Do you think an out-of-work woman should get LESS welfare every time she has a child?

Question

My boyfriend thinks that women on welfare who have children should get their amounts reduced everytime they have a child. This makes perfect sense!

Answer 1

How does that help her children?
Poverty is a repeating cycle. Punishing women for being stupid doesn't cure stupidity.

Answer 2

With the first child, you have made a mistake or an accident or have fallen on hard times. You can ask for a handout then. But people should be given a choice, and its the governents fault, no matter WHAT country you area talking about, THEY dont have systems in place to make this welfare work for both the recipent and the taxpayer.

They should make it so that these people are forced to attend schooling or a trade, and they get paid to do it. If they are absent for anything less than a real emergency like a sick kid or an injury family death ect, then it goes against them. They should get credited for these courses, and also have child care provided for them so its not a hardship to attend courses/ trade school. This to me is a way to rebuild these peoples lives when they have fallen on bad times, and would make them in the end contribute back when they are on their own two feet. No shame in learning something that will help you help yourself.

That being said, why a lot (not all) of these welfare collecting moms, keep having babies is hard to understand. I agree with the fact that one child is a mistake, but once you hit two or three you are just being STUPID and abusing the system. If you cannot support what you produce, then if you are going to get a handout, it should be on the condition that the people involved are sterilized, even temporarily..> This of course goes against any ideas of human rights and pride for the individuals, but then again, some people would argue that its against the working man's rights to have such a HUGE amount taken off their paycheck every month, and that some of it goes to support those who either cannot or WILLNOT help themselves.

I can see why the question is worded that way, because some people DO just have the children for the extra cash. If it was against them to have them, some might practice a different kind of morality.

Answer 3

Not less. But not more. Women shouldn't be "rewarded" for having another child that they cannot support. There has to be some sort of a cut off. The welfare system is deplorable and makes a lot of people angry. It is so abused. It was initially put in place to tie people over. It was NEVER meant to be a lifestyle.

I really wish the system would help out 10 working class families with food stamps, rather than enabling 1 family to collect handouts, often for life.

Answer 4

Before we give a one-size-fits-all answer, let's figure out what welfare benefits really are: they were designed as a subsidy to keep low-income women with children OUT of the labor force, so that more jobs would be available to those who could theoretically live on minimum wage. I say "theoretically," because we all know it can't be done at any standard above that of a Third World country.
You would be surprised to know that at one time, labor unions were strongly in favor of welfare. It kept wages artificially high and thus permitted union members to enjoy a better standard of living.
What does this have to do with the number of children a woman on welfare has? Plenty. The additonal stipend a woman gains by having another baby, even when food stamps and medical benefits are figured in, is not enough to justify the medical risks of childbirth in a charity-care hospital, not to mention the lifelong financial committment parenting takes if one takes it seriously - which many people don't do, and thus the huge numbers of children in foster care. That's another topic entirely.

Answer 5

I think if the government wants to start paying for birth control or giving women that request it tubal ligation surgery -then they can start telling people how many children to have. If the government wants to continue to preach about abstinance and not pay for things to keep women from becoming pregnant, then the government should support whatever children that policy brings to fruition.

This may be difficult for you to believe, but most people don't want to be on public assistance. Sometimes people just need help. Public assistance puts a family at the poverty line. Not above it. The poverty line is barely enough to pay rent and buy groceries. And while having more children won't solve the problem - would you rather they spend the $30 a month on groceries or on birth control? People need to educate themselves before they ask questions of this sort.

Answer 6

I think in order to get on welfare, they should have to get the Norplant or the IUD - the ones that are good for 5 years and have to be taken out by a doctor. As long as they are on welfare, they stay on it. If they get off welfare, they can have it taken out. Yes, there is some expense involved, but it's way less than more welfare babies.

Answer 7

My solution to the problem is this; If a girl under the age of 18 has a child she should not be allowed to apply for welfare, she is still a minor and is the sole responsibility of her parents and so should any of her offspring be their responsibility. After age 18, if she is a single mom, she should get full benefits and she should continue to get full benefits but she only has 1 year to find a full time job, then as long as she keeps THE SAME JOB with THE SAME EMPLOYER she continues to get full benefits for one year, after that her benefits should be slowly decreased. However, if within that year she has another child, then her benefits should be cut in half, or if she has another child at the end of her first full year of employment her benefits get cut in half and decrease steadily every year after that.

Answer 8

It is the most hardest question that I have to answer. But in my opinion, people on welfare are taking the money for grant and quite a bit of them abuse the system. Some of them stay on welfare more than 20 years and no shame about it. The worst are the children who are not teach to learn how to work and be proud of themselves. It is the worst system I have seen in my entirely life. Sorry and we should abolish this system. It is not fair while everyone is working and one group have so many children and collect free money without any quilt feeling. Please help me educate public to abolish this so call entitlement. Remember, you do not work you are unproductive to society.

Answer 9

Well, your b/f obviously doesn't realize that Welfare quit raising the amount that the women get after their 2nd child several years ago. Why should the child suffer?

Answer 10

I think they should get less like you said. I'll go a step further, and say that after 2 children, a woman should be required to get her tubes tied in order to remain on welfare.

Answer 11

I agree with you and your boyfriend. ALL women (regardless of how intelligent they are) know how babies are conceived and they know if they don't use birth control of some form, they're probably going to get pregnant. Right now, you can get relatively cheap (even free sometimes!) condoms or pills from free clinics or community health departments in your area. These women who don't or are too lazy are TRYING to get pregnant so they can get more money. Sorry, but if you have five kids by four or five different guys, you deserve to be sterilized!