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If she had 1 kid, perhaps even 2 in those 10 years we could say give her a break, we all make mistakes. But 4? You don't end up having 4 kids in 10 years by accident. That is a deliberate course of action. She likely did it for the welfare benefits, as other posters have suggested. That's her choice, but she can't have it both ways. Either you have all those kids, get the gov't benefits, and limit your opportunities, or you forego having so many kids, and have options to improve your job situation.
I worked in fast food some years ago, and decided very early I never wanted to be a fast food manager.
That is not uncommon, and as I said, I turned down a change to go through manager training. But then I did not have four children to think about--I had zero at the time.
If she had 1 kid, perhaps even 2 in those 10 years we could say give her a break, we all make mistakes. But 4? You don't end up having 4 kids in 10 years by accident. That is a deliberate course of action. She likely did it for the welfare benefits, as other posters have suggested.
What "welfare benefits"?
You get very little money (practically nothing) in many states and you definitely don't get anymore for having extra kids.
There are no 'benefits' in having children on welfare (if you can get it).
It's a lot easier to change yourself than change the world. What if they give her a 50% raise? OK, so now she is a single woman with 4 kids making $10.75 per hour. Not a great difference.
OTOH, what if she stops having kids she can't afford, which frees up more time to educate herself to get a better paying job?
Crap! I would love to have that job, I have been unemployed for over a year. I have applied for everything but because of my age (over 50) they just mark me off the list. Every time I hear someone griping about a job I am thinking, give me your job and you stay home and file bankruptcy, lose your home, all your possessions and apply at 5 to 10 jobs a day for a year, I will flip burgers, I don't care. I go to school and have tons of student loans. I am so far into debt it's crazy but my type of job in this economy is not feasible anymore so I need to learn a new job. I haven't been in school in 30 years, and it is tough, really tough. I have applied for everything from grocery store to retail store, to ,marketing, financial literately. I have not had any money coming in since February. I am living off my family being a burden to them. I am so tired of looking but I cannot, will not give up.
She has 4 kids and makes a low wage. The government will feed the kids and help pay her rent. Just let the government pay for everything. And I believe $15/hr is way too much. I think it should start off with minimum wage and then increase yearly and cap off at about $10/hr. But they should at least get full-time hours and benefits plus a little more respect.
So you think it is OK to keep having children you can't afford?
That someone who is 27yrs old and has been working at McDonalds since age 17, isn't married, and keeps having kids they can't afford is OK?
I didn't say that. In fact, I SPECIFICALLY pointed out that I chose not to have children because I didn't think I could afford to raise them in the style in which I was raised. So I think you can discern from that what my personal position is. But it WAS a sacrifice that made some people very unhappy (including me and especially my mother who badly wanted grandchildren). Do I insist that everyone else follow my example? No. It's asking a lot for people who love kids.
I know many women who have a hard time getting birth control. It is not free or even cheap. I know women whose doctors recommend birth control pills for things other than birth control (I was in that situation myself once), yet again, more difficult to obtain than Viagra is for men. Thanks to companies like Hobby Lobby and the men of the Supreme Court, birth control will be more expensive than ever for the working poor. As for abortion, I find it hypocritical that it is condemned and spoken of as a court of last resort unless the women are on some form of public assistance and then it's, "Why didn't they get an abortion?"
Meanwhile, the number of abortion providers in the U.S decreased 38% between 1982 and 2005. 87% of the counties in the U.S. do not have ANY abortion provider and 35% of women aged 15–44 live in those counties. Nearly two in 10 women have to travel 50–100 miles to reach an abortion provider and almost one in 10 travels more than 100 miles. Currently there are six states, most of them relatively large in size, with only one abortion provider in the entire state: Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Meanwhile, nine in 10 abortion clinics in the United States experience at least one form of regular harassment from anti-choice groups, such as picketing and verbal assaults on clients.
So the woman in the story has 4 girls. I would bet that they are under the age of 18. Where is the man in her life? How come she is not getting child support for these 4 kids? I am not blaming her alone for having them because it takes another person to produce a kid. A better idea is maybe getting married to the man in her life. If he is good enough to get into her pants should he not be good enough to get married to?
Birthcontrol was mentioned. Jukesgrlrl brought up Hobby Lobby as an example. You realize that it was not all forms of birthcontrol that Hobby Lobby was trying to not pay for, only 4 kinds that they do not want to pay for. Namely:
Plan B (“The Morning After Pill”)
Ella (a similar type of “emergency contraception”)
Copper Intra-Uterine Device
IUD with progestin
What they do pay for is:
Male condoms
Female condoms
Diaphragms with spermicide
Sponges with spermicide
Cervical caps with spermicide
Spermicide alone
Birth-control pills with estrogen and progestin (“Combined Pill)
Birth-control pills with progestin alone (“The Mini Pill)
Birth control pills (extended/continuous use)
Contraceptive patches
Contraceptive rings
Progestin injections
Implantable rods
Vasectomies (Even if they are for a female employees husband)
As far as McDonalds though, I know a few people that have worked there. My nephew and his girlfriend met at McDonalds. They then went on to go to the local Community College together. After two years they both transfered to a State 4 year college. Since then both have finished school. While working on their Bachelor degrees they ended up getting jobs at other companies. Both were able to leverage their time and experience at McDonalds into higher paying jobs. Both had become shift leaders while at McDonalds. A few years ago they finished school with their new degrees and moved back to the area. Surprisingly they did not get pregnant in the process. Both are focused on building careers at their current jobs. Funny thing is that while his girlfriend transfered to a retail location in the LA area he had to find a job. Once again his training at Mc Donalds helped land him a job. Within a few months he was able to land a better job at that company because of the degree. His girl friend found a position at the retail location that she was able to get because of her degree. What is funny about this is that it was the first jobs at McDonalds that helped get them the job, the degree only helped them move up withint the company.
Both of them talk about how McDonalds is the place to start a career. The things that they learned there helped them start a better life.
It is easy to blame the CEO's of the world for making all that money. Yes I would love to have some of it as well. What I would love to do is earn it though. No need for someone to give me anything that I did not earn. I expect the same for everyone. Look I understand being stuck in a position that you think you can not get out of. I have been there before and at some points in life have felt stuck. I also realize that I placed myself in those positions. over time anyone can make the changes needed to get to a better place. Taking from others is not the way to do it though.
umm, if she shows up for work, it must be the very finest opportunity she has. If she wants more, she needs to figure out how to become more valuable to the rest of society--just like everybody else.
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Give me her job.
