Two and a half families (a financial tale)

I have no problem with the government helping out those who are in need of help, but lets look at something for a minute.

Two and a half families (a financial tale)

The cast

Family A: Couple (early 30's), college educated, one child, work full time, no government income, discount health insurance through employer costing $400 per month. Single Car (1993 Accord).

Family B: Single mother (early 30's), high school drop out, three children, gets disability for headaches, welfare checks, child support, doesn't work, food stamps, government pays her rent and utilities, full medicaid for her and her children. SUV

Family C (half family): single woman (20), No college, pregnant, no income, does't work, food stamps, full medicaid, lives with Family A, Family A pays for basics and makes sure she has what she needs.


Daily Life:

Family A: Both work 8 to 10 hours per day, Sundays off, some Saturdays off, One spouse spends the evenings taking online classes to further her education. They must get up early to be sure their child gets off to school, and often go to bed late in order to get everything done that needs to get done around the house.

Family B: Wakes up in the morning, gets her children off to school, goes back to bed, wakes up again around 3 to get children off of the bus, often has the oldest child (15) take care of the younger ones in the evening so she can go out with her "friends".

Family C: Helps Family A in the mornings getting their child ready for school, then sits on couch all day watching tv, then goes to bed around 8.


Now for the meat and potatoes of it all.

Family A works hard to provide for their family. Yet they can never seem to get ahead. They can't afford many luxuries. Between basic medical bills, gas prices, food, and utilities they always seem to just break even if they are lucky. They rarely have time for family and sleep, and never have a chance to go out. When they shop for food they buy the cheapest stuff. When one of them is sick they rarely go to the doctor because the "discount" insurance only discounts the visit about $10 dollars.

Recently Family A's Daughter had the flu, and the school corporation requires that any child out of school for more than one day has to have a doctors excuse. So they had to take the child to the doctor to get looked at. It was confirmed that she has the Flu, but the problem is she is allergic to amoxicillin and the only other medication that they could give her cost $250.00. The insurance that they pay over $400 dollars a month for would only pay for $8.50 of the cost. Even though they avoid going to the hospital as often as possible, they still have hospital bills piling up the the insurance company only paid minimal on or nothing at all.

With just the price of living, they have no money for saving, vacation's are out of the question, and finding free family activities to do is getting harder and harder to do (when they find the time)


Mean while, the mother in family B lives in a 5 bedroom house which the government pays rent for, seems to go to the doctor every other day to get "shots" for her "head aches". She does not have to worry about how much a medication is going to cost or having medical bills pile up. Medicaid pays for it all. Though she doesn't have any savings, somehow her family gets to go somewhere every weekend, and they during to summer go on vacation 4 or 5 times. She often complains she has no money and has the "life owes me" attitude. When she goes to the store she buys the best of everything. Name brand food. Gourmet coffee, and the money she has left on her food card, she will often sell to someone else for cash.

Now Family C is a single person who is pregnant Living with Family A. Family A is helping her because she is pregnant and she has no where else to go. However though she doesn't yet get income from the government, and family A pays for everything but food for her, she does get Food stamps in an amount that far exceeds what family A could ever afford for food. Thus she will buy name brand everything for herself and Family A often has to sit and watch her eat junk food like crazy while they are only eating generic food. She is pregnant and goes to the doctor every few weeks, medicaid pays for it, along with the best prenatal stuff.

The woman in Family C helps very little around the house and complains when she is asked to do anything.




So their is the story of two and a half families, and yes I am in Family A and get sick and tired of watching families B and C have the "whoa is me" attitude, and act like we owe them something. We work our asses off and can barely make ends meat, yet I watch these people cry and whale all the time, yet they pay for nothing.

No I do not think it is fare that we have to pay thousands each year in health insurance, that often refuses or pays very little of our medical bills. We can not give our daughter the best health care possible, because we can't afford it. Yet these other two family's visit the hospital or doctor often and have it all paid for including all medications.

We often have to give up any vacation time we may have just because we could use the extra money to get caught up on bills, yet they are free to do as they please when they please. Family B gets 3 incomes, welfare (for children), disability (for headaches?), and child support (from 3 different men). of course she can afford all of these vacations and stuff.


I have no problem with helping out those in need, but seriously they do not need to be buying name brand crap.

In my opinion, the middle class may be yelling and screaming at the lower class of everything, but it's not their fault, it's the system's fault.

