both my man & i work 40 hours a week, i make $12.00 an hour, my man makes $9.25, between the 2 of us i dont think that we make alot of money. we make it but we are NOT living lavishly. im 10 weeks preg and i have looked into Wic and help with paying for child care when i go back to work, apparently we make too much money to qualify for either aide. what is a hard working couple like us supposed to do? should we both quit our jobs and look for a shitty job that would allow us to qualify for gov aide? that is just stupid! but seriously what are we to do? it seems like the only people that can get any help are the ones that dont aspire to be anything, or to do anything more with their lives, that dont have good jobs, maybe thats why soo many people stay in low paying jobs so that they can get the help to feed their kids or to pay for child care. it seems like the gov gives too much help to ppl that abuse the system, and not enough to everyone else. any advise on what we could do for help?
2006-09-21 08:15:46 · 21 answers · asked by miss me! 4 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
age--- in that case why should my tax $$ go to help people that dont know how to get off their butts and go work?
2006-09-21 08:30:51 · update #1
I SOOOOO completely understand, when I got pregnanct I figured FINALLY the government will give me something (since I dont qualify for sh-- else due to my income), then I find out -oh it's no longer reguardless of income either (like it used to be)-- you have to qualify for that also! My husband and I and unborn child couldnt qualify for the 3 person household income, so we added my father in law who we take care of, we made it by about 7.00 under the cap, now that I am about to have my little one I have to requalify after he is born BUT now we wont becuase I have gotten a raise in August that puts us over the cap again. So no help with formula or anything. It sucks, you are out here trying your best to make it and here it is they wont help you, but those who sit and do nothing get their rent paid, food stamps, wic, etc. I dont want to live like that I just want some help here and there!
And this is not about taking anything from anyone, it's about being fair to those who DO work but are trying our best to make it and just need some help and they wont help us.
2006-09-21 08:33:07 · answer #1 · answered by worldof_roses 2 · 1⤊ 5⤋
You & your man's combined work gross pay is around $850 a week. Now that may not seem like a lot to you, or to many people in this country, but honey that is a LOT of money to most of the mothers that get wic. Think about this, some of the women that recieve WIC are single. Even if she has an associate degree, which isn't an easy thing to get if you've already had a child. There is no way that she is going to be earning close to what you & your man make combined. There are mothers that don't even have a high school degree let alone a college degree. Some of the women that recieve WIC are enrolled in school consecutively while recieving WIC, which therefor means less time to be working. WIC came into existence to help those women, infants & children that TRUELY can not afford the nutrional foods/formula that other parents can afford. Now, I'm going to agree with you that many of the women recieving WIC are not bettering thier lives, but I'm also betting that over 1/2 of them are in some way. As far as the system goes when President Clinton passed the Welfare Reform Act people can not abuse the system for more than 2 years & if a woman recieves help for her child/children-ANY children she has after initially getting the help WILL NOT EVER be eligible for cash assistence-only for food stamps & medical insurance. Rather than fell put out and disappointed that you do not qualify for WIC, you ought to be thankful that you do not qualify, because to MANY people would be considered rich. Now, I'm not sure if you have other children or not, but if you the income allowance raises for each child to be eligible for WIC. In nearly all states if your offspring is eligible for state/govt. Health insurance (medicaid), then the family is eligible for WIC. I do know how it feels to make over an income limit & not qualify, but I also know what it feels like to qualify & it is a far better feeling to not qualify-even if life/paying for formula ect. is hard. That is just how I feel about it though, maybe you would be happier if you & your man made less money. Well, congratulations on your pregnancy & good luck.
2006-09-21 08:36:16 · answer #2 · answered by Nik 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Whoa, I don't know where you live, but where I live - that's alot of money! But I do agree. I am a stay at home mom of 1, hubby makes less than 40,000/year -We qualify for NOTHING. We can pay the bills and eat, but we can't do much else. However my aunts family qualifies for everything (WIC, food stamps - everything) 1 person in their 10 person home works, 6 receive some form of SSI because they "can't" work, the other 3 are minors. I love my family, but when I see just how "bad" they have it, it makes me wonder too. I did work before baby - made good money too (almost $12/hr), and we figured that my income would only be paying for daycare. We would have to come up w/more just to cover the gas to get me to and from. -Not worth it. Anyway, I would rather take care of my kids than some stranger. Hope you find something that works for you!
2006-09-21 10:22:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
All I have to say is that yes it sucks that you will bearly make it, but you can make it. My family does not qualify for any assistance either, and we make less that you do with just my boyfirend working. i stay at home because otherwise everything I make goes to childcare. SOmebody mentioned that if you aren't married you don't have to report your boyfriends wages, that's untrue, you do need to report that you live together and his wages otherwise it's known as fraud. And even if you do not report him and you do qualify, they will make you go after child support, so then your boyfriend has to pay child support. IT's screwed up, but you gotta look at what our country's poverty line is, it's not very high, it's around $17,000 or so. I wish that I could get a little help, just for groceries, and in the winter time, but we make too much, it stinks, but that's just how it is. Everyone has to remember not everyone on welfare, tries to screw the system, they're are a lot ofpeople out there that do need the help, and would not have the necessities of life (shelter, food, healthcare, clothing) if it wasn't for welfare, and mind you that's all they get, people on welfare do not live a lavish life what so ever. They too are just making it by with what they get.
