Spot Checking Welfare Recipients’ Homes

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When I first starting hearing this, about a week-and-a-half ago, I thought that people were referring to drugs or alcohol. I thought:

Well, if they are actually known addicts and are doing or selling the drugs

in front of their children – maybe…

I didn’t think too much of it. A comment from someone yesterday showed me that some of the people who want welfare recipients’ homes spot checked are actually referring to electronics. Another comment has been in regards to homes being checked for nice furniture, and still more comments have referred to clothing.

I am guessing that people believe that welfare recipients shouldn’t be spending their money on these types of things, and that they all (or most of them) are.

At first, the realization that people were referring to material possessions irked me to no end. Today, I am laughing over it.

Why? Because I remember how I have acquired most of my belongings. And most of the things that the girls have been giving.

• One day, while on ebay searching for clothing for my girls, I came across a series of auctions for name brand clothing. These clothes were for items put out by Old Navy, Aéropostale and other designers. Clothing that I couldn’t afford to buy for my children. I purchased a bunch of clothing, for only $100.00 including shipping, from 4 different sellers. When the boxes arrived, the girls had a field day trying everything on. They each ended up with an entire wardrobes, including socks, and bras (which are sooo expensive normally). They were so excited. Everything that didn’t fit went to their friend, and what didn’t fit her went to a neighbor girl who couldn’t afford clothing. I outfitted four girls for $100.00. That is $25.00 per girl, including shipping costs!
• The whole time I was raising my girls, we received hand-me-downs of nice clothing from friends and family with children older than the girls. I didn’t have to buy many clothes at all until the girls were in their mid teens. I spent almost no money on clothing for them. I also dressed in hand-me-downs that came from from friends in family, whenever I could. When I did have to purchase anything, I shopped yard sales first. Brand name clothing at a quarter to fifty cents a pop was hard to beat. On rare occasions, I had to purchase new items. I saved for these.
• When the girls were in their teens, and we had to purchase more of their clothing, we added more trips to the resale shops. The Goodwill is a particular favorite. Name brand pants for $3.95 a pair was one of the best reasons to shop there, and designer dresses for under $10.00 – and usually under $5.00. Great buys.
• Furniture? Well… Skye had new furniture from the baby shower. I didn’t purchase any of it. Her first big girl bed was purchased by my mom. Furniture also came in the form of hand-me-downs. Most of it looked old and unattractive but, once-in-a-while, we received a gem. My dad purchased me a nice living room set once when the girls were little. And just last year, with my income taxes, I was able to purchase a new set all by myself. I was pretty proud of myself. And, I got a deal… the chair was free with the purchase of the sofa. Of course, I need a new mattress for my bed. I wake up every morning, my hips killing me. Maybe next year. My mattress sets have always been hand-me-downs as well. I have purchased desks for all of us, and some cheap shelving – oh, and one of those $40.00 entertainment centers. I have also purchased each of the girls a bed. They were teenagers. I had to save for these items.
• Electronics. Well – I still have the “old” clunker televisions. I didn’t upgrade to flat panels when they came out. Some day I suppose I will have to. My daughters’ father purchased the television we have in the living room before he passed away 17 years ago. Literally. It was a good one. Nope, I take that back. He purchased one, that kicked the bucket soon after he passed. This is the one we got as a free replacement from the store. The little television in my room was purchased by me. Another thing I saved for and was proud to be able to purchase. I did purchase the two DVD players, the cheapest ones I could find. And, the converter boxes when they took away my channels from regular tv. I used the coupon and still had to pay about $40.00 each. But, you see, the television was our main source of entertainment. Of course, we only get two channels… sometimes. It has been nice during good income years, when we have had cable/satellite. I don’t have a stereo, but I do have some CD’s, given to me as gifts or purchased at yard sales, that I am able to play in the DVD players, or on the computer.
• Which leads me to: The computer and laptops. I bought a WebTV unit when the girls were young, which I taught myself to set-up and use. Couldn’t do a lot with it at the time, but it was good practice. My dad bought himself a computer, and bought me one as well. It was very kind of him. When he bought himself a new one a few years later, he gave my daughters his used one so that I could have mine to myself. He wanted me to practice writing, so that I could have a career in the field. I didn’t have a lot of time for this, because I was working and raising the girls. He purchased me a brand new Dell a couple years later. That was about 7 years ago, and it is the one I am still using. It is the one that I HAVE built my writing career on. Thanks Dad. It is old now. It runs incredibly slow. My computer geek brother-in-law can’t really do anything about it anymore, but fixes it for me whenever something goes wrong. It needs to be replaced. When my father passed away a few years after purchasing this computer, I got a laptop, refurbished. I used for a couple years, allowing the girls to use the desktop because the other computer was no good anymore. They needed a computer for their homeschool studies. I needed one to build that career with. A couple years ago I had my brother-in-law swipe the laptop and make it so Zowie could use it for high school, and Upward Bound at the university. I came back to using the desktop. In the fall, she purchased a brand new laptop with her own money for college. The old laptop needs replacing. It costs more money to keep it going than it would cost to replace it. This year, I will have to replace both of these on my own. I will do this by purchasing a new laptop to replace both. Then I can bring it with me to the library or other places where I can use wifi to work faster and more.
• As my daughters were growing up, my parents purchased nice things for them, just like they did for the rest of their grandchildren. There is no reason why welfare children shouldn’t have nice things in their opinion. So, they would ask what they wanted. One year it was stereos. Another it was nice bookshelves. Another it was DVD players.

So, what does all of this mean? It means that welfare recipients do not always purchase all of the nice electronics and other items that they own. At least not brand new. It means that grandparents, other relatives and friends want to see children have nice things, so they purchase items without prodding. It means that parents of welfare moms want to see their daughters succeed, and have no problem helping them to accomplish their goals if they are serious about them.

It means that spot checking welfare recipients’ homes is a useless act, if you are doing it because they may have nice things. An act that would cost the state and federal governments – or the tax payers themselves – an incredibly large sum of money every year. Money that is not readily available, though I guess it could be taken out of the defense or education funds.

It also means that many of the recipients work, and save for items they want. It means that they will purchase new to them items cheaply.

In my mind, now that I have gotten over the initial shock, this is a silly thing to put upon people just because they are welfare recipients.

Shannon L. Buck