Could a lot more people be on public assistance?

I suppose that your theory is true – there is some percentage of people whose salaries are so small that they would qualify for public assistance in some way or another. I have never looked closely at this because (a) I’m way past my 20s, and (b) I have always had just enough money to survive without assistance.

But there’s another couple of issues here:

1) if a bunch of kids in their twenties all apply for assistance, where does the money come from? My guess is that it ends up being taken out of your (and my) income taxes and sales taxes. Money doesn’t magically grow on trees – some source would be required for additional funding, and the feds and the states don’t have much in the way of unspent money.

2) (specifically to the living with parents question) – I imagine that there is some sort of means / expenses test that would need to be met before a person would qualify. Living with parents would likely bring the housing cost to 0, so the burden on the person is that much lower. Again, I don’t know the laws, but I have the feeling that there are some restrictions.

The income of everyone you live with is taken into account, at least in the County I work in.

Public assistance these days is a very high hurdle for most people to clear. States understandably have erected increasingly difficult barriers in front of the needy, and sliced staffing of those administering such programs. The one exception to these grim tidings is the food stamp program, which is of course federally funded. The staggering numbers of Americans now receiving food stamps is a fair indication of the expanding percentage of those at the bottom. This embarrassing fact is receiving so much attention, that there is growing pressure from the right to implement the obvious solution——eliminate the program.

@jca I guess what I mean is the same people I am talking about, if they chose to live on their own they could qualify, but instead they live within the means of their wage and live with other people whether related or unrelated to them.

@JLeslie: So you mean that in order to make ends meet, instead of going on Public Assistance, they live with roommates.

One advantage of living with others is that you can live in a nicer place than living on your own. You can live in a great apartment, maybe 3 bedrooms in a great spot, whereas on your own you might be in a small place or studio. I never lived with roommates for various reasons (never had to financially, and I like my privacy), but I can see advantages if one is on limited budget.

You can’t possibly think that college grads deserve public assistance. That’s the most liberal thing I’ve ever heard.

@Esteban1 What are you talking about? Do you actually believe that a college degree is a guarantee against being broke?

If you can graduate from college, you can take care of yourself.

@Esteban1 Oh! I remember you now. My apologies.

How about this: Why don’t we raise the minimum wage so it can actually be a living wage!

Graduating from college means that you managed to put up with four (or is it five now?) years of bullshit. Managing to graduate never has and never will guarantee success in life.
Everyone needs a hand every now and then. There is, or should be, no shame in asking for help.

Generally, if you don’t have a child, you don’t really qualify for much public assistance.

@Esteban1 I graduated from college, and I DID take care of my self, but at $10,000 / year and 4 kids, it was rough. College doesn’t guarantee anything.

@dutchess I went to college to play intramural basketball and to not have to get a job. I’ve done just fine without a degree or public assistance.

I only had one job that utilized my actual degree.

And you’ve done just fine because you’re single, no kids. Any fool can do just fine if they don’t have kids, even at minimum wage.

@jca I would not have chosen public assistance over living with roommates. I think my point is there is a choice. Or, that was my question. Since I am not public assistance oriented it didn’t occur to me. I’m not saying I should have taken advantage of it if I could of, not in my situation.

I think I am wondering more about who applies for it, and in what situations do people decide to apply. I think if you grow up in welfare it feels normal. Don’t get me wrong I would try to get public assistance if I really needed it, but I would cut back and compromise in all sorts of ways before I would think to apply for some sort of welfare or food stamps. Especially when I was young it wouldn’t occur to me. Now I know more about the system.

I should have been paid more, that is definitely true. A couple of years later that same position I took that cut my pay drastically they started paying more.

I didn’t even know there was such a thing as food stamps until after my divorce. I was on a co-ed volley ball team and one of my team mates worked for SRS. She gave me the scoop. Oh, life got a little easier. Such a relief.
Before I knew about stamps we ate a lot of beans and rice.
I remember going to the store and spending my last $2.00 on two, very large potatoes. It’s what we (myself and 2 of my kids) were going to have for dinner. When I cut into them I found they were rotten inside. I just sat down and cried.

@Dutchess_III I know more now because my aunt is on Medicaid and she gets a very small amount if food stamps. I think it’s $100 a month. Also, a friend if mine rented his house under section 8 housing. He made good money. I’m very conflicted about the housing, but I won’t go into why.

