Quote:
Originally posted by Wenchy
I also don't agree with women who deliberately get pregnant and have a child so they can collect support and not have to work.
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Would you believe that I was advised by my foodstamps/AFDC caseworker to get pregnant again so that I could continue to stay on assistance? The system is pretty much set up so that people who try to start working get penalized for it -- making anything above a certain amount a month resulted in the loss of over half my benefits, which was NOT made up for by the amount of money I was making.
We went through some scary, scary times when I was trying to get off assistance after my husband left me. It really would have been easier and made more sense for me to follow my caseworker's advice and get knocked up again, rather than work my butt off to complete some work training and get a job.
I didn't, though -- I just sucked it up and kept trying when I would get a letter in the mail informing me that they were reducing my benefits AGAIN, even though I was making minimum wage and was having to make the decision "which do I want to have this month: food, electricity, or a phone? which one gets to be a luxury this month?"
It sucked, and it was terrifying, but I'm proud that when I was a single mom, I got myself off welfare and into a good job before I got married again, and was taking care of myself and my daughter alone.