[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by legion

My wife and I were friends with another couple on welfare. Over time we drifted apart.

The husband had been a laborer at the local Firestone plant, which makes tires for Caterpillar and other heavy-duty off-road equipment. He'd injured his back and been told he was done in that line of work. After worker's comp and/or unemployment had run out (not sure what all he was eligible for) he still hadn't found a job to his liking and did not work. His wife worked with my wife. The wife got fired from her job for missing too much work. (Which was bull$h!t in my opinion, she was pregnant and the time she was missing was for doctor's appointments. Still they did not pursue anything against her former employer.) As she was fired for cause, she was not eligible for unemployment. They did not elect to pay for COBRA. They went on welfare. They found a section 8 apartment. They went on Medicaid. They have three other children.

They had what I would call a nice three-bedroom apartment. They had two cars, cable television, and X-Box live service. The husband and son were able to get the latest video games.

The wife was actively looking for work (at first), but couldn't find anything. She has a high school diploma, the husband lacks one. He finally did get a job as the night manager at the local Target, but quit after he realized that his family's standard of living would actually go down if he had a job. He'd have to start paying taxes again and would lose all of the social services that would allow him to live a comfortable life. It was only worth it for him to work if he could make a lot of money, and he didn't have the skills to get the kind of job that would make working worthwhile. The same held true for the wife.

Eventually, he started doing odd jobs: roofing, working as a mover, etc.. (Didn't he have a back injury?) He worked for cash off the books, as he would get to keep 100% of the money and it wouldn't jeopardize his lifestyle. The wife stayed at home full-time to tend to their (now) four children.

I believe there are two components to his family's situation. First there is a system of social services that literally provide for his family's every need. Because of the eligibility requirements, having a job could actually make things worse for his family. Second is someone who is willing to game the system to extract the maximum benefit for himself and his family. And it's not like this was hard to learn, the gatekeepers and the various agencies that doled out money often gave him advice on how to maximize his "benefits" and what would cause him to lose them. Because the stigma has been removed from receiving these services, he saw no shame in taking advantage of them.

I'd like to say that his family's situation unique, but I'd be lying. I think their situation if fairly representative of what we call "lower class". In this country we have set up a system that literally pays people not to work, and punishes them for being gainfully employed. A generation ago, their lifestyle would have placed them as squarely middle class. Today, they are considered below the poverty line because they have no reported income.

I know a lot of people like them.