What is happening to the low income population?

Question

This may not be PC. And I should say that I am a raving liberal socially. I have noticed a shift in mindset in the lower income--specifically the folks receiving public assistance. I remember when getting public assistance was difficult for one to accept and people worked hard to get off of it. Somehow this kind of pride was lost. I talked to a police officer recently who said that they evict people ALL THE TIME who are living on public assistance, in public housing where their monthly rent is EIGHT (8) dollars--and they are chatting on cell phones whilst being evicted. WTF??

Last Christmas I adopted a family with a hard luck story and they were great until I dropped of the gifts. And NOTHING. I did get a call to ask me where the PS2 was at that they requested. Another cop told me that they can't get people to do the toys for tots drop offs anymore because these kids are so disrespectful and ungrateful. Where is the charactor building? Where are the ethics??

Answer 1

"Poor" isn't what it used to be. In my father's day, poor meant you might not get anything to eat that night, that you had to sleep in one bed with several siblings, or on the floor. There are very, very few truly poor people in the US these days, and most of them are that way due to mental illness, and are therefore the voluntary homeless who stand outside our ability to assist them much. If people were allowed to experience what true poverty is, they would be much more appreciative of gifts that people like you give them.

Answer 2

I worked home health for disabled people who are really hurting. I think public assistance needs to have more restrictions. We do have a problem in the system with all or nothing, though. A person gets a minimum wage job maybe they should lose the AFDC, but they also lose the free school lunches and child care. The system needs to be revamped so individuals are evaluated for their needs rather than just throwing money at them. As for the respect thing, have parenting classes be a requirement to receive aide, rather than a punishment to keep from losing your kids. If their is no stigma attached to the classes, they'd be better attended, and the information might actually be applied.

Answer 3

Ahhh! I know exactly what you mean!!! I hate welfare!!! The only conservative part in me!! These people that "roll" around in their escalades, but can't afford to pay their gas bill really tick me off!

I figure that it's because life is easy for them: "I don't have to work, I'll just stick it to the man."

Don't get me wrong though, I totally believe in giving assistance to a single mother trying to get out of abusive relationships and such like that, or wounded military veterans that need to collect unemployment or disability. But most of these people are more than completely capable of working. However, instead of working, they pop out a few to several kids, collect more money for every child, and the stay on welfare. It makes me so angry.

And people wonder why there's an increase in obesity and other health-related problems. The cheapest & easiest meals to prepare and the worst meals for you to eat! Then these people go to the doctor, they need medical assistance, so once again, our tax dollars go towards them.

I think the only answer is stricter requirements for welfare. But something really does need to be done.

Answer 4

I don't know what's going on, but I agree with you that there is very little ethical behavior these days. It's all the fault of poor parenting. It started because both parents had to go to work leaving the child raising up to babysitters and daycare centers. These days it does take 2 incomes to survive for most people. Loving, caring, adult supervision and teaching is needed by children everywhere.

Answer 5

Poor, for me, meant that I may die. I worked hard for 30 years, 25 as a roofer. Before that, I worked hard on the farm I grew up on. In roofing, I was one of the fastest and best in the Niagara Peninsula. The companies I worked for sent me to fix the mistakes of others, and to roof the houses of contractors, relatives, and friends. I was often sent to repair other roofers' work. My best year was $16, 000, and in this area that's not very much. The company I worked for that year was astounded at how much I made that year, and they'd been in the business for over 50 years. Throughout my roofing history I suffered from dehydration and hypothermia many times. Due to my state of mind, brought on by these conditions, I had many near accidents. Once I left a job feeling sick and couldn't keep food down for 3 days. Once I fainted from heatstroke.

One day I had an accident. It was very hot, and I brought a large thermos of water. I refilled this several times throughout the day, but I lost water faster than I could replace it. I was continually drinking. Due to dehydration I made a mistake, fell, and broke my arm. I could have done many better jobs if it were not for health problems. My problems caused extreme sleep deprivation. I forced myself to do everything from getting out of bed to going to bed - trying to sleep was torture. In roofing, I worked as a subcontractor, so I could sleep in if I needed and work like crazy to get something done later. On my worst days I didn't work.

I was getting old enough that I couldn't deal with it any more. I applied for a disability pension. Others may have lied to get it. I resolved to tell the truth and either kill myself roofing or get on disability. There are other poorly paid jobs - I am in no way an isolated case. Due to lowly paid workers, the better-paid workers buy products more cheaply. I couldn't survive on what I made even though people can’t survive without a roof over their heads. When I did get help from the government, I considered it poor compensation for the disparity in incomes, though it was plenty for me to live on. I am satisfied just the same. All this is supported by documentation - without it I would never have gotten a disability pension.

I don’t expect everyone to believe this – it is so bad that many won’t.

Answer 6

Some of them feel entitled, angry, victimized and get a thrill at getting over on others. They also are having more children than the middle or upper income families.