'Hillbilly Elegy' and Finance

[Smallsteps]

That being said I did see a lot of people on food stamps and abusing it. But I heard it's been reformed a lot since the 80s and 90s. It's a lot less generous.

The sad reality is many programs federal and local do NOT work the way many people assume that it does.
There are tons of examples, my favorite at the moment is a program Seattle implemented for affordable housing... as a leasing agent my son sees it people sign up right out of school showing little income... In six months you can add anyone one the lease with you regardless of their income and you get reduced rent for 10 YEARS regardless of how your income grows etc. Nice huh ?? It does Nothing but encourage people to play the system.
The reality is john and jane doe that do not use these programs are told how great the programs are... not how they are abused and played.
Food stamps in my area ppl hang out in front of stores ask you to buy your groceries with their card and you pay them cash. Yet the state thinks the fraud is those who sell or "lose" their card and then asks for a new card. They can NOT fix issues when they assume ppl are playing by the rules and do not acknowledge the issues.
I have seen a lot of it and find it hilarious so many think there are checks and balances in place the entire system seems to run on the HONOR system. I worked in Grocery for years and no REFORM has fixed anything.

[amastewa93]

I worked in Grocery for years and no REFORM has fixed anything.

Not so long as we are still giving out money and not just giving the food items themselves... I think that's the reform we need if we continue government-funded food programs.

I am a firm believer in utilizing food banks, etc. when in need. My family did it for quite some time while both my parents found themselves unemployed.

[Gailete]

I remember bumping into a woman I knew at the grocery store and we got talking about the price or food as well as lack of income. She encouraged me to go to the food bank for any month we had no earned income above a certain point you could get things from them. I told her I didn't need to go to the food bank and we were getting by. The food bank is next door to my thrift store. At times the ladies there will ask what I am using all the stuff for and I tell them I resell it so I can earn enough to not need to go to the food bank. They are happy to hear that and it is one of the reasons that our store is there. ALL profits from the thrift store stay in town. They help people get their GED, help fire victims, etc. It is one busy store with the cheapest prices in the area for thrift stores. Yesterday I sold a pattern I picked up there for a quarter that I picked up on Monday of this week. I got $10.99 minus fees, etc. for it. I would prefer to do that than get free food at the building next door. Of course, if push came to shove I would go to the food bank, but as long as we can earn what we need I see no need to.

I used to be a cashier at a grocery store and I have seen the fraud and waste and that was with the paper stamps. I didn't know how they pulled things off with the plastic Access card, but I do see people using them that don't have that 'poor' look to them. Of course, they may have fallen on hard times like anyone can. I still remember seeing my ex's cousin's wife in line ahead of me at the grocery store buying a big stack of high dollar steaks. She looked a bit embarrassed and told those standing in line that her husband liked steak. I hadn't thought anything of it until she pulled out her food stamps to pay for them. You know what? My ex also liked steaks as did I and most likely the folks standing that line did as well. We couldn't 'afford' them, however! We were buying ground beef.