Welfare

[Duke Nukem]

Except they are. You don't work, or attempt to get work, your welfare gets cut off or reduced. Additionally, the burden is on the recipient to prove that they are working or trying to find work, not the government.

Well, my state doesn't have a work requirement. I'm not sure how it is in other areas, but here, you can just sign up and get free money, basically.

 

[Trickie]

Well, my state doesn't have a work requirement. I'm not sure how it is in other areas, but here, you can just sign up and get free money, basically.

Have you tried this yourself? It seems like they'd have a job application quota you have to meet every month/week at the very least.

 

[Holdek]

Well, my state doesn't have a work requirement. I'm not sure how it is in other areas, but here, you can just sign up and get free money, basically.

If by "my state" you mean one of the states of the US, then yes, it does; it's a federal law. Every state must have at least half of their welfare recipients currently fulfilling a work requirement.

 

[Duke Nukem]

If by "my state" you mean one of the states of the US, then yes, it does; it's a federal law. Every state must have at least half of their welfare recipients currently fulfilling a work requirement.

I've known quite a few people who receive "tugboat" like Chris and Jace around here. My state kind of has a reputation for attracting those kinds of people. If it is required, a good deal of people are getting away with more than they should.

 

[Trickie]

I've known quite a few people who receive "tugboat" like Chris and Jace around here. My state kind of has a reputation for attracting those kinds of people. If it is required, a good deal of people are getting away with more than they should.

I think you're talking about disability, which is (from what I understand) what Chris and Jace are getting, and they're getting it because they have a disability of some kind that, in the eyes of the law, prevent you from partially or fully being able to work. Welfare is for people who have no physical or mental disabilities.

 

[Duke Nukem]

I think you're talking about disability, which is (from what I understand) what Chris and Jace are getting, and they're getting it because they have a disability of some kind that, in the eyes of the law, prevent you from partially or fully being able to work. Welfare is for people who have no physical or mental disabilities.

Doesn't mean people don't fake disability to get fraudulent payments. I admit it's difficult to track them down but it does happen. I know a few people who have.

 

[Holdek]

"Welfare Limits Left Poor Adrift as Recession Hit"

 

[Trickie]

Doesn't mean people don't fake disability to get fraudulent payments. I admit it's difficult to track them down but it does happen. I know a few people who have.

You can probably fake it, yeah, but I can't imagine it being easy, especially with all the hoops you have to jump through to get disability. It's most certainly not as easy as "sign up and get free money", as you characterized earlier.

Besides, there's no way to prevent that kind of fraud without leaving people who are actually disabled to the wolves.

 

[Duke Nukem]

You can probably fake it, yeah, but I can't imagine it being easy, especially with all the hoops you have to jump through to get disability. It's most certainly not as easy as "sign up and get free money", as you characterized earlier.

Besides, there's no way to prevent that kind of fraud without leaving people who are actually disabled to the wolves.

True, but the lack of motivation to improve one's self and/or develop a skill set that will help one get off of it disgusts me.

 

[Trickie]

True, but the lack of motivation to improve one's self and/or develop a skill set that will help one get off of it disgusts me.

Here's the thing about that, actually. The suspicion around people who are on disability is actually what causes that lack of motivation. Right now, the system has you jump through so many hoops and parades you in front of judges and state psychologists and doctors, scrutinizes the slightest inconsistencies in your story that if after you get disability you start showing improvement and getting better, they start to wonder if you weren't just making it up the whole time. There is no "oh, they're doing their best to overcome their disability and getting their life back together good for them", it's only ever a "oh, you've held a job for a few months? you must not have been as disabled as you led us to believe" sort of attitude.

It creates an uncertainty in someone who's receiving disability. Yes, they can improve, maybe they could get to a point where they're working full time again and don't need disability, but what if the symptoms come back? If that happens, you have to apply for disability all over again, and if you do you have to explain why you were able to somehow overcome your crippling disability, and why you can't just suck it up and do it again now that you've proven that you're capable of it.

If you want to remove this incentive to not improve, you need to make it so that it's easier to get back on disability if you've been on it before, and that requires a change in attitude toward disability, and mental health in general.

EDIT: By the way, getting a job while on disability is usually enough to end your benefits completely, and if you don't tell them about your job in a certain amount of time, it becomes a fraud case.

 

[Ti-99/4A]

Here's another issue that happens. A person with a disability applies for a job. They get an interview and opt to disclose they have a disability, but are more than capable of doing the job with a little or no accommodation. More likely than not the person will NOT be hired. Same person applies for a different job and does not disclose the disability. It later becomes a problem. Person then loses job for not being TRUE AND HONEST.

 

[Duke Nukem]

Here's another issue that happens. A person with a disability applies for a job. They get an interview and opt to disclose they have a disability, but are more than capable of doing the job with a little or no accommodation. More likely than not the person will NOT be hired. Same person applies for a different job and does not disclose the disability. It later becomes a problem. Person then loses job for not being TRUE AND HONEST.

In the US, many places require a certain number of people with some sort of disability hired, or be put ahead as a priority to be considered for hiring, assuming one is able enough otherwise to do the job. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that for each job, certain tasks must be confirmed as necessary. Like lifting 50+ lbs., dealing with hot water/chemicals, etc. I know of a guy with a very mild form of autism that does very well where I work with little or no outside help. I'm not sure how it is in your country, or where you live, but here, having a disability that does not otherwise interfere with work increases one's chance of being hired, for the most part. Same with being a veteran, actually, except they get even higher priority, all other things being equal.