If someone needs help, we should help them, but we really need to stop making it so easy. It's sad when I often get jealous of someone getting to live off of the government.

Sorry for the rant here, but I have just about had it with what we have become as a nation of takers.

Folks this is not a fairy tale, this is reality. Welcome to America

reply to post by tw0330


Why are you/Family A, supporting Family C...she needs to find a job, and contribute to your Family. This makes no sense. If she is able to work, she should not be sitting around all day, eating expensive junk food and watching TV. She is abusing your generosity.

Des

This is a sad true story that you seen replicated everywhere, in our entitlement society thats only getting worse I fear we will see even more of it. Question is can we stop it? And how if we can, we have raised a society so used to hand outs and entitlements that I fear it will only get worse before it gets better.

No one seems to understand the value of a dollar, and how much work goes into procuring even just a few, I say you show some serious tough love to Family C and get her ass as much in gear as you can, preggo or not there is no reason for one to free load off others generosity.

I feel for ya, this world just isn't fair and the fact that it is thrown in the faces of those out making an honest buck is what gets me the most, the fact these people seem to have no problem living with themselves while other suffer in their wake.....

Hopefully things can improve and you can get a little time for yourselves in the future stay strong for its all we can do....

SaneThinking

reply to post by Destinyone


Very good question. This situation kind of came out of the blue. Our biggest problem is that our heart is to big. My thoughts are on making sure that her unborn child is cared for. She was living in an abusive situation and far from an environment to raise a child. She owned nothing and needed a safe haven for herself and unborn child.

We have already told her that once the child comes she will need to get a Job.

I feel your pain in so many ways. Its because family A is the one who funds family A B and C. Why would they go to work when they have a cofortable lifestyle without working?

I work construction and fit in mostly with family A. I have my own 2 bed 1 bath 80 year old very modest house. I get lucky to break even every month working 8 hours at my job not including side jobs after work. I have no retirement or health insurance because I can't afford it.

The families who fit under family B in my smaller community live in homes on a 2-block long street with a coul-de-sac that are ~10 years old known as the Section 8 housing. At any given time during the day you can drive down and find houses with 3 or 4 go-carts and 3-wheelers in the yard. a couple SUVs with at least 22" chrome rims, and enough kids in the road to fill a school. I pick up a co-worker every day who stays with his girlfriend at the end of the block and it just makes me start every day pissed off.

I have given a couple of them an opportunity for a job helping with me, starting $12 per hour no experience necessary. It't not much but pay but its not terrible and would start to go up with just a little experience. Every one was offended at being offered $12 per hour. Life is that much better unemployed.

Between the paying of monthly interest charges to my bank (to the rich) and after taxes that are partially used for the non-workers (the poor), I have just enough money to get to work and keep from starving to death.

They have me right where they want me.

reply to post by tw0330


Family A shouldn't have had a child if they can barley break even.

Sorry, but it's the truth.

reply to post by MystikMushroom


Maybe you should re-read the entire OP before making a remark that only makes you look like you did a quick one over then posted a reply. Take into account the situation maybe then retort with something a little more educated. Just Saying

SaneThinking

The same story is repeated in Canada my friend.
Except we have another "family" to feed and clothe.
That would be our not-so-civil service class.

The point here is not for you to feel bad for my family or anything. We are happy and enjoy our lives. Things get tough at times, but we make it through.

The point of this is that it isn't just my family that sees this. This is not an exception to the rule, this has become the rule.

Those that work hard and do as they should are the ones having to eat the generic foods, tighten there belts and pay the highest taxes while the health of those in the family declines because they can not pay the health care bills that the $400 dollar a month health insurance won't pay for, which in todays world is most of it.

Those that do not work, get the best health care, best foods, all the time they need with their family, pay no taxes, and yet still think the world owes them.

I do not blame them, I blame a broken system. A system who gives to the rich and the poor but takes the money from the middle class in order to do so. And don't give me that crap that the middle class isn't being forced to give to the upper class, where do you think the money to fill up your gas tanks go? how about the money that we are forced to pay for in very poor health care insurance? Rising utility bills? Taxes?

If you need the help, fine the system should be used as a safety net, not the ground you walk on.

again I will not blame those that are part of the system, as the upper class and corporations are lobbying to help create this, thus causing a dual class warfare between the middle and lower classes, so that the people ignore the fact that corporations themselves are taking far more from us than those they rely on the system ever did.