What a disaster that would be
5 years ago by stickyfriends · 730 Likes · 10 comments · Popular
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guest_
· 5 years ago
· FIRST
Not quite how that works with humans. In a state like Nevada or California which are in the top 10 states for welfare payouts, a single mother with 2 young children, qualifying and collecting ALL available government welfare, including medical, dental, infant care, housing, food, etc- earns the equivalent of about $20-30k a year. Minimum wage in California would pay $24,000 a year. A job as a retail associate at a high end store in the mall often pays about $30-40k a year plus employee discounts and promotion opportunities.
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guest_
· 5 years ago
Now do note when I say these states benefits are “equivalent to..” that is NOT the cash value they pay. That’s the equivalent value paid by the state- that the benefits provided would be roughly equal to paying a single person that amount. The actual benefit is much lower. A person who is “head of household” and sole bread winner would receive a maximum “cash” amount of about 800-$1200 a month. Rent subsidy for a family of 4 would leave a sum of $400-900 rent a month to be paid- if you make the full $1200, leaving you $300-800 for a family of 4 a month, at $800 that’s $200 a week, or $50 a week per person to get to school or work, pay bills, school clothes etc.
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guest_
· 5 years ago
Would some people rather live in near poverty, be subject to having their home inspected at will, have their family lives and finances he open books, worry that a gift or long saved for purchase could cause them to lose assistance- than work? Sure. Some. Would you? Would you work a job that paid you half of what is considered “very low income” just to qualify for benefits that will make up the other half so you can be “very low income” and live a life of a “very low income” person? Sure. Not many. Because the truth is most of those jobs don’t just pay lousy. They are lousy.
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Edited 5 years ago
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guest_
· 5 years ago
I know people without educations who work at cushy jobs with perks and unlimited time off, catering and you can call in sick because you’re “feeling stressed.” Compare that to a warehouse or store where using the bathroom or calling in sick to have surgery can get you hassled or fired. The cushy jobs generally not only pay better- but they treat you better. So why would a person CHOOSE to give up any chance at getting such a job- just so that they can live at the poverty line but not have to work? Some will. Most wont.
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guest_
· 5 years ago
Welfare programs generally have requirements. Things like infant benefits stop once a child is beyond a certain age. Sure you can have another kid- but what benefit do free diapers and formula give YOU? They just let you raise the kid. You don’t get richer or more comfortable from them- and almost all welfare programs have an income requirement- usually with tiered benefits, usually set so that making more than minimum wage reduces the benefits greatly. So what? To save some money on diapers you’ll take a 50-90% or more pay cut? Only a real genius does that.
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guest_
· 5 years ago
You want the government to pay 30% of your rent or less so instead of a nice cushy job making 2x minimum wage you go for a shitty job making minimum wage on purpose? Not too many people would do that on purpose. Now- people DO abuse these systems using “side hustles” and cash only business to qualify on paper while making much more than allowed. They are a very small percentage of recipients and that ISa problem- but cutting benefits to people who need them doesn’t incentivize them
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guest_
· 5 years ago
Tl:dr- you’ll often hear a similar version of this ignorant argument when welfare comes up. We could walk through specifics all day but this very argument itself shows that the person speaking doesn’t have an intimate or even basic understanding of the welfare system. There are aspects of the system that do “trap” or incentivize people to poverty- but mostly because of hard cut offs on benefits which make it so that a person incrementally increasing their earnings at a job can quickly find themselves getting more benefits taken away than they have additional income coming in- meaning you can succeed just enough to become homeless if you aren’t careful.
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schemajoy
· 5 years ago
Thanks guest! Over simplified assumptions about poverty and government programs breed hatred and more ignorance.
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guest_
· 5 years ago
No worries. And I’m guest_. Lol.
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schemajoy
· 5 years ago
Oh shit, I see what you did there
