does America look after the unemployed, and do the poor get free housing like in the UK?

Question

where the workers are taxed for this

Answer 1

Yes, but in America, you have to work for what you want in life..that includes the homeless..if they want free houseing..they have to find it..if they want to stop being poor..they are gonna have to work..there are organizations who offer the homeless, jobs and houseing..but it seems most just don't care

Answer 2

No, I'm ashamed to say we don't. Unemployed people get benefits for 6 mos. then no more. Whats more, we calculate the unemployment percentage based only on those receiving benefits, so after the 6 mos. they are not even included in the statistics as unemployed. Bush brags our unemployment is low, but that is because of how we calculate the percentage. There is no free housing, there is section 8, but the waiting list for this is years. No, we keep the taxes low for the rich by providing almost no benefits to the poor, and this includes health care. You did not mention education which is also provided to qualified people in the UK. Here, you get it if you're poor, whether qualified or not; and you get it if your wealthy enough to pay for it. Everybody in between gets screwed. Somehow though we are convinced we want it that way, if we did what you do people here would say it was the lazy shiftless people living off those who work. Go figure.

Answer 3

This is a bit tough to answer.

As a person who grew up in a "low income" family, I can state that many efforts are indeed made to help families such as ours.

People who are unemployed can sign up for "unemployment," where the government (I don't know if it's local, state, or federal...) provides a small check to pay for bare necesseties whilst the unemployed person searches for another job.

If a person becomes unemployed due to injuries, they most likely will fall under a Worker's Compensation plan that will help pay the bills while the worker recouperates.

America has programs that will allow people with little income to provide housing for their families. In fact, I spent the first 15 years of my life in such housing. While not the "crem de la crem" of housing (I know no French), it will provide, again, the necessities of life.

Despite what the first poster said, the government in America doesn't completely ignore the poor. The general trend of legislation in America is designed to allow a poor individual to keep alive until they are able to get on their own two feet. The problem comes when people decide to subsist solely on the government check; in that case, they will NEVER leave the ranks of "the poor..." as the system is not designed to help with that.

(This post is based on my memory and experiences... as anything that has to do with the government is complex and hard to find URLs for... and I applaud anyone below or above who is able to find URLs for this question poster.)

Case in point: I have come from living in low income housing and my mother recieving "child support" from the government to making my way into "lower middle class" as an entry level programmer with a college degree. I would have none of this, however, if the government was truly uncaring of the "poor" class... as the only way we could make ends meet for the first few years was with government assistance. The point is we were able to *leave* the assistance over time... and pay for future assistance for others with our taxes.

Answer 4

Do they hell. Their are some schemes to help Americans buy on cheap rate mortgages to start increasing as the years go on. No social housing like in Britain. I have a friend who has just been evicted from a cockroach ridden apartment - the owner wants to sell and has to put everything in to storage and live in a crappy motel. Lane County in Oregon has a food program handing out food parcels to people living in poverty. Why not donate to those poor Americans - who can afford a trillion dollars of weapons - but not medicine. Bush just vetoed health care insurance for kids - how low is that?

Answer 5

The Americans get unemployment vouchers but the poor do not get free housing like in the Uk.

Answer 6

In the U.S if you don't have money your nobody.And this business about being entitled to free hospital treatment try and get an ambulance the first thing they ask is have you got insurance if you have not they will just drive of and leave you for a charity ambulance to come and pick you up.

Answer 7

In the U.S.A. the governments of cities have been tearing down the housing that was built for the "poor" because those that live there destroy what has been given them. They have created unsafe living conditions in their own neighborhoods.
It is like "pears before swine".
Too many of those living in welfare subsidized housing are poor for good reason. It is their own character defects that keeps them poor. They reject the education given them. They reject the housing given them.
They want everything and won't do anything worthwhile to earn their benefits.
Less than 3 per cent of the population of the U.S.A. fit into that category, but they are a fact of life and they will always be poor for obvious reasons.

Answer 8

There is low income housing, food banks, food and cash assistance, shelters for the homeless, clothing banks and so many months of unemployment checks if you have enough work hours in. There is also aid for those who without health insurance to get medical care at any human resources dept if they fall in the within the guidelines.

Answer 9

There are some programs, but not nearly as many as needed because there is too much corruption. That is also why there are so many homeless people, especially in the southern states due to the milder weather.

Answer 10

In the USA we have unemployment benefits and the poor can qualify for section 8 housing (subsidized housing). And of course it is paid for by those who work, where else would the money come from, it doesn't grow on trees. The best jobs and all the materials needed to aid the poor would not exist without corporations. Just look up the infant mortality in the pre-industrialized era.
The law here says that a hospital cannot deny care to a sick or injured individual even if they cannot pay for the care.