no jobs, but they had a lot of cash from their ‘business’ to buy cases of beer and cartons of cigarettes every day.

I wonder how much better this has become, your right the crime with the welfare and food stamps was prevalent not long ago.

 

[kozlosap]

The “card” in the USA is a debit type card that your monetary benefits are loaded onto for a person to spend, its not a welfare ID card!

 

[DarkLight]

The “card” in the USA is a debit type card that your monetary benefits are loaded onto for a person to spend, its not a welfare ID card!

It sort of is actually. At least here they’ve consolidated a bunch of benefits onto one card. So the welfare card covers my food stamps and my medicaid, plus I can show it for reduced-rate bus fares. If I got cash assistance that would go on there too.

In the US things are a bit limited. You can not use food stamps to purchase tobacco or alcohol. This makes sense to me since many people wind up on food stamps due to the vast over consumption of drink. And tobacco does no good for anyone.

Public assistance is meant to help people stay alive and not starve. It is not for individuals to have parties with.

A few years back I worked at a small shop, and the family directly across the street would bring in food stamps for food. They were drug dealers with no jobs, but they had a lot of cash from their ‘business’ to buy cases of beer and cartons of cigarettes every day.

Yeah under-the-table cash is probably the hardest to handle, simply because there’s no way that’s not super-intrusive to figure it out - and probably not a huge way to discern which cases are actually problematic.