I was exaggerating above
@Yvonne Smith - probably because all of those stupid TikTok videos from entitled abusers got under my skin.
There is nothing fake about them though. Even when I was in high school in the start of the 1970s it was not uncommon to overhear girls approaching graduation bantering about strategies to start pumping out babies to maximize welfare payments. Forced busing really opened our eyes to subcultures we'd never known in the North.
This was actually starting back in the mid-50’s when I was a girl,
@Jacob Petersheim . The advantages were not as much back then, but still enough for women to get a divorce and raise their kids on welfare money and government commodities.
My mom had rental houses and apartments, so she sometimes had the welfare moms renting from her. At that time, at least in Idaho, it could be set up so that the rent was sent directly to my mother, so she was usually able to get the monthly rent when it was sent directly.
Otherwise, my mom would have to try and be there right when the person got her check, take her to cash it (they often did not have a vehicle of their own), and then collect the rent right away before it was wasted on other things.
The government gave out commodities , maybe not each month, but at least every few months, and it had large bags of flour, beans, rice, corn meal, powdered milk, as well as canned meats and a large loaf of cheese. Often, even back then, people did not use the dry foods, and when they moved out, the bags of beans, etc. , were just left in the kitchen pantry.
People sold the meats and cheese because they were good quality food, just like they sell their EBT allowance nowadays, so even if we went back to handing out commodities (which some people are suggesting) it would still be misused.
I think that if Sec. Kennedy revamps what foods are allowed, and we take the illegals off the programs, and make it temporary for able-bodied people who just need temporary help, the program can be manageable, and it can help seniors, disabled vets, and others who really need this kind of a program.