here in il and i think other states welfare is reimbursed partly but the
point is well taken, Lee
"Meghan Noecker" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 2 Sep 2011 14:55:36 +0000 (UTC), Doug Freyburger
> > wrote:
>
>>Nancy Young wrote:
>>> Meghan Noecker wrote:
>>>
>>>> The welfare system actually holds people down even though it is
>>>> intended to be a helping hand. I wish it were more of a hand up
>>>> instead of a hand out. Help people with eductaion, job training,
>>>> cooking classes, finance classes, etc, And have limits so that people
>>>> know they really must get off the system. And once they were free of
>>>> the system, they could really be proud of themselves.
>>>
>>> They imposed time limits on welfare eligibility in the 90s in NJ.
>>> You have a 5 year lifetime cap. When it was put into effect, there
>>> were job training programs to help people get back into the work
>>> force, which is ongoing.
>>
>>Few object to a hand up. Many object to a hand out. Is it really
>>better to support a family forever on taxes than to let them sink or
>>swin? Which is more beneficial to society in the long run? No easy
>>questions to answer.
>>
>>The simplist approach would seem to be to reduce benefit payments by
>>$0.50 for every earned $1.00. It means any attempt at work that
>>produces pay helps the recpient. Even a minimum wage job improves their
>>life. I've never quite gotten why that's not the standard practice.
>
>
> Same here. If somebody works, they lose that amount of pay from the
> benefits. So, unless they earn more than the welfare payment, there is
> no gain. And if they spent money on travel expenses (gas or bus) and
> had to pay for childcare, then they had a net loss, possibly a large
> loss. In terms of finances and now, then it makes more sense to stay
> home and take the welfare.
>
> Since a lot of people on welfare are not likely to get hired at a full
> time good paying job, it is simply not realistic to expect them to
> start off with a job that pays higher than welfare. That works for
> people who had a good job, lost it, and can get a new good job. But
> for the tons of people with no specialized skills, it is not
> practical.
>
> It is also teh reason than many people will accept unemployment until
> it almost runs out. They won't bother to apply for lower paying jobs
> because they can get more via unemployment. So, they only accept the
> plower job when it is financially better than the welfare or
> unemployment payments.
>