- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Babies: 3 - 6 Months
Yules
member
Maybe politically incorrect - regarding WIC abuse
Yules
member
So while I was talking about food to a friend of mine, she mentioned that she gets WIC to cover most of her food expenses. She had a baby with her boyfriend whom she lives with. Of course, she applied as a "single" Mom. He makes a decent income fixing up retro cars. Most of it goes unclaimed. She quit working when she was 38 weeks pregnant. She managed to get unemployment benefits by claiming that the workplace did not have a suitable location for her to work normal hours. (She frigging QUIT a$$holes, she was given an opportunity to keep the job!) She then applied for a grant for school and got 4k from unemployment. It gets better, she texted me today asking what color she should dye her hair. She also complained that after BFing, her breasts deflate and that she can't decide whether to get saline or silicone implants when she weans. So she has 10 gees of disposable income to get new tits. Bravo for working it girl!
Here is naive ol' me, working PT while my husband slaves away crazy hours commuting 3 hours back and forth to the city. The reason I only work two days is because those are the days my Mom and Grandmother watch LO for free. We can't afford FT daycare. I would even figure something out if I could get a FT job teaching Art right now. Luckily, I stashed away enough money from another job to last for another year. We pay for our own mortgage, clothes, food and are both paying off school loans. Once in a while, I splurge on wholesome food by shopping at Trader Joes or WF. In the meantime, this broad is shopping there too with her WIC card. Shouldn't these stores be considered a luxury by the government?
This sh!t just makes my blood boil. I can only imagine how many unwed mommies are milking the system the same way as my buddy here. The system needs reform - big time. There should be a way for them to keep tabs on the applicants' spending. If they are buying Frye boots and getting boob jobs, perhaps they may not qualify for these handouts?
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Maybe politically incorrect - regarding WIC abuse
I hear you.When I announced I was pregnant I got laid off.We coulnd't afford cobra so I applied for Medicaid and was denied.They looked at H's income but not our bills.So they see what we make but not what we pay out.Someone actually told me to say we were getting divorced and I live alone.I decided just to figure a way to pay out of pocket.It was hard but we did it.
It does annoy me that people get it who do not need it and people who need it are SOL.
Unless she's living on bread, eggs, milk, peanut butter, cheese and juice, I think "most of my food expenses" is an exaggeration.
My favorite are the goddamn daycare vouchers driving up the cost of daycare. That's why daycare is more than my rent payment and I can't afford to keep working. Thanks state government!
Francesca Pearl is here! Josephine Hope is almost 3!
wait, are you talking about WIC or Welfare? (either way it's pretty shady of your friend to abuse the system like that)
You can't buy whatever you want with WIC, you get about 3 checks a month for specific food items, and even then you can only choose the least expensive brand.
I'm not trying to flame, just in need of some clarification
I would like to think that women like this are the exception rather than the rule.
Also:
Why? Because they cost more? I don't understand why they should only be able to buy food at Albertsons/Safeway/Kroger/WalMart or wherever. If WIC vouchers are accepted there, shouldn't people on WIC be allowed to purchase higher-end items if they want to?
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
This. You don't get enough on WIC to live off of. The biggest bonus of WIC is the free formula. Either way, she is definitely cheating the system.
IMO - No. Here's an analogy. Some of us can afford a benz, others a ford focus. You get what's suitable to your income. The same should apply for food. Why should I have to shop at any of the above mentioned generic stores with my hard earned cash while she gets the luxury of getting her cage-free eggs, unpasteurized OJ and organic peanut butter at trader joes without having to lift a finger? It's bullsh!t.
Seriously! It's shocking isn't it?! The ONLY reason I do not turn them in is because that baby is hardly ever there and I know the family and how bad it would devestate them if she was taken from them.
Whoa, I thought Jersey was bad. Oklahoma sounds amazing - I should tell my friend to move there. I guess we have it pretty strict here - they only reward single Moms. Married couples have to fend for themselves.
I could not agree more! It's a tad bit ridiculous when you go somewhere like Papa Murphy's and in the window it says "Food Stamps Accepted Here." (I don't know if Papa Murphy's accepts them but I know I've seen places like that with those signs.) Are you kidding me?!
They don't know she's married because she wasn't when she applied and they only have to re apply every 3 years. She's still got 2 to go until they MIGHT find out she's married.
Assuming this broad wasn't a complete jackasses - Should people of lower incomes be able to provide their child(ren) with good non-hormone-laden foods, even if they can't "afford" it with a paying job? When we start saying "Only wonder bread and last week's carrots for the poor!", we start punishing children for their parent's misfortune.
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
Looking at it that way, you're right. It just sucks that some people manipulate the system when others who really might need the help can't get it.
Do it.
