General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat Happens If You Have No Welfare and No Job?
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/06/what-happens-if-you-have-no-welfare-and-no-job/372685/?n73zlq
A few weeks ago I wrote about how the welfare reform of the 1990s led to many poor mothers being kicked off welfare rolls. While some poor adults could still receive help from food stamps and disability insurance, the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" dramatically cut how much cash aid they could collect. The hope was that they would find work, but many didnt.
Meanwhile, spending on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, the only cash assistance program that non-disabled, non-elderly, poor single mothers are eligible for, has dropped precipitously: It was lower in 2007 than it had been in 1970.
That left me wonderingwhat happened to the moms who had neither jobs nor cash assistance through TANF, which comes with strict time limits?
The Urban Institute recently released a fascinating new qualitative study that aims to answer that very question. Relying on 90-minute interviews with 29 unmarried women in Los Angeles and 22 in southeast Michigan, the nonprofit examined the lives of these so-called disconnected womenmeaning they get neither income from work nor TANF money. (About one in eight low-income single mothers was disconnected in 1996, when welfare reform was first implemented, but about one in five was disconnected in 2008.)
The study authors found that most of the Michigan women had been on TANF at some point, but a third had hit the 48-month time limit. Others didnt apply for the program because they found the paperwork daunting, or they were already on food stamps and thought they couldnt collect more than one type of government benefit at at time. Most of the Los Angeles women had never used TANF, and many of them falsely believed enrolling in the program could disadvantage their families in bizarre wayssuch as leading to the forced military conscription of their sons.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)in the good ol USA
Women also had issues arranging care with hours that matched jobs unpredictable or nonstandard hours, finding care for multiple children or children with special needs, and accessing public programs such as Head Start, prekindergarten, and child care subsidies, which had waiting lists, the report authors write.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)rustydog
(9,186 posts)You ask daddy for a few extra million dollars to tide them over until they can kill off another company and to give them one more ride in the car elevator.
Oops: forgot to add, while disparaging people who go to bed with stomachs growling, kids whimpering from lack of food because Daddy and Mommy are "lazy".
jwirr
(39,215 posts)happens to them and their children. How do they live, etc. ?
I thought about the women in my past some 60 years ago and I think some had really terrible outcomes. Things like prostitution come to mind. Selling drugs? Giving up their children? When there is no legitimate source of income then what is left is the unthinkable ones.
Welfare reform life time limits are a real problem. Our state handled that by immediately looking through the enrolled users of these programs and getting those who could qualify for Social Security Disability onto that program. Our legislature also voted to make a list of exceptions who could not be forced off of the program. I was one of those exceptions: I took care of my severely disabled daughter who would otherwise have to be placed in more expensive settings 24/7 for 45 years. When her father retired she then got his Social Security and things were better. What I am saying is that states needed to use some common sense but I would guess many states were just as selfish with that as with ACA today.
corkhead
(6,119 posts)there is always work as an expendable kog in the wheel of the machine that maintains our worldwide empire
Kennah
(14,304 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)I see alot of mothers working there.
quakerboy
(13,920 posts)even at strip clubs. and there are quite a few who would probably be laughed out the door if they tried. This is America, after all. Our people may be obese, but our strippers damn well better not be.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)And believe me, i worked with ugly women, pretty women, older women, dom women, and large in charge women. Better places have prettier women but there a place that will take you because every man likes sonething different. But sone people just can't do that to themselves and drugs are like candy, so it might just make things worse. Not enough rehab facilities to care for the people society discards.
One of the best money makers at one pkace was 300 pounds and everyone loved her. Especially me.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)This describes many of my patients.
gtar100
(4,192 posts)clue about what it means to struggle with poverty. Their answer is no deeper than "get a job". I'm no saint but I'm not blind either. Those type of people that carry on about "personal responsibility" have no idea what that really means and are simply wrapped up in their own selfishness. They have no idea what makes up the foundation they stand on.
kg4jxt
(30 posts)not to be flippant, but one option would be to emigrate. Many other countries have either a lower cost of living or a more generous social welfare system. It might be difficult to get across the moat (i.e. ocean) but with a bit of research and planning, I think it could work out.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)raccoon
(31,118 posts)extraterrestrial aliens to come to their rescue.
kg4jxt
(30 posts)I know moving away is a daunting prospect for many, but it is not as impractical as you might think. I live on less than $15k and because I live out of the country, I live quite comfortably. The fact is, some organizations that operate in other countries have to pay a premium for US workers to go there. Examples familiar to me are school teachers, nurses, call center workers with good English skills, resort greeters, and I am sure there are other jobs of the same sort. Whereas a US school teacher can scrape along at $30k - making the same amount in a developing country at an "American school" is much more lucrative due to low living costs. If look for overseas jobs that match your skills, and you are willing to take the adventure, you might be surprised by some of the opportunities. Oh, and a good babysitter in many such places will cost less than $10 per day (compare THAT to daycare, single moms - plus your kids might quickly pick up a second language!)
reformist2
(9,841 posts)hopemountain
(3,919 posts)little children on a train to san francisco. one was four years, the other two. the four year old was given instructions to take care of the little one. years later, this is one thing the older child recalled from this trip. they where placed in foster care and were moved around quite a bit. when they were a little older they were separated for a time but were able to reconnect. when they were 14 and 12 years, they went to the streets and did whatever they could to survive until their mid 20's. i met them while working at an hiv/aids clinic in the early 90's. they were both hiv positive and they both succumbed to the ravages of this disease. they think their mother put them on the train somewhere along the coast of oregon.
much heartache and suffering is what happens when there is no work and no money for food