I never took advantage of assisted housing. I qualified, I’m sure, but I didn’t want my kids in those apartments They tend to deserve bad reputations. I was frugal enough so that I didn’t have to.

Does your friend have kids? Pretty sure that if you’re under 65 and no kids, you can’t qualify.

What friend?

Also, a friend if mine rented his house under section 8 housing. He made good money. I’m very conflicted about the housing, but I won’t go into why. That one.

Oh. He owned the houses or apartments, I never saw the properties. He said it’s great because you know the government is going to pay the rent.

@JLeslie, what constitutes public assistance where you are? I’m trying to consider what we have here and how they relate. What can a college student apply for in terms of financial support?

That’s a question for a school adviser @Earthbound_Misfit. I’ve never heard of students getting benefits for being a student.

@Dutchess_III you can apply for government support as a tertiary student here. It’s not unusual.

So if you go to university in the US, you get no government support at all? How do students pay rent, buy food and the like? People here work and the government support is means tested but there’s no stigma in applying for it.

Do you actually know what you get from food stamps? When I had my mental breakdown about ten years ago I was homeless with no income and I got 148 dollars a month. So a little under five bucks a day. Again, homeless so rice and beans didn’t help all that much since I couldn’t start a campfire within the city limits and I didn’t have regular access to kitchen.

And another time I was working a janitor job getting 40 hours a week and paying 400 month in rent. I was broke as fuck. I tried to get food stamps and they offered 19 bucks a month. It wasn’t worth the paperwork for that.

From what I gather the people here haven’t actually gotten public assistance and are pulling numbers out of Reagan’s ”welfare queen” bullshit.

@Earthbound_Misfit: I got through college by applying for a FAFSA. Since I was poor and over 24 years old they pretty much covered everything through a combination of grants, and loans. They covered tuition, books, rent (I shared a five bedroom place with 8 people), and utilities and I had a few hundred a month for food left.

@johnpowell Are you asking me if I know how much people get in food stamps? I said above my aunt gets about $100 a month. On other Q’s jellies have said some people get much more.

I would not have tried for public assistance even if I could have qualified in my particular situation.

@Earthbound_Misfit When I say public assistance I am talking about food stamps (money for food) help with rent, Medicaid (medical insurance for poor people) and any other government money to help you live day to day.

The one tricky thing now in America is welfare is more imbedded in income tax returns, where the poor not only don’t pay tax, but sometimes are given money through the tax return system. I’m not even sure how it works, it’s called EIC, I don’t know what it stands for. That though, I would think is automatic when you do your taxes.

I think poor, raised middle class, young people out of college don’t think about using public assistance so fast. People who grow up in the environment of public assistance are more likely to, even if they are in the same financial situation. The middle class kid who is just getting started doesn’t identify poor so fast.

When I was getting food stamps for myself and 2 qualifying kids I got close to $700 a month. Far, far, far more than I needed.
When my daughter was receiving food stamps, she too got far more than she needed. She no longer gets stamps, and just the other day she said she can’t buy the great kind of food that she could with food stamps. Instead of ground chuck, she gets ground beef. No steaks and stuff like that. She tries to find things on sale. Never a consideration when we were on food stamps. We got what ever we wanted.

@JLeslie Below a certain level you don’t have to pay income tax, but you do still pay SS and stuff. And yeah. Got a nice hefty refund every year due to the EIC tax breaks. It was like a drink of cool water in a scorching desert. A chance to buy the kids badly needed new shoes, socks and other things. Pay off bills.

My husband was receiving food stamps when I met him at the age of 20. He was working part time and living with several roommates. This was the early 90s in Illinois.

A family of three making less than $40,000 per year can still receive the EIC, Earned Income Credit

A family of three making less than $2800 per month can qualify for food stamps and women and children qualify for medicaid.

The answer to your question is yes. More people could use public assistance but I don’t think they are aware that they can. Also, many people who use public assistance do not come from poor families. Both my husband and I came from somewhat well to do families and we both have used public assistance when it was available to us.

My sons qualified for grants when they attended college, but the grants did not pay for everything. They are both now in debt due to loans they had to take out to attend school.