And the darker side of it is, for health insurance, sometimes people can't work over a certain number of hours lest they risk losing it. At least, that's how it is in my state.

Also:

 

[Pikimon]

I'd rather have my hard earned money go to feeding a person, than to blowing up a country or to subsidize already rich corporations.

 

[Ti-99/4A]

I'd love to work harder, but I need to get hired somewhere first. Full Disclosure:
I live in Astoria Oregon at the moment and I'm lucky to get an interview due to my nearly six years of being unemployed and on disability. I previously lived in Huntsville Alabama and worked my ass off for 15 years starting the summer after my sophomore year in high school. I covered for all the cool kids while they went out partying and getting laid. I went to college and burned out after 2 years because I had to work at my jobs so much. I ended up working in electronics manufacturing from 1997-2000, most of that time on perpetual 12 hour shifts 7 days a week until Y2K passed. I had another short stint at college in that time. Class at 8 AM after working till 3:30 AM. Then the company had major cutbacks and got rid of tuition reimbursement. I joined the Navy in 2000 despite having battled mental illness the entire time prior. By the grace of God I passed Basic Training and finished Basic Submarine school in the top 10% of my class. It didn't last and I ended up discharged with a personality disorder just before VA benefits would kick in. I had bet my entire life and all my possessions on it and lost. My father and step mother couldn't deal with me so I went back home and got a similar job to what I had before. Worked more ungodly hours at night while going to school full time during the day. I graduated with honors and a year later after a failed engagement found myself living with an abusive thieving meth addict and his semi responsible pushover roommate. I slept on the couch with a knife under my pillow and 911 on speed dial on my cellphone. The experience gave me psychosomatic partial paralysis. I could barely walk at times and there was a constant dead feeling in the right side of my head. My right eye would only partially open and now right side of my mouth permenantly drooped downward and my speech was slurred. But I still went to work every single day because it was all I had left and I was so damn good at it that my coworkers always had my back. I didn't survive the next round of layoffs and spent six months drawing a check, but I found work again.
During all of this I was uninsured since I was a temp so I was not able to get adequate mental health care. So in 2006 I had another major breakdown. I tried to keep working, but it was sporadic. The last job I had before I moved was stocking shelves at Kroger. I was supposed to get a transfer to the Fred Meyer in my new location, but I was terminated instead. That was in 2008.

My cousin convinced me to move here. Once I got here though, I was on my own. I could not get work and I was losing my mind. I found myself on the streets 2500 miles away from everything and everyone I knew. I was lucky to get put into a group home and signed up for the .

I now live in subsidized housing.
Almost everything I own was well used and abused before it became mine.
I don't drink. I don't do drugs that were not perscribed to me and I take those as directed.
I have no ink or piercings.
I don't have a cell phone, smart or otherwise.
I have no Cable TV.
I try to avoid junk food, but have a soft spot for Mtn. Dew
I might go out to eat once a month.
I do not Gamble
My computer is a 10+ year old dumpster rescue on it's last legs
I do not own a vehicle
I do volunteer work when it comes up.
I get a little extra money helping people move, clean, or fix their computer
I am working with supported employment and signed up for vocational rehab.
I had some success selling arts and crafts at a show a few weeks ago.
I never ask for help from anyone since the whole country chips in for my $1021 a month income. I might at most ask for a smoke now and then.
While I never ask for help, I give it freely when I have the means.

So, am I doing the whole worthless mentally defective thing right?

 

[Trickie]

I fixed that for you:

*This is, of course, assuming you make six figures, annually, any less than that and your share of the work starts getting a lot lighter.


Also, I decided to make my own

 

[Duke Nukem]

I fixed that for you:

*This is, of course, assuming you make six figures, annually, any less than that and your share of the work starts getting a lot lighter.


Also, I decided to make my own

LOL, good one, I just thought the bumper sticker was funny and worth posting.

And I think you mean "depends?"

 

[Trickie]

LOL, good one, I just thought the bumper sticker was funny and worth posting.

And I think you mean "depends?"

I beg your pardon? I don't need diapers. It's not like I have a problem.

but yeah, I noticed that I should've added an "s" to "depend", but by the time I noticed I closed the original psd without saving and I just kind of got lazy.

 

[Duke Nukem]

I beg your pardon? I don't need diapers. It's not like I have a problem.

And yeah, I noticed that I should've added an "s" to "depend", but by the time I noticed I closed the original psd without saving and I just kind of got lazy.

Oh yeah, to be fair, this one exists as well:

Far as I'm concerned, they're both true.

 

[Holdek]

"Woman A Leading Authority On What Shouldn’t Be In Poor People’s Grocery Carts" (The Onion)

And the darker side of it is, for health insurance, sometimes people can't work over a certain number of hours lest they risk losing it. At least, that's how it is in my state.

How does that work?

 

[Duke Nukem]

How does that work?

If you make over a certain amount of money they cancel your state provided insurance. Then you have no insurance unless you buy it. The way it is set up, you practically have to double your income to get by.

Work a job part time and get SSI/RSDI and income is close to a full time job. Except you can get free insurance due to earned income being below a certain amount. Go full time and abandon SSI though, and you have to buy insurance at a high price, and while you work more, net income is substantially less due to insurance cost. It makes it hard for people to get off the stuff.