No they aren't "abusing" the system . I worked with people on welfare and they really don't know any other way of life. case workers aren't going to push for self-suffiency, because less clients , less jobs. Think about it if they made it mandatory for people on welfare to get GED or high school diplomas , they would have a good chance of finding a good entry level job. Without either they could only hope for a fast food restaurant position. I think the whole welfare sytem is now set up to keep people on it.

I work for the welfare system in Canada---specifically in the area of helping my clients pursue education and training.
So what you say amuses me!
Its my job to get people off...and after doing it for ten years, the only answer I come up with----THERE IS NO SIMPLE ANSWER.

No band-aid solution, no quick fix.
I have worked with a client, doing what you would think to be all the right things, only to have them turn around at the end of the process and completely fall off (drugs, alcohol, jail, mental illness---take your pick).

Its a difficult balance to provide a social safety net that affords people their dignity, while not encouraging dependence.

How exactly do you give someone self-esteem, courage, and the ability to make decision that are not destructive??? Then to turn them out into the real world where only the strong survive.

Hmmmm


I Tell You: One must
still have chaos in one
to give birth to a
dancing star!
-Nietzsche

Shimmy