Abusing the Public Welfare System
Some people seem to exist of public welfare for years and some of them work under the table for cash that is not reported. Some will go get a job, only to quit is a few months later in order to reap the benefits of public welfare again. Why not, getting free money for food and free medical insurance sure beats what the rest of us pay.
There are programs out there for single moms or dads to get a car, a clothing allowance, and money to live on as they go through this job-training program. It should be a one-time program yet, I know a woman who is on her seventh car thanks to her abuse of the system. This woman is my niece and it angered me so much when I was struggling to pay the bills on my house, raise kids, and buy groceries on a single income.
I have worked all along at two jobs in the past 5 years, and she has quit five jobs in a year and a half. I only quit the first one to go to the second one, which paid more, where I was for almost four years. I lost that job because of transportation, and have been living of child support for three months. Sure, I make money here but it is not working out as I thought it would, so I applied for the food stamps, cash assistance, and the medical card. My child support is 404 a month and it is more then the 398 that I am allowed to make in a month in the great state of Pennsylvania. I cannot pay my low house payment of 410 with either amount. I am now facing foreclosure of the home I have made payments on for 13 years by the way.
I have applied for numerous jobs but nothing is working out, even though I live right in town and have applied at everything with a mile or two in any given direction. I also know I have to keep money coming in as I look for another job, so I write on a few accounts here, and have done more writing in the past three months then I did in the six months prior to quitting my job. Prior to quitting my job, I had written 167 articles, and now I am almost triple that number. I write 8 to 10 articles a day, after coming back from my endless walks.
My niece has quit a job since I did and has regained her free stuff from the public welfare kitty; she also has a nice ford explorer to haul her kids. The kids and I walk to the grocery store when we can afford it to buy a few groceries. Some how it does not seem fair yet I keep plugging away hoping the tide will turn here. I told my boyfriend the other day that if I believed in curses, I would think someone had cursed me.
My caseworker has had my information for 6 weeks now, and finally made a determination about the food stamps. That determination is she needs photo identification for my two minor children, to assure they are really people, even thought she has received, school progress reports, social security numbers and even the approval of free lunches from their schools. I cannot afford these photo ids for the boys as they are 15 dollars apiece, and I would have to hire a cab or pay someone for a ride to take me the 22 miles to get them done. Sorry but that is about fifty dollars for the ids and gas, which I simply do not have, and personally with fifty bucks I could buy groceries with that. I have until December 1, so get the photo ids to her or she will close my case. I am calling her supervisor and having a nice talk with her about her caseworker's behavior. Sorry but if the niece can have things handed to her on a silver platter, yet I must fight for this stuff as a helping hand something is horribly wrong.
It is not as if I am planning to live of the public welfare system for years, my morals will not allow me to do that. I simply need a helping hand for a short time, until I get back on my feet.
While this niece sits home collecting full benefits from the system, eating free food, driving a system paid for car, I will be writing my fingers to the bones trying to earn enough to just get by as I continue to walk and look for a job. Trust me if I did not need the help from the public system I would not be asking for it.
Those people who abuse the system are also eligible for countless free things around the holiday season such as the Christmas trees in local department stores and free stuff from the Salvation Army. I will not have a Christmas Ham, and there will be not presents under my tree this year, for my sons, my daughter, or my two grandchildren.
The public welfare system needs to be overhauled seriously, because so many people abuse it. It is people like myself, who are college educated, hard working people down on their luck fall thru the cracks. Do I sound a bit pissed? Well I certainly feel that way, and I am truly sorry if I have offended anyone but the fools who abuse the public welfare system.
Published by Pasiley
Health Care Professional, wide variety of interests in the medical field. View profile
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14 Comments
Post a CommentHave you thought about asking your husband to give you less child care just enough so that you can qualify for welfare.
