How common are "welfare bums"?

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I often hear conservatives and libertarians rant about "welfare bums" who live off welfare when they don't need it. I agree that people should only be on welfare if they need it. I agree that a person who needs money should go to their family first and the government last because that is just the right thing to do. I just want to make that clear before I continue.

Here is my question: How many people are seriously living on welfare that they don't need? I seriously don't know the answer.

I can say that I know one person who lives on welfare and doesnt need it. By gosh, he has over 900 games, a nice car, house(living with his aunt), furniture, has plenty of food, etc.

i think that answer will vary quite a lot from country to country,

i know of one that receives benefits he shouldnt, the money were earned in another country while he was a citizen there, so technically they are tax free.
so in essence he has something akin to 400k usd sitting in an account as leisure money, unfortunately there is little that can be done since the money dont need to be registered as income, it already was.
the danish welfare department also dont have any legal power to request account information from another country.

in denmark one cant own any property with a value of more than some 2000 usd if you are on welfare, if you have an account with that amount on it (that you havent received as benefits the same month) then the same rule applies.

i hope that law will be changed for anyone in the system for less than 6 months, no reason a family should have to sell their house and car(though this is more debatable) because of a short term income problem (there is already laws that decrease amounts in relation to partner income)

all that said i know of plenty that receive benefits that truly do need them, i also know of plenty that receive less than what they can realistically live on given what is expected of them, especially students, they actually receive less than the people that have no job and only activation or recovery as social responsiblities.

Last edited by Oodain on 23 Nov 2012, 9:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.

How the hell did he qualify for welfare then?

I honestly think that libertardians and other conservatives who whine about "welfare bums" are just looking for an excuse to kick at people less fortunate then they are.

Usually they're pandering to the majority when they mention "welfare bums" or "benefit cheats". The intention is to garner support by alienating and vilifying a vulnerable minority with little to no power to fight back.

Sadly this tactic fuels the belief of the ignorant masses that the unemployed, the sick and the dying are all selfish parasites whose sole aim is to steal money out of their back pockets.

I don't deny the reality of benefit/welfare fraud, but the percentage of such scoundrels is always massively over-inflated on the run up to any election.

Good Point, in the most part those that claim any help from the state are in genuine need. I have long held the opinion that the money I pay in taxes goes to help those less fortunate than me and I am happy to pay.
This money I pay in taxes is no longer mine but the states and I would be happier knowing that a few cheats may have benifited from it than to have the money spent on conflicts overseas.

Our locals recently arrested a man who had been paying 50 to 80 cents on the dollar for Welfare Cards (they're like debit cards). Then he used them to buy items in bulk at big-box stores, and sold them for a huge profit in his own store. He'd been doing this for about a year.

Quite a few, I've known plenty. A lot that do "need" it abuse it too.

The fact there is welfare fraud is not a reason to scrub such programs. It is merely a reason for extensive oversight and monitoring of welfare recipients as well as busting chumps like the guy you mentioned who are stealing from people in need.

Do you think it is kosher to compel those who have to give to those who don't purely on the basis of need?

What if some miserable git needs your last slice of bread?

ruveyn

No one is asking you to give your "last slice of bread." That's a faulty analogy. A more apposite approach would be to require those who are hoarding the bread to give a small fraction to those in need.

Yes, exactly. There are people who genuinely need help. I know alot of people with Asperger's who need government assistance just to get through the day. Bust the people that need to be busted, but don't make others suffer more than they already have.

Then you believe that need or claimed need justifies the theft of property?

ruveyn

I am exceedingly skeptical that even the Haredim would deem it kosher to deny those in need so that those who have excess can have their cake and eat it too.

It's not theft. Rather, it's an agreement that part of the cost of living in a society that offers the opportunities that our society does is that the majority who do relatively well each kick in a small amount so that the minority who can't manage aren't starving in the street.

They will always exist. The question is which system gives them upward mobility into a solidly middle class standing the best and the quickest while depending the least on government aid.