2006-09-21 10:04:12 · answer #4 · answered by melashell 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Whoa there. There are plenty of hard working people who qualify for WIC. People who have high school educations don't get high paying jobs - but they work hard. When a baby comes into their lives, it adds lots of expenses - and TEMPORARY help is needed to get them over the hump. That's how the system is supposed to work.
I know how hard it is to work and find affordable child care. I did it, and I scrimped and did it as a single mom without government help.
My son and his family currently are receiving WIC assistance. He has a decent, but modestly paying job. She lost her job due to morning sickness for 7 months of her pregnancy. Baby makes three living on an income that would be comfortable for one. Until she can get another job and they can find child care - THAT's what WIC is for.
So, be happy that you two are making a combined total of $21/hr.
Look for affordable child care. And, look for what you can do to cut back on expenses like cable TV, eating out too often, "little" things you do that add up, and you truthfully could live without.
Don't begrudge those who qualify for assistance. My kids wish they didn't, and will go off it as soon as they can.
2006-09-21 08:34:59 · answer #5 · answered by kids and cats 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
There is not much you will qualify for. You make more than many people do. There are a lot of people out there that make only a few hundred a week and have to support there kids on this. There is nothing else you can do but keep looking, maybe there is something. Check out this website freecycle.org, There might be one in your area and you can get free baby stuff from people that are done with theres. Check it out. Good Luck
2006-09-21 08:21:43 · answer #6 · answered by Hilly 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I know how you feel. The silver lining is that you are not so bad off that you actually qualify for the assistance. Be proud about working so hard. To solve your dilema start asking around your community for in home daycares. They are generally cheaper. OR you and your husband could discuss the option of one of you staying home with your child. If you rent, find cheaper housing, You could cut back to one car, eat out rarely, coupon clip ext. You'd be amazed at the amount of money that is spent and can be saved. Or maybe one of you could make a career move. One works at night and one works during the day. I live in WA State. I know that UPS has a preload shift that starts at 3:00 am. They are parttime starting off around $8.00/hr and move up from there. They work from 3:00 am - 8Am that way one of you could be at home with the baby. After 30 days they get full medical and dental for their entire family. If you make it through the pre-load you could step up to driver and they make a lot more money.
2006-09-21 08:46:10 · answer #7 · answered by JENNIFER B 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Old adages stands true here. Rich get richer, poor get poorer. My oldest daughter is in a trade school, going to work part time, because the full time jobs won't work with her school hours. And the school is not open late at night. Really don't know how she could pay for her school, (brings home if she can get the hours, sometimes its only 20 hours of work, others its 26.5 hours rate of pay minimum wage 5.?? not sure. Live in Texas) get everything she needs for her daughter, clothing, food, shoes, and in 2 years little one starts school. Much less pay for child care. The father to her child is almost nonexistent. Anyways point being, she gets very little food stamps, if it was not for our church and there food closet program she can't make it month to month. My daughter is also a diabetic, and can't get any medical help because she makes to much money. I ask how? How can she make to much money?
2006-09-21 08:39:41 · answer #8 · answered by pebbles 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
first thing are you married to you man because if you are including his income it might make it more difficult to qualify. if you are not married to him do not report his income. and by the way you are about to get a big tax break because you are going to have a kid. that should free up some cash. what state do you live in. guidelines vary from state to state and it also may have to do with standard of living adjustments. for example 12 an hr in missisipi is not the same as 12 an hr in new york.
2006-09-21 08:43:07 · answer #9 · answered by sick six 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You guys could do it if you kept a tight budget. My fiance was the only one of us that worked for 2 years. He supported himself, me, and our 2 daughters making 12.80 an hour. We never had any welfare at all and we made it. I think the problem is that you know your child's father. It seems like if you don't know who fathered your child you get a bunch of assistance. Now I'm back at work for xtra money, my car payment, and to put money back for school. I was in college last year and didn't qualify for financial aide because those people are just retarded. I pretty much got turned down because I wasn't raking in a government check each month. Oh well, I'll just keep trying. Good luck to you and sorry I went way off base with this...lol
2006-09-21 08:32:05 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
I suggest since you're already pregnant, you might consider breastfeeding (a LOT cheaper than formula and better for them too).
The sad part is my son-in-law is in the army with 1 child and another on the way. They qualify for WIC. It's sad to think that those who work to protect our country don't get paid enough to not require these services.
2006-09-21 08:39:21 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