"We tried to provide more for the poor and produced more poor instead. We tried to remove the barriers to escape from poverty and inadvertently built a trap." ~Charles Murray Loosing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980 (1984).
As I prepare to write this blog, I am conflicted -- uncertain about how it will be taken. I am a child of welfare. The daughter of a single mother, never married. I have eaten most of my meals at the hands of taxpayers and tithes. My college education was federally funded by grants and student loans I have yet to be able to pay. I have lived safe and warm under several roofs that were subsidized. We paid a portion: you paid a portion.
One of my proudest moments was becoming employed (post baccalaureate) and earning enough -- along with my husband's temporary job -- to fall off of food stamps and Medicaid. We may have still qualified due to our household size, but I wanted the "safety net" gone. I wanted to be able to say, "We've got this."
Several bouts with unemployment, choking on debt, and hazardous health issues later, I've made some observations that I can't find a study to back up. So, I'm throwing them out into the world hoping that someone with the ability to reinvent policy will do so.
You see, once upon a time, as two young college students about to graduate with a large family in tow, my husband and I sat down to figure out how much income we would need to earn to *maintain* the subsidized lifestyle we were then living. We were surprised at how much we were being given while still classifying ourselves as "poor" and we have been disheartened by the fact that, even with both of us working in jobs that require our freshly minted college degrees; we have yet to reach that pre-determined dollar amount.
Something has got to change. I'm not asking for a rise in minimum wage or a brand new EBT card to keep us afloat. I don't want the government to feed us. I want to do what real citizens do -- I want to pay taxes and know that I built roads and kept a national park or two healthy for another year.
I have watched a man with a work ethic I admired shrivel and shrink until I hardly recognize him. He is longing for the "safety net" I refuse to apply for (oh, yes, we totally qualify still) and he is not the only one I've seen it happen to. What is the psychological cost for being "protected" like children? And what do we teach children who witness parents who feel entitled to the net without any requirements but a thick stack of paperwork?
I believe the answer is here. I can't imagine that I would be an educated woman, writing this blog -- capable of research, analyzing data, and communicating with clarity -- had it not been for the assistance I have received. I am not saying that help with basic necessities should be removed completely, but when "help" is given to the point where a human being is crippled by receiving it, we *must* reevaluate what we are doing.
Why not take an inventory of people's skills and qualifications and ask them to give 10 hours per week in community service in exchange for the help provided? Unless they are physically or mentally handicapped beyond the ability to give any service, this requirement would allow them to maintain their dignity and tap in to their need for human interaction and affirmation. (I should point out that this idea is for adults or teens of a working age and NOT for school-aged children receiving free or reduced lunches as has been suggested of late. School is hard work and long hours. Let's not make it more difficult and push people to drop out.)
As I prepare to write this blog, I am conflicted -- uncertain about how it will be taken. I am a child of welfare. The daughter of a single mother, never married. I have eaten most of my meals at the hands of taxpayers and tithes. My college education was federally funded by grants and student loans I have yet to be able to pay. I have lived safe and warm under several roofs that were subsidized. We paid a portion: you paid a portion.
One of my proudest moments was becoming employed (post baccalaureate) and earning enough -- along with my husband's temporary job -- to fall off of food stamps and Medicaid. We may have still qualified due to our household size, but I wanted the "safety net" gone. I wanted to be able to say, "We've got this."
Several bouts with unemployment, choking on debt, and hazardous health issues later, I've made some observations that I can't find a study to back up. So, I'm throwing them out into the world hoping that someone with the ability to reinvent policy will do so.
You see, once upon a time, as two young college students about to graduate with a large family in tow, my husband and I sat down to figure out how much income we would need to earn to *maintain* the subsidized lifestyle we were then living. We were surprised at how much we were being given while still classifying ourselves as "poor" and we have been disheartened by the fact that, even with both of us working in jobs that require our freshly minted college degrees; we have yet to reach that pre-determined dollar amount.
Something has got to change. I'm not asking for a rise in minimum wage or a brand new EBT card to keep us afloat. I don't want the government to feed us. I want to do what real citizens do -- I want to pay taxes and know that I built roads and kept a national park or two healthy for another year.
I have watched a man with a work ethic I admired shrivel and shrink until I hardly recognize him. He is longing for the "safety net" I refuse to apply for (oh, yes, we totally qualify still) and he is not the only one I've seen it happen to. What is the psychological cost for being "protected" like children? And what do we teach children who witness parents who feel entitled to the net without any requirements but a thick stack of paperwork?
I believe the answer is here. I can't imagine that I would be an educated woman, writing this blog -- capable of research, analyzing data, and communicating with clarity -- had it not been for the assistance I have received. I am not saying that help with basic necessities should be removed completely, but when "help" is given to the point where a human being is crippled by receiving it, we *must* reevaluate what we are doing.
Why not take an inventory of people's skills and qualifications and ask them to give 10 hours per week in community service in exchange for the help provided? Unless they are physically or mentally handicapped beyond the ability to give any service, this requirement would allow them to maintain their dignity and tap in to their need for human interaction and affirmation. (I should point out that this idea is for adults or teens of a working age and NOT for school-aged children receiving free or reduced lunches as has been suggested of late. School is hard work and long hours. Let's not make it more difficult and push people to drop out.)
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