Originally Posted By: firemachine69
Sorry, but the welfare payments ARE, in fact, that big. It's almost a sport competition in itself up here in Canada.
They may be in Canada. The maximum food stamp benefits for a family of 3 is $511/mo:
USDA benefits page
In my home state of Oregon, the maximum temporary assistance for needy families is $485 per month for that same family of 3; and it isn't free. Here's the requirements that must be met to keep assistance: Work requirements: Adults in families receiving cash assistance must work or participate in work related activities for a specified number of hours per week depending on the number of work-eligible adults in the family and the age of children.
Type of Family
Work participation Hours Required
Single parents with a child under age 6
20 hours weekly in core work activities.
Other single parent families or two-parent families where one parent is disabled 30 hours weekly with at least 20 hours in core activities.
Married teen or teen head of household under age 20.
Maintains satisfactory attendance at secondary school or the equivalent or participates in education related to employment for at least 20 hours weekly.
Two-parent families who do not receive subsidized child care 35 hours per week (total among both parents) with at least 30 hours in core activities.
Two-parent families who receive subsidized child care 55 hours per week with at least 50 hours in core activities
Work Activities: Federal law includes 12 work activities. 9 of the activities are 'core' activities in that they may be used to satisfy any of the average weekly participation requirements. The other 3 activities are 'supplemental' in that they may only be used to satisfy the work activity requirement after the 'core' requirement is met.
Core Activities
1. Unsubsidized employment
2. Subsidized private sector employment
3. Subsidized public sector employment
4. Job search and job readiness (limited to not more than 6 weeks in a federal fiscal year with not more than 4 weeks consecutive).
5. Community service
6. Work experience
7. On-the-job training
8. Vocational educational training (limited to 12 months for an individual), and
9. Caring for a child of a recipient in community service
Supplemental Activities
10. Job skills training directly related to employment
11. Education directly related to employment (for those without a high school or equivalent degree)
12. Completion of a secondary school program
http://www.tanf.us/oregon.html
TANF
Section 8 housing vouchers are based off of income and the median rent in an area. Households making up to 80% of the area median income are eligible. Maximum benefits are of course dependent on the area you live. Using my home state and the Portland metro area as an example; the area median rent for a 2br apartment is $944/mo. If you fall in the very bottom income bracket(which you would with TANF) you would pay no more than 28.5% of your monthly income on rent. 28.5% of $485 is $138; meaning the maximum housing benefit is $806.
'how your rent is set'
The grand total if you're following along is $1802/month or $21,624/year. For a family of 3 that's hardly going to be a life of luxury. Especially since I'm assuming this family of 3 is made up of a single mother and 2 kids. Child tax credit is a paltry $1000/per child per year. So an extra $1000 per kid is real incentive to keep popping them out!
There's always abusers out there. It would be unreasonable to say that the majority--or even a sizable fraction--of welfare recipients are abusing the system and 'living the high life' on the taxpayer's dime. But once families receive benefits... it isn't the taxpayers dime anymore! They've received benefits by a federally funded program that has been created to help them. Most of the arguments made against welfare seem to either implicitly, or sometimes even explicitly target women and minorities as being 'lazy baby makers' that don't want to work. The vilification of the poor is astonishing.
