It is possible to exploit welfare in the US?

[worlder]

Ok suppose a person chose to deliberately be a lazy ass and decided live off government assistance programs. Moreover, suppose this person manages to receive aid in every possible program they are eligible for.

How much could they possibly receive, for how long, and what is the highest quality of life allowed by such an income?

[Smurfette Principle]

They wouldn't receive benefits for very long. Unless they have some sort of mental or physical health issue (the standards for what constitutes you being unable to work are consistently getting stricter), they can only get benefits as long as they prove that they are looking for work, and that only lasts for so long. Furthermore, you can't save money from things like food stamps, and food stamps only cover certain necessities. And should you make even a dollar over the qualification line, you're off benefits.

[wrongfrog]

Considering my mother has suffered from peripheral neuropathy since I was in elementary school and has been rejected for Social Security TWICE now on the basis of being able to work a desk job. Funny thing is, she legitimately cannot even do that, as she can barely use a computer and my own father would not even hire her. He testified that exact thing IN COURT, and she's been rejected twice.

And we've been told that this thing is common; that they will repeatedly reject you for SS in order to discourage people who don't need it. And if it's really been this hard for my 43 year-old mother who already uses a cane, I can't see why people are complaining about how it's SO EASY to abuse the system. We're only able to get by because of a combination of EBT, my dad's small business (he has to pay for essentially my mom's bills as well as his own), and my grandparents' support.

I might have gotten a bit off course there, but that's my personal experience with welfare programs, and it's the reason why I get angry when people say these aren't necessary because "they might be abused!!!".

[kefkaownsall]

Similar experience not this is not as bad as my sister in law's family is well to do but they had a hard time getting their daughter disability despite the fact  that her mental capacity is just not there (literally had to remove part of it due to tumors) and that she has epilepsy which is severe enough they had to install an elevator since their house is tall and well stairs.

[worlder]

I see.

[nickiknack]

It's called TANF. It's basicly what welfare is now since 1996. The problem is that welfare myths have become so ingrained into society, thanks to the GOP, a lot of people act as if 1996 never happened, and even before then, it was more or less bs to begin with.

[Material Defender]

Boyfriend's dad is constantly trying to get kicked out of veteran's benefit despite being crippled due to back injuries suffered during the military.

Said dad votes republican.

Lol wtf.

[largeham]

Sure it is possible to exploit welfare. I mostly don't care, though seeing people from rich families exploit welfare does piss me off.

[Yla]

It's definitely possible, though it will probably become tricky at some point down the line. If you're effectively conning the welfare office, it tends to require the effort of an actual con. Unless you're lucky.
And as others have pointed out, trying to reduce false negatives creates false positives here.

[TheL]

According to my parents, welfare abuse happens ALL THE DAMN TIME.

I can only think of one person I've ever heard of who is actually gaming the system.  He gets SSDI for being "blind," despite seeing well enough to DRIVE A CAR, which requires a lot of reaction to visual stimuli.  Or at least he did 10-15 years ago, when he was brought to my attention.

I think abuse of welfare probably happens pretty rarely because it's so twisted.  I mean, come on, why game the system for a pittance, when it's barely enough to survive on, and people in genuine poverty and/or with genuine disabilities need that money?

[FirsthandTuna]

According to my parents, welfare abuse happens ALL THE DAMN TIME.

According to my mother, most welfare recipients are rich old people who have enough money to not have jobs (think Mitt Romney). Therefore we should cut welfare.

[Lt. Fred]

It's quite easy to exploit welfare*. You just have to be the right person (or 'person'). General Electric is probably the biggest welfare cheat in the world, for instance. Of the off-paper human community, most welfare recipients are old; I would have thought they'd be temperamentally unlikely to go around defrauding the government, for the same reason pensioners don't commit a whole lot of petty theft.

*If you're defining welfare as unearned money given by the government.

[worlder]

Ok most old people can't work due to their health.

The argument being made against government assistance is that those who are able body, but still don't work because they found that it would more economical to receive government aid rather than to put effort into getting a paycheck.

I'm suspecting if one is around 20-30 years of age and the aid isn't going be as lavish as a 70 year old in need of medication in addition to the more common living expenses.

[Lt. Fred]

If you're under 65, there's virtually no welfare of any type you can access. The two biggest welfare programs, medicare and social security, are almost unavailable.

[Old Viking]

Welfare?  You means astronomical subsidies and write-offs for the energy industry, corporate agriculture, manufacturers, stuff like that?