I have a first cousin on welfare. Let us use him as an example. the Feds define poverty as a family making less than $22000 a year. You can look up the exact numbers. Let us call him George. George was kicked out of school at fifteen because his was drunk. By sixteen, he had permanently lost his license due to DUI. He is married with four children. In 1992, I offered him a job making a good wage for the time. He refused.
1. He, his wife and each of four children receive a check for over a thousand a month (remember we are talking about 1992).
2. He received $700 a month in food stamps (1992).
3. He received WIC for the two youngest children ($100 a month??).
4. All four children receive both breakfast and lunch at school for free (in our community today, we also pay for supper).
5. His rent is paid $750 a month.
6. Each year his children receive a check for $250 for school cloths (1992).
7. The two youngest children spend everyday in Daycare at our expense (you price).
8. We, the taxpayer, pays three months of utilities a year plus all heating bills.
9. He lives tax free compared to you or I (no income taxes, no taxes on food, no property taxes, etc.). Today, he would also receive an earned income tax check.
10. I can not even imagine the cost of a luxury health (medical/dental) insurance policy.