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First, though, I would like to define the "poor" as those under the federal poverty level. That would be appx $15K (family of 3), $18K (family of 4) and $21K (family of 5). |
The FPL does not take rent into consideration. In areas where a one-bedroom apartment goes for $1500, minimum wage is still the same.
I don't think the poor, homeless, etc. deserve it or bring it on themselves. I think it is the government's responsibility to help those who need help and not blame them for having kids too young, too many kids, not enough education, etc. If they think lack of education is the problem, why not pay for more education? Why are single mothers on welfare not allowed to go to college? Wouldn't that be more effective at lifting them out of poverty than lining them up with a minimum wage job?
I think childbearing should be celebrated, even if those kids are being born to single teenage low income women. Please don't punish a child because you don't agree with the actions of the mother. And what about the "father"?! If he paid child support more often, the mother might not even need welfare to begin with. Women don't get pregnant by themselves, you know!
Marriage is not the answer. I am poor and married. So are many other people. You think welfare payments are never made to married couples? That's not the case. Marriage incentives encourage staying in abusive relationships. Sometimes a mother really is better off raising her kids by herself. Marriage incentives imply that somewhere there are a bunch of rich men wanting to marry poor mothers. I don't know of any.
I have a right to have as many children as I want. If I can't afford to meet my needs, you bet I will ask for help. I am well within my rights to do so. I am also within my rights to continue my education. I will not go get a meaningless, dead end minimum wage job that will sink us deeper into poverty in the long run. My children and I contribute to our community by our very existence alone. I don't have to justify asking for help that I am entitled to.
I suppose many people will say we did this to ourselves. I don't care; it doesn't change what we are entitled to. Yes, I chose to have two children when neither of us have jobs. (One child was even planned!) Dh chose to go to school to get a teaching license. I choose to stay in college instead of working. We both choose to stay home with our children instead of putting them in daycare so we can work. I buy candy with food stamps. I also buy super-expensive organic produce. I don't plan on saving for my kids' college even when we do find work, because I want them to realize they are entitled to government funding of their education. Although we have an HMO that will pay for a hospital birth, I choose to go on Medicaid so I can have the home birth that I want. I choose to look into private schools, and will explore every financial assistance program those schools offer. My kids have the right to go to whatever school they want, whether we can pay or not. I choose to turn the heat way up in the winter and leave it on when we're gone all day, and to have energy assistance pay for it all. But I know I am entitled to as much help as I need, because I am doing the most important job in the world. Children benefit the entire society, not just the homes in which they live. Society benefits when all children are supported.
Oh yeah, and I'm not getting sterilized!:LOL