Now I understand why people are on welfare

[Anonymous]

OP here. I don’t have housing assistance or welfare yet, haven’t applied either. My comments were merely that you have to really make decent money in this area to make going off government assistance worthwhile. Middle class is screwed basically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no way you are better of with a hhi if 0 versus 75,000. That is just absurd.

agree - i don't understand how OP was getting more and more in debt while working - but somehow isn't in debt with no income?

Really you can't understand?

Here is an example - while working, you have to pay for food, if your budget gets tight, you might use a credit card to pay for groceries because that's they only way you can buy them, if not working, you qualify for food stamps and can go to food banks, if your budget gets tight, you do not need to worry about using your credit card to buy groceries because it's covered for you.

OP is not wrong in her assertions. I once read somewhere that a person living in this area who is getting housing assistance, food assistance, medical coverage for kids etc from the state are getting about $80K in benefits. So imagine if that's your starting point, and most of your housing, food , and medical is covered, reduced electric bills cable, free school supplies, uniforms and so on then whatever you make even if it's $20K can cover the rest of your bills.

I don't think the food benefits are all you make them out to be. It's not "all covered for you". "Food stamps" means SNAP -- supplemental nutrition Assistance Program. For a single mom with one child school aged making NO money, the assistance in MD would be $353/month. That's not raking it in. Yes there are food banks you can visit -- usually once a month and at inconvenient times. Yes, the child should qualify for free school lunch and maybe breakfast -- the quality is crap but if you are hungry you will eat it.

It's not like you are riding the gravy train.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I don’t have housing assistance or welfare yet, haven’t applied either. My comments were merely that you have to really make decent money in this area to make going off government assistance worthwhile. Middle class is screwed basically.

So OP, what assistance are you getting?

[Anonymous]

Yes it's free, swipe your ebt. Google that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes it's free, swipe your ebt. Google that

I just watched her video. It is pretty good. "Its free, swipe yo ebt."

I liked the part of buying Patron on the ebt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The people really gaming the system are the ones getting benefits while also getting unreported income.

Yup, the cash economy.

[Anonymous]

You can barely make it on benefits in this area unless you are taking cash under the table OP.

[Anonymous]

We're kind of in that bind for 2019. My wife started a job that will boost our income about $20k this year, which will wipe out the extended Medicaid for our kids and the insurance subsidies for my wife and I. Between the insurance hit and the taxes, she's working for free.

We both found work with small employers that don't offer insurance and plan seems to be that everyone is married to a teacher or government worker that gives the country coverage. One of my friends is a doctor who empathizes with our predicament and openly suggested that we just lie on our taxes for the health coverage. How the frick did we get to this point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're kind of in that bind for 2019. My wife started a job that will boost our income about $20k this year, which will wipe out the extended Medicaid for our kids and the insurance subsidies for my wife and I. Between the insurance hit and the taxes, she's working for free.

We both found work with small employers that don't offer insurance and plan seems to be that everyone is married to a teacher or government worker that gives the country coverage. One of my friends is a doctor who empathizes with our predicament and openly suggested that we just lie on our taxes for the health coverage. How the frick did we get to this point?

Republicans, who refuse to deal with the cost of coverage. Rather than fix the affordability problems with the ACA, they kept trying to "repeal" it for 8 years. People need decent, affordable health coverage and if you don't work for a large company with generous coverage or make so little that you qualify for Medicaid or a huge subsidy, you are screwed. And Congress -- the Rs -- REFUSE to deal with the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're kind of in that bind for 2019. My wife started a job that will boost our income about $20k this year, which will wipe out the extended Medicaid for our kids and the insurance subsidies for my wife and I. Between the insurance hit and the taxes, she's working for free.

We both found work with small employers that don't offer insurance and plan seems to be that everyone is married to a teacher or government worker that gives the country coverage. One of my friends is a doctor who empathizes with our predicament and openly suggested that we just lie on our taxes for the health coverage. How the frick did we get to this point?

Republicans, who refuse to deal with the cost of coverage. Rather than fix the affordability problems with the ACA, they kept trying to "repeal" it for 8 years. People need decent, affordable health coverage and if you don't work for a large company with generous coverage or make so little that you qualify for Medicaid or a huge subsidy, you are screwed. And Congress -- the Rs -- REFUSE to deal with the problem.

working is a good idea

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're kind of in that bind for 2019. My wife started a job that will boost our income about $20k this year, which will wipe out the extended Medicaid for our kids and the insurance subsidies for my wife and I. Between the insurance hit and the taxes, she's working for free.

We both found work with small employers that don't offer insurance and plan seems to be that everyone is married to a teacher or government worker that gives the country coverage. One of my friends is a doctor who empathizes with our predicament and openly suggested that we just lie on our taxes for the health coverage. How the frick did we get to this point?

Republicans, who refuse to deal with the cost of coverage. Rather than fix the affordability problems with the ACA, they kept trying to "repeal" it for 8 years. People need decent, affordable health coverage and if you don't work for a large company with generous coverage or make so little that you qualify for Medicaid or a huge subsidy, you are screwed. And Congress -- the Rs -- REFUSE to deal with the problem.

working is a good idea

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I don’t have housing assistance or welfare yet, haven’t applied either. My comments were merely that you have to really make decent money in this area to make going off government assistance worthwhile. Middle class is screwed basically.

Obamacare made it even worse for the middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're kind of in that bind for 2019. My wife started a job that will boost our income about $20k this year, which will wipe out the extended Medicaid for our kids and the insurance subsidies for my wife and I. Between the insurance hit and the taxes, she's working for free.

We both found work with small employers that don't offer insurance and plan seems to be that everyone is married to a teacher or government worker that gives the country coverage. One of my friends is a doctor who empathizes with our predicament and openly suggested that we just lie on our taxes for the health coverage. How the frick did we get to this point?

Obama's lovely 8 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone I know back home in a LCOL part of VA that isn't $0 income but probably isn't more than $40K. Their kids get to go to private school for free and are probably getting a much better education than I could afford to give my kids.

My SIL & BIL left from the Arlington area about 2 years ago for the LCOL part of Southern VA and have a similar experience. Their three kids are now in a very good private school with aid that they didn't qualify for here.

Yes, their salaries went down when they moved, but the amount of house they were able to get compared to what they paid for their townhome in Arlington is crazy. Plus, they now have more disposable income to use for traveling whereas up in NOVA, they did one vacation per year that included flying and just a few long weekend driving trips the rest of the year.

[Anonymous]

I can understand what OP means.

I grew up in a 1-income family due to one parent becoming disabled.

The one parent's income was just enough that we didn't qualify for anything like free or reduced lunches, but their income wasn't enough to 100% sustain the family at all times. We also didn't qualify for any assistance with housing or food, other than being able to visit the food pantry. And back then, people were not as generous with their donations as today.

I will 100% admit that I grew up with a negative view of those on assistance that stemmed from jealously. My friends who were on food stamps didn't seem to miss as many meals as I did. They also didn't have to go with teeth that hurt from cavities. They didn't have to speak with the teacher in private to get sat at the front of the room because they couldn't see great and their parents couldn't afford new glasses.

When you get nothing for Christmas even though one parent is working 2 jobs and you're working a part time job and your friend whose mom is on assistance with no job gets a brand new Starter Jacket (those were huge in the 90s) and a new discman, it pisses you off.