I completely agree. I am currently a college student struggling to pay for full time tuition at community college. I watched as one of my old high school friends get pregnant have the child and try to go on welfare. Her and her boyfriend didn't have a job because they were to lazy to find one. Her dream was to raise the baby in the projects while receiving free money with out lifting a finger. She ask me after a long time of not seeing her if i would give her a ride to apply for welfare and i told her no. There was no way i was going to condone her childish behavior. I just hope they change the system, and soon before any one else can abuse it!
How do we do something about it?
You are so right, very nice article. I think that the welfare needs a smarter way to investigate people who apply for this benefit without making them waste money that they dodn't have. I hope your situation changes and that those fools should have a harder time to apply and depend on others just because they don't want to work.
i understand what you are saing i work two jobs and raise a family i live in a two family house where the lady below me has welfare pay her rent she has a brand new car she was just caught stilling my electricity and cable that i pay for i just don%27t understand how the goverment works she now has direct cable and only has to pay 200 dollars for rent where i have the same size house and pay 700 she drives a 2009 car and i bought mine 2 years ago in full i don%27t even qualify for food stamps because i am a hard worker lazy people get it all they work part time and sit back and collcet money
I read this story and was not surprised. In California these type of stories are the norm. It is sad but true. It is pathetic how many lazy people there are that feel that they are entitled to hard working peoples money. It is such a disgrace. I have overheard people in public places brag about how they abuse the system. My cousin who has not worked a day in her life, got on welfare the minute she dropped out of high school. She married an illegal alien just so he could get his green card and then he left her after he knocked her up 3 times for one of his 3 wives in Mexico and ahe never heard from him again. of course this came to her advantage, my cousin played the my husband left me with nothing and got even more assitance. The thing is how could she cry that her now ex left her with nothing when she had nothing to start with. so my cousin stayed on welfare and when her kids got older and she couldn't get as much assistance she filed for disability because she is morbidly obese. Mayb
This welfare system has destroyed generations of people who might have decided to work for a living. Thanks to LBJ & his war on poverty, these people have decided that is more lucrative to not work & just stay home, keep pushing out babies, one after the other for the government handouts. I've worked all my life, paid all my taxes for these deadbeats to be able to sit home & have babies. I had two sons whom had a dental problem, genetic, the teeth had little or next to nothing of enamel. We had to put both in Childrens' Hospital at the age of 3 to have all of their teeth done with stainless steel crowns. As their permanent teeth came in, we had to do each tooth at a time at the cost of $800 per each front tooth & a little less for the back ones. I once called up the County to see if I could get a little assistance for some of the cost. Their reply was, "Do you own your own home?" Yes. "Are you employed?" Yes. " Are your children in jail?" NO. "Then we can't help you". I ask
I do not like how the Welfare system is being abused. As a matter of a fact, I am only 18 years old, but my mother recently told me one of my sister's friend's mother is pregnant again with her fourth child and they've been on welfare almost their whole life. I don't know how it works but I am tired of people keeping on having children if they can't even make a decent payment to provide for them.
Rather than her taking care of her four kids, she has other citizens paying enormous taxes covering for her little ones and herself.
I also know two people who are around 19 years who recently got married and had a baby meanwhile they are on welfare. What pisses me off the most is that they chose to have a kid with no job or money. I don't want to slander him in any way but why should I have to suffer for someone who chose to make themselves poor?
I do not have a problem helping those really in need. I rather pay upfront to poor people rather than have my money anonymously and randoml
Welfare is such an emotional hot-button. Fundamentally, I don't have a problem with helping those in need. I do, however, have a problem every time I see or hear of abuse. Meanwhile, how many working people can't afford health and dental benefits, much less an adequate retirement fund; pinch pennies on groceries and clothing, and tell their children "no" when they can't afford something the welfare family has (ie- expensive electronics)? The whole system disgusts me sometimes.
The system is so broken that it doesn't serve those who really need it the most. It's a total disgrace! Thanks for speaking up and letting your voice be heard.