Nearly Half of All Children Will Use Food Stamps by Age 20

[wuapinmon]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/1..._n_342834.html

[il Padrino Ute]

I don't think that is a very reliable source, but it's a shame that there are so many parents that don't do what they need to do in order to make life better for their children.

[Fiyero]

Holy.....
The south IS rising again!

[FN Phat]

I don't think that is a very reliable source, but it's a shame that there are so many parents that don't do what they need to do in order to make life better for their children.

Sometimes the parents do what they can, and it still isn't enough. You should be thankful that you haven't been in that position.

[mUUser]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/1..._n_342834.html

Was grocery shopping at Walmart the other day, and was behind an obviously be-leaguered family of 4 that were using mulitiple WIC checks.


I left feeling incredibly grateful for my life.

[faith]

What really stood out to me from the article was the quote, “What I hope comes out of this study is an understanding that food stamp beneficiaries aren't them – they're us," Weill said.

It seems so easy to put people who use food stamps or are recipients of some sort of government “welfare” into boxes and make judgments about them. The fact is that we are them and they are us. Who knows what catastrophe could strike that could easily land my family or anyone else’s into a very difficult financial situation. My heart breaks whenever I see the shame that some of my students have over receiving “county” lunch (everyone at my school has access to free lunch and breakfast) and over asking me if I have any snacks for them to eat because they are genuinely hungry. One day, a student of mine came into my classroom towards the end of lunch in tears. He said that he wouldn’t have enough time to get his lunch because he was let out so late from being tested. This experience shook me up and helped me recognize how much some of my students depend on the crappy lunch that they serve for sustenance.

I wish that there wasn’t such a negative stigma associated with people accepting government help. We all need help sometimes and I think that it can be a humbling experience but I don't think that it should be a shameful experience.

[FN Phat]

What really stood out to me from the article was the quote, “What I hope comes out of this study is an understanding that food stamp beneficiaries aren't them – they're us," Weill said.

It seems so easy to put people who use food stamps or are recipients of some sort of government “welfare” into boxes and make judgments about them. The fact is that we are them and they are us. Who knows what catastrophe could strike that could easily land my family or anyone else’s into a very difficult financial situation. My heart breaks whenever I see the shame that some of my students have over receiving “county” lunch (everyone at my school has access to free lunch and breakfast) and over asking me if I have any snacks for them to eat because they are genuinely hungry. One day, a student of mine came into my classroom towards the end of lunch in tears. He said that he wouldn’t have enough time to get his lunch because he was let out so late from being tested. This experience shook me up and helped me recognize how much some of my students depend on the crappy lunch that they serve for sustenance.

I wish that there wasn’t such a negative stigma associated with people accepting government help. We all need help sometimes and I think that it can be a humbling experience but I don't think that it should be a shameful experience.

Well said.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Faith, that was well said. I appreciate your posts(in both content and tone). You seem to always have a well thought out position that is not born out of rhetoric, dogma, or blind bias.

[JohnnyLingo]

As long as government assistance is truly a last resort, I have no problem with it.

If a family has cut their spending down as far as possible, and asked family for help, asked religious groups for assistance and still truly need help, then by all means, go to the feds.

[wuapinmon]

The Church sends you to government assistance before Church welfare, Lingo.

IPU, I wish you would revisit your opinion. Most med students I knew in New Orleans were on food stamps. There are many factors that influence the behavior described in the link. Many people do all they can, and it's still not enough.

[New Mexican Disaster]

I don't think that is a very reliable source, but it's a shame that there are so many parents that don't do what they need to do in order to make life better for their children.

There are a shitload of people working there asses off everyday that qualify for food stamps.

I am a poverty lawyer and I work with people and get to see their financial arrangements. Primarily my clients are single women that are the victims of domestic violence and are the parents of young children. Nearly all of them work at jobs that are full time with skimpy or no benefits and low salaries.

This is the way capitalism works-in order to retain a competitive advantage and to maximize the profit motive it is necessary to get as cheap labor as you can get. One of the trade offs is that those on the bottom rung that make it possible may not be able to make ends meet and either they go without or society puts a portion of the cost of cheap labor on the taxpayer.
So in a way criticizing someone for being the low man on the totem pole is not acknowledging that it is fundamental to the structure that there are those at the bottom.

Personally I am pleased as punch that a portion of my tax dollars go to put food in front of people who are hungry, especially children.

[FN Phat]

Personally I am pleased as punch that a portion of my tax dollars go to put food in front of people who are hungry, especially children.

I used to have a different point of view of WIC, food stamps, welfare. Then I found myself in need. Not for myself. Not even for my wife (she could make do) but for my children. It was the most humiliating, difficult thing to do...stand in line for food stamps. However, I learned more in those few hours than I have in years.

Now I find myself in a better situation and I agree with you NMD, I am pleased that I can return the favor.


FTR, I have never ate so well in my life. The state of Idaho is way to generous with the food stamps.

[il Padrino Ute]

wuap, those you know in medical school, or pursuing any education, are doing something that in the future will enable them to no longer need government assistance. I'm not talking about them.

NMD, I realize that there are many in the situation in which you see each day. As with those that wuap mentioned, I have no problem with them getting the needed help.

I am talking about the abusers of the system. How many on food stamps have cell phones, satellite or cable television, wear designer clothing? How many on food stamps have enough money for their alcohol and tobacco, but not enough to buy the basics for their children?

There is nothing wrong with seeking and accepting help when needed, but there comes a point where enough is enough. Is there really a reason in which anyone in this country can not get enough education or training in order to earn a living?

[JohnnyLingo]

The Church sends you to government assistance before Church welfare, Lingo.

That's odd. At what point is government assistance not enough?

[Jarid in Cedar]

wuap, those you know in medical school, or pursuing any education, are doing something that in the future will enable them to no longer need government assistance. I'm not talking about them.

NMD, I realize that there are many in the situation in which you see each day. As with those that wuap mentioned, I have no problem with them getting the needed help.

I am talking about the abusers of the system. How many on food stamps have cell phones, satellite or cable television, wear designer clothing? How many on food stamps have enough money for their alcohol and tobacco, but not enough to buy the basics for their children?

There is nothing wrong with seeking and accepting help when needed, but there comes a point where enough is enough. Is there really a reason in which anyone in this country can not get enough education or training in order to earn a living?

The tough thing is designing a system that accomplishes the goal of helping everyone who needs and keeping out the abusers of the system. There is too much overlap and gray-zone.

If you design requirements that will allow you to help everyone who is truly in need, there will be those who abuse the system. If you design a system that eliminates all fraud out of the system, you will have people who truly need the help slip through the cracks.

As a society, we have to decide what we value most out of the system.

FTR, I do not know which end of that diode is correct.