Wow, these stories seriously upset me. I had people tell me to apply for WIC - "just to see if you qualify". Ummm, DH makes enough to support us w/o relying on others, so why should I even try to screw the system? It's those people who are going to ruin what should be a good program.
Cinema: I agree that high-end places should be considered luxury because if you are poor enough to receive government money (MY money), I want to know you are using it to fill your kids' bellies with plenty of healthy items. If I gave a homeless guy $20 bucks, shouldn't he stretch it as much as possible since it's someone else's had earned money and he has none of his own? I'd be pissed if I saw him walk into a steakhouse with that $20 when he could have eaten for 3, 4, or even more days on that. I can't afford a lot of luxury items either, and I sure as hell don't expect other people to buy them for me. I might be able to understand a rare splurge as a special treat, but that's not what what Yules was describing.
That's BS. I very much doubt your daughter would have starved herself to death if you continued to offer her mixed formula.
Bar tab = $156,000, Bus to Foxwoods = $0, Puking in the Stanley Cup = Priceless
Again, that's not the child's fault. WIC isn't only for mothers but for mothers and children. The produce markets around here are taking WIC and EBT cards. The markets are chock full of organic produce, fresh baked breads and other "luxury" items.
I have a hard time telling a child that they can't have good foods for themselves because their parents have fallen on hard times.
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
I would agree except there are healthy options at places like Walmart and regular grocery stores. It's not necessary to shop at a specialty store to eat healthy. And rather than spending $10 for that loaf of organic, imported 500 grain bread at the specialty store, that same $10 could buy a loaf of whole wheat store brand bread, a gallon of milk, and some deli meat or veggies.
I never said it was necessary. They should have the option to go there. If they choose somewhere with cheaper items, more power to them. If they prefer to shop at Trader Joe's or another similar store, more power to them.
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
I wouldn't mind WIC recipients using their benefits at higher quality stores, but only if it's based on a fixed dollar amount. I also agree that most large chains have healthy options readily available.
I see your point. I think my issue is that some people (please don't think I feel this way about all or even most poor people) is that they are not responsible enough to have the option of shopping in a more expensive place. Instead of using their government funds to buy a week's worth of food, they blow it in these specialty shops for a single day and then have nothing left to feed their kids with. That isn't fair for the responsible parents, but those aren't the ones we need to be concerned with: they usually work their butts off to get off the gov't programs so they can provide the luxury items on their own.
The problem here is that many working parents have no choice but to tell that to their children. I am a child of an immigrant family where we clipped coupons and bought what was on sale. We had no clue what organic meant and that hormones existed in other places besides body-builders' syringes. Never once did my parents think that they ought to be privy enough to shop otherwise. If we wanted a fresh loaf of good bread, my Mom had to buy the ingredients on sale and bake it herself.
I'll have to agree to disagree with pretty much everyone in this thread. I choose to not look at it like people are screwing with the system in order to provide their children with better food.
And trust me, the food at Traders Joe's is (for the most part) better quality than what you can find at most everywhere else. Deli meat =/= healthy food.
I buy food on sale. We buy in bulk and freeze a lot. And if I were ever on WIC or had to use and EBT card, I would be extremely embarrassed and upset to think people were thinking I was a bad parent for wanting to purchase foods from somewhere other than Albertsons.
And with that I'm done here.
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
People are such pieces of shiit! That's the only way to put it!
The whole issue with it is not that they are using up a week's worth of food on one loaf of artisan bread. You are given checks for specific items not a check for a certain dollar amount.. So, if they choose to purchase foods at those speciality shops the state is reimbursing more per item than someone who gets their WIC items at Walmart. That drives prices up and allows for unfair competition. It's all about reimbursement. Whole foods can say Ok we'll take WIC and charge $5 to the state gov't for a loaf of bread whereas Walmart only charges $1.50. That puts undue pressure on the state to pay out those reimbursements. That in turn drives up taxes and increases the burden of these programs.
/rant
Francesca Pearl is here! Josephine Hope is almost 3!
If this were a model for any non-profit organization, no one would ever receive any donations. I give you $20 with the intention that you won't spend it all in one place. You absolutely may do what you will with it. If I see you spending it all at a steakhouse, you will never receive another penny from me. It would be fair if WIC worked the same way. Where is the incentive for said person to go out and make their own $20 to spend at a steakhouse. Perhaps if it was earned as opposed to being govmt. gratis, more thought would be put into where this money is applied.
I live in NJ, and my chum here told them she is single. Unfortunately, not everyone using this program is as honest as you.
Your comment suggests changing the system, not those who use it which was kind of my point - why is everyone so angry that people who use WIC (whether they qualify or not) are shopping in WIC-approved stores - whether WalMart or TJ's? They both accept WIC, right? So why care at which store they spend their checks?