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I'd say a reasonable definition of poor is one who receives public assistance.
That said, this is what we know about birth rates, etc...
Women receiving public assistance, as a group, have a birth rate 3 times higher than women who don't receive public assistance. That, in itself has led to the additional problem of nearly half of all U.S. births being paid for by Medicaid. 70% of those kids will never rise out of poverty, even as adults.
Who thinks supporting all those additional poor people (Medicaid, SNAP, public housing, etc., etc.) that are added to our population every year is sustainable, or even possible at all?
I'm not disagreeing or affirming contentions but am very thankful one finally DEFINED a position, such as poor, to at least try and prevent the semantics many utilize, hence leading to a lot of wasted words on both sides.
Even observational common sense gets argued about by people trying to 'win' a debate.
From my own p.o.v. Of course increased use of all social programs is far from ideal; making it 'easier' to get into social programs does lead to some dependency and, although probably from a positive theory, there is also the orher side of state created dependence that is then definitively exploited by whichever side or whatever argument (increase participation spending-left, decrease part spending, and some times class warfare- right), etc...
malarkey, I raised a severely learning disabled child as single mother and although my full time job wasn't much above minimum wage I had 2 or 3 other jobs at all times because I had a child to support. That made me ineligible for food stamps or any other "services".
People need to get off their asses and work more.
Let's do the math.
"Not much above minimum wage." Hmm, how much is that? The MW is $7.25. Maybe you were earning $9 an hour?
With two people in the household, the monthly income max is $1,726, according to Eligibility | Food and Nutrition Service. That would mean you would have to work more than 48 hours in a week to earn more than $1,726.
What we learn from this is that one has to be desperately poor to be eligible. Saying that someone has to work more as the solution means that work has to be available. Blaming the victim as lazy isn't a solution.
How were you able to do that? Did you have a family member care for them, day care at your job when they weren't at school or pay for it elsewhere? I work two jobs and make OK money but I wouldn't be able to work 60+ hours if I had a kid especially one with special needs whether learning disabilities or physical disabilities.
I started a day care cooperative with other single parents. The school district I moved to was in an expensive area on Long Island but was well known for having an outstanding special ed program. Most people told me I could never afford to live there back then. Our district did offer "latch key" services in the morning & afternoon which was helpful at times. I joined SEPTA and participated in as many school activities as possible so I could meet other Moms. At one point there were 5 Moms and 1 Dad and 9 kids, about 1/2 the kids were in special ed. We created a monthly schedule that included what school bus route each child needed for each day, it the made sure all of the children were cared for, did homework, fed dinner and had transportation to their various activities, meanwhile we were all able to work extra, have social lives, one of the Mom's even finished her Masters during this time.
What has been lost in this country is resourcefulness, people need to think outside the box to carve a way to better life. For the record, my son is 29 years old now and I own a large dental consulting firm but I still have a second "job". I don't need to have a second job financially anymore but I'm a worker and I guess that will never change.
In my business I come in contact with people that give up good paying positions which often leads to dependency on programs because they can't let a stranger watch their child or they can't miss a single sports game, etc. It seems crazy to me.
If a fraction of the parents living poverty would help each other out and pool their resources for the good of the children this country would be in much better shape. Unfortunately we've created too many crutches in our society.
I started a day care cooperative with other single parents. The school district I moved to was in an expensive area on Long Island but was well known for having an outstanding special ed program. Most people told me I could never afford to live there back then. Our district did offer "latch key" services in the morning & afternoon which was helpful at times. I joined SEPTA and participated in as many school activities as possible so I could meet other Moms. At one point there were 5 Moms and 1 Dad and 9 kids, about 1/2 the kids were in special ed. We created a monthly schedule that included what school bus route each child needed for each day, it the made sure all of the children were cared for, did homework, fed dinner and had transportation to their various activities, meanwhile we were all able to work extra, have social lives, one of the Mom's even finished her Masters during this time.
What has been lost in this country is resourcefulness, people need to think outside the box to carve a way to better life. For the record, my son is 29 years old now and I own a large dental consulting firm but I still have a second "job". I don't need to have a second job financially anymore but I'm a worker and I guess that will never change.
In my business I come in contact with people that give up good paying positions which often leads to dependency on programs because they can't let a stranger watch their child or they can't miss a single sports game, etc. It seems crazy to me.
