It would be interesting to see a Venn diagram between people who like the Scary Movie franchise and people who like actually scary movies. Maybe it’s their way of participating in the horror genre without actually having to be scared?

That headline vs the copy though…

Fruitless job searches and worrying how you’ll pay your bills is stressful enough. People don’t need society telling them how awful they are on top of it. Most people already feel way worse about their situation than the ire of judgement.

It’s a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation for people who are just trying to survive.

Are there lazy people who’ll try to game the system? Sure. But it’s a lot of work to do so, and most can’t be bothered.

I was single and without kids. But if I did, it would be tempting to stay on it and spend more time with my kids, as opposed to working two jobs and never seeing them.

The “over utilization” of these programs is just a reflection of the core issue of wages vs. cost of living.

Now, Whole Foods starting pay was above minimum wage and I’d been there for a few years so made a decent amount. As the months went on, I looked for other jobs, but couldn’t find anything that paid what I was getting, especially not a job my doctor would approve of.

So anyone who stays on it for long is lazy, right? Not necessarily.

The first time I had to use unemployment, I was working at Whole Foods and dealing with health issues that caused dizzy spells. My doctor told me I had to take time off, but disability refused to cover a non-specific illness.

How much you get varies per state. CA has a cap of $500, no matter how much you made. In PA, it was a % of your average salary.

No one on unemployment is just given money to continue with the lifestyle they had while they were employed.

It’s also common in some states that you get a certain amount per year. If you run out, you’ll need to wait until the following year to apply again, and you’ll only get it if, as stated earlier, you’ve had work recently and made a certain amount.

In some states, while you’re on unemployment, you’re required to do a weekly job search through their platform. If you search anywhere else, you have to list all of them, how many jobs you looked at, applied to, etc. If you didn’t apply to any, you have to write a statement about why not.

So while some of YOUR tax dollars may help someone who suddenly found themselves without a job, much of what they get was previously funded by THEIR tax dollars when they were employed. It’s basically an emergency fund except you don’t earn interest when you don’t need it.

Most people think that the SNAP, or food stamp program was created to help poor people. It really, really was NOT. Not at all. The food stamps program was, in fact created to help farmers during the great depression.

I buy sushi sometimes with my EBT because I have a wonky thyroid, and eating seaweed when I’m feeling off is way better than being on meds for the rest of my life.

As if being 190% below poverty doesn’t already impact quality of life. Let people eat what they want.