Reply #8: No. No time limits [View All]

[Raspberry]

And AFDC is Aid to Families with Dependent Children. (It may actually be called something else by now.) This is the program that pays single moms. It used to be that women could get AFDC from the time their first child was born right up until their youngest child turned 18. The way the program was designed and administered, it really fostered dependency. A (relatively) young woman could find herself with no income, no job skills, no prospects, just because she no longer had minor children. The intentions were good, the results not so much.

I worked for our county DSS back in the mid-70's. We had one young girl, 17 years old, who had a baby. Suddenly she found herself with a cute little kid, a cute little apartment, a check that must have seemed humongous to a kid. Welfare programs bought her food, paid her medical expenses, and gave her some spending $$$. The social workers all looked at each other and admitted that it must have looked like a really good deal to this young girl and her friends.