If a fraction of the parents living poverty would help each other out and pool their resources for the good of the children this country would be in much better shape. Unfortunately we've created too many crutches in our society.
In such issues of policy, I ask: "what does everyone else do?" What we find is that in other countries, that have more generous social welfare systems these are handled by policies that help mothers and add to the productivity of people.
Quote:
French government provides: 1) inexpensive municipal day care, 2) tax breaks for families employing in-home child care workers, and 3) universal free preschool beginning at age 3. Together, these make quality child care so affordable...
Source: Slate: Trapped by European-style Socialism—And I Love It!
Let's do the math.
"Not much above minimum wage." Hmm, how much is that? The MW is $7.25. Maybe you were earning $9 an hour?
With two people in the household, the monthly income max is $1,726, according to Eligibility | Food and Nutrition Service. That would mean you would have to work more than 48 hours in a week to earn more than $1,726.
What we learn from this is that one has to be desperately poor to be eligible. Saying that someone has to work more as the solution means that work has to be available. Blaming the victim as lazy isn't a solution.
Per the government's own phony numbers, the United States unemployment rate is now at 4.9%. That is pretty close to what is considered "full employment". That means there are more jobs than available workers and so wages should be going up as companies fight to attract the best candidates available. Food stamps should be eliminated in any area that has full employment.
Per the government's own phony numbers, the United States unemployment rate is now at 4.9%. That is pretty close to what is considered "full employment". That means there are more jobs than available workers and so wages should be going up as companies fight to attract the best candidates available. Food stamps should be eliminated in any area that has full employment.
Let's do the math.
"Not much above minimum wage." Hmm, how much is that? The MW is $7.25. Maybe you were earning $9 an hour?
With two people in the household, the monthly income max is $1,726, according to Eligibility | Food and Nutrition Service. That would mean you would have to work more than 48 hours in a week to earn more than $1,726.
What we learn from this is that one has to be desperately poor to be eligible. Saying that someone has to work more as the solution means that work has to be available. Blaming the victim as lazy isn't a solution.
As I mentioned in another post my son is 29 years old so the exact numbers are irrelevant today.
In regard to your thought that there is not an available solution for many recipients of food stamps & other programs I disagree. Let me start by saying I believe food stamps is a necessary program, the issue is entitlement.
I'm in the dental field and I am always shocked to see how many people that are 3rd and 4th generation medicaid recipients (which means they probably have food stamps too) have an iphone 6 plus, professional highlight and lowlights in the hair, long acrylic & airbrushed nails, $200 sneakers on them & their children, expensive designer pocket books, all while collecting "benefits". They are notorious for missing appointments, even though they don't work & transportation is provided. Interestingly they usually won't even use their fancy cellphone to call their taxi which is also paid for with their "benefits", they usually just shout at the people working in the dental office to call for them.
Its a beautiful system, it truly warms my heart.
WOW!!! That's a LOT of irresponsible non-elderly, non-disabled adults bearing children they cannot support. Non-eldelry, non-disabled adults and their children are 2/3 of the 45.4 million SNAP recipients.
As I mentioned in another post my son is 29 years old so the exact numbers are irrelevant today.
In regard to your thought that there is not an available solution for many recipients of food stamps & other programs I disagree. Let me start by saying I believe food stamps is a necessary program, the issue is entitlement.
I'm in the dental field and I am always shocked to see how many people that are 3rd and 4th generation medicaid recipients (which means they probably have food stamps too) have an iphone 6 plus, professional highlight and lowlights in the hair, long acrylic & airbrushed nails, $200 sneakers on them & their children, expensive designer pocket books, all while collecting "benefits". They are notorious for missing appointments, even though they don't work & transportation is provided. Interestingly they usually won't even use their fancy cellphone to call their taxi which is also paid for with their "benefits", they usually just shout at the people working in the dental office to call for them.
Its a beautiful system, it truly warms my heart.
The tongue in cheek about how the system warms your heart makes me smile more than you can know.
Congrats on your business... I've done my fair share on the business side of the dental industry
What we learn from this is that one has to be desperately poor to be eligible. Saying that someone has to work more as the solution means that work has to be available. Blaming the victim as lazy isn't a solution.
Why is it you and me and damn near every full time worker over 25 making more than the minimum wage?
The mw is basically a wedge issue. Raising the rate incrementally or dropping it completely would make little difference.
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