Is anybody going to get off, ever?
I had written this article when I first started blogging. It didn't get much response at the time, but in the light of the recent spate of articles about welfare and it's abuse I thought I'd bring it out, dust it off a bit and see what happened this time around. I've taken away a few things, added a few more...it's about people being on welfare and having seemingly no desire to get off : in fact, they seem intent on digging themselves in deeper by having more kids than they can support...
I am very well aware that despite every precaution, accidents sometimes happen. I have a 7 year old 'surprise' sitting in my living room as we speak!
My husband and I have had points in our life where we haven't had ANY money left over after the bills were paid and food was bought. Yes, we considered applying for food stamps at one point, and we qualified, but there was a sense of defeat to our accepting them...we felt as if we'd be failing not only ourselves but our kids as well - and we also felt it wrong to take them when we were managing without them. Yes, we had no money, but we were paying the bills and everyone was eating. Using food stamps to finance our social lives (which is what would have happened) would just have been wrong in our opinion.
We didn't plan on having 3 children, but that's the way it happened, and we did what was neccessary to support, maintain, and care for those 3 kids without anyone elses help (meaning government help). More importantly, we realized when we were at our limit financially and took the appropriate steps to ensure that no more 'surprises' came along. Having another child just wasn't feasable, no matter how much we would have liked to expand our brood.
So, why do some folks think it's ok to keep reproducing like ferrets? Is the concept of contraception lost on them? I don't think the 'accident' theory really holds much water after the sixth or seventh time; heck, i think it's pretty much shot to pieces after the second or third time! Or, could it be that they know they have safety net in the welfare system and therefore take less care to ensure no more accidents happen?
I'm not criticizing people who have lots of kids; I myself would have liked to have had more - but I am voicing concern over couples who consistently have more and more babies without giving a damn about how they're going to support and raise said babies BY THEMSELVES, SANS ASSISTANCE FROM THE GOVERNMENT! I know for certain that if you're below a certain income level birth control is provided to you FREE OF CHARGE (in this state it is anyway)..and if for some reason you can't use birth control, there's always abstinence. Sex doesn't have to be about penetration; there are many more ways to get your jollies.
I think that we have, in our desperation to help those who needed a boost to get back on their feet and be self-supporting again, created a welfare state. People know that the government isn't going to let them fall too damn far, and some of them are using and abusing that fact. People aren't interested in being self supporting; why should they be when they can make more money staying at home? Why should they pay full-price rent when they can get a reduced subsidized income adjusted deal instead? Why should they go back to work and have to pay their own bills when the government will give them food, shelter and a little extra for staying home? Why should THEY worry about how they're going to feed all the kids they're producing? WIC and foodstamps will take care of that.
I know that not everyone who claims assistance is like this: we just see those who are more than we do those who are NOT. This isn't about race or ethnicity either, the family who inspired me to write this was white...
There, I said it.