Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-17-2012, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
20,054 posts, read 18,251,969 times
Reputation: 3826

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jasper03 View Post
You don't know what Julia's job entails and some of those low paying pink collar jobs are salaried. You also can't assume that Julia doesn't work as hard as you do because she is paid less. How do you know what kind of vacation time is offered or if there is even money for a vacation? First you assume that Julia doesn't work or deliberately chooses a job with poverty wages and then you assume she is living high off the hog.
Statistically speaking, the majority of jobs in the sub 50K range are non-salaried, meaning they get to clock in and out at certain time or get paid overtime. White collar jobs, OTOH, are primarily salaried work and can require unpaid overtime. These white collar jobs also (typically) require a higher degree, meaning more time and money not getting paid and studying at a university.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-17-2012, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,652 posts, read 60,572,966 times
Reputation: 101051
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonF View Post
It's nice to see people drawing attention to this. I know a few people who have fallen into the situation where getting a job would leave them worse off than sitting at home on the couch. Some reforms to get rid of those "cliffs" are needed.

The "big deal" is that it encourages people to suckle at the government teat as opposed to getting a job, or seeking a higher paying job (or working more hours). It encourages a class of dependents.
Several years ago, my family moved to South Carolina because my husband got a scholarship to Clemson University. He would graduate in one year.

We realized after we moved, that the free housing that was supposed to be part of the deal, was, well, let's just say a miscommunication. So - suddenly our very tight budget became impossible. But we'd already moved and we only had to make it through one year, so off I went to the welfare department to see what our options were (I had a newborn and two toddlers at the time).

We qualified for WIC. Yay! We qualified for food stamps. DOUBLE YAY! And wow, I couldn't believe how much food we could buy with those vouchers. So groceries weren't a problem.

Then the social worker said, "Too bad you're married. If you were a single mom, you'd qualify for what we call the right to stay home with your children till they go into school. In other words, some additional programs."

I said, "How come only single moms have that right? My husband is a full time student on an athletic scholarship. He can only work part time at best if he wants to remain in school for this last year. Once he finishes his degree, his income will go up but this one year is going to be really tough. But why wouldn't I have the same rights as a single mom when it comes to staying home with an infant? I mean, it's best for the INFANT, right?"

She said, "Well, you could divorce him - I mean just for this year. I mean, you didn't hear me say this, but he doesn't have to actually MOVE OUT of the house. You know, just on paper, you would be a single mom. And single moms qualify for more programs."

I said, "So - what you're really telling me is that your system rewards poor choices and penalizes good choices."
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 09:59 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
20,054 posts, read 18,251,969 times
Reputation: 3826
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon View Post
She said, "Well, you could divorce him - I mean just for this year. I mean, you didn't hear me say this, but he doesn't have to actually MOVE OUT of the house. You know, just on paper, you would be a single mom. And single moms qualify for more programs."

I said, "So - what you're really telling me is that your system rewards poor choices and penalizes good choices."
Not surprising at all. Case workers also suggest not putting the baby daddy's name (pretending to be a victim of society) and to "structure" getting knocked up so the window doesn't close on benefits. You don't even need to find a mate. You can just find a guy at the bar, get him tested for STDs (optional for some), and have your very own bundle of joy in 9 months.

Perhaps my biggest regret is not taking advantage of food stamps while in grad school. That would've freed up a lot more money for more snowboarding trips with my buddies.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 10:07 AM
 
29,939 posts, read 39,401,256 times
Reputation: 4798
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jasper03 View Post
Julia is working. She makes 29k which is about $14.50/$14.75 per hour...double the minimum wage. How do we know Julia has the skills for a 69k job? How many of these 69k jobs exist anyway? Why is it that the Col is so high that a $14.50 hr job is not enough to make ends meet?
And under the real case scenarios Julia has a live-in BF that also earns $14.50, possibly sells drugs and spends all his money on the other things that WIC, TANF, etc won't pay for. They go behind each other in line and act like they don't know each other at the grocer.

This gives them a disposable a gross income of $95,000 (and possibly more if he sells drugs).

It's a hard life these days for these folks. They can barely eat and watch TV and play PlayStation (and WoW) and have two iPhones (with full data and unlimited) and two cars and have 99" flat screens in each room.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Maryland
18,630 posts, read 19,379,893 times
Reputation: 6461
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jasper03 View Post
Julia is working. She makes 29k which is about $14.50/$14.75 per hour...double the minimum wage. How do we know Julia has the skills for a 69k job? How many of these 69k jobs exist anyway? Why is it that the Col is so high that a $14.50 hr job is not enough to make ends meet?
Why is Julia entitled to live on the purchasing power of 69K if she doesn't have the skills to earn 69K on the job market?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 10:10 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
20,054 posts, read 18,251,969 times
Reputation: 3826
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdwardA View Post
Why is Julia entitled to live on the purchasing power of 69K if she doesn't have the skills to earn 69K on the job market?
Because she needs to feel empowered as a woman. Nothing spells "empowering" like siphoning money from fellow females and males who work 60 hours a week administering Unix servers in Philly to Julia.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Maryland
18,630 posts, read 19,379,893 times
Reputation: 6461
Quote:
Originally Posted by Memphis1979 View Post
Ugh, again.

You can only get welfare for a life time maximum of 5 years. Its been that way since Clinton.

And yes, you might get some food stamps, housing vouchers, etc, but those things take time. Not to mention that 29,000 still isn't 70,000, and people want to make more money, to buy more stuff.
You must not have been paying attention recently, Obama through one of his diktats has invalidated Clinton's Welfare Reform.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 10:13 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
20,054 posts, read 18,251,969 times
Reputation: 3826
Obama didn't like the law passed by congress to plug holes in welfare reform, so he undid them. In many states you're GTG with stating that you're working on your weight, hitting the gym, etc.

Now the chart represents the indefinite advantage of keeping yourself strategically below the 30K mark and not marrying.

Quote:
but states quickly acted to poke holes in that legislation, calling the following activities “work” for purposes of the statute: bed rest, personal care activities, massage, exercise, journaling, motivational reading, smoking cessation, weight loss promotion, participation in parent-teacher meetings, or helping friends or family with household tasks and errands.

this was idiotic. So in 2005, congress closed the loophole, over the objections of then-senator Obama.

Now, obama has walked back the 2005 legislation, using his department of health and human services to unilaterally waive those work requirements.[left]
read more: Reading qualifies as 'work' under welfare rules | Times 247


Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 10:14 AM
 
29,939 posts, read 39,401,256 times
Reputation: 4798
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdwardA View Post
Why is Julia entitled to live on the purchasing power of 69K if she doesn't have the skills to earn 69K on the job market?
She's got 1 vote. Her live in BF has 1 vote. All the kids that grow up in their home will grow up to have 1 vote a piece and will not know any different of a lifestyle assuming the entire scheme never collapses.

Democrats are extremely bitter about have had the government for over half a century and then all of the sudden that "Ronnie Raygun" guy stepped on the scene and ruined it all for them. They'll get that power back someway, somehow even if they have to bankrupt the U.S. to do so.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-17-2012, 10:17 AM
 
3,620 posts, read 3,826,412 times
Reputation: 1512
youd all get the cheese if you could
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:47 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top