So before I get down to the bulk of my bitch, let me explain my situation a bit: For about 7 years of my life I was a party girl. Had bad problems with drugs and alcohol and never really did anything in my life worth being proud of. However, my irresponsibility was funded entirely by full-time jobs, I never stole from anyone, including government agencies. Fast forward to last year. I found out I was pregnant and immediately decided that I had to change my life and handle the situation I created for myself and figure out a way to better myself and become the parent my child deserves. So regrettably, for the first time in my life, I am collecting a cheque from the government. I’m not proud of that fact and I had hoped to use this support system to ensure that I never have to do it again. So I applied for a college course after researching the employment opportunities, the salaries and benefits, etc, and was accepted. My parents agreed to LOAN me the amount I need for my program so that the repayment schedule can be more flexible for me, and I found a policy online that said you can go to school while on IA in the following situations: 1) You are getting your grade 12 and going to an upgrading program. 2) You are taking training programs to give you the skills you need for the kind of work you want to do. 3) You are attending a post-secondary program that lasts two years or less.
The last two fit my situation, yet I was told that if I go back to school, I am not eligible for IA. I am so furious because I know 3 people who have currently been on assistance for over 10 years, they have no children and are capable, both mentally and physically, of working but they simply choose not to. They find quack doctors, say they have anxiety, and stick their hand out for their cheque. No one has EVER suggested they go back to work or school. Here I am, itching to be back in the workforce and hoping to become a contributing taxpayer within the next 2 years, and want to pay for the schooling MYSELF, but they won’t allow me to, because it has to be one of the programs they sponsor through ESS: Office Admin or human services. I don’t WANT them to pay for it for me, and I don’t want to take any old program just because it is free. So as much as I’m sure I will be ripped to shreds here over being on welfare at all, I will take it on the chin if i can find even just one person to say something that makes me feel my frustrations are valid. Why is this system so beneficial to those who exploit it, but such a barrier to those who try to use it legitimately? —Apparently Just Another Baby Mama
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2011.
this is such a valid bitch. there is a huge problem with the way social services are managed and distributed; such management often puts people in positions that disable them from enabling change, because of the arbitrary ultimatums and conditions of social support, like the one you described. basically, our social services have been regulated to the point of being almost useless, thus not actually being a social service at all. more like lip service. good luck, though, and good on you.
A question that needs answering; how do you “find yourself pregnant”? Birth control is readily available, there’s always the morning after pill, Henry’s house of fetus removal is still in business, adoption etc.
Nah, I don’t think you’ll get ripped to shreds (and I’ll be the first to call out anyone who does).
This is a valid bitch.
What I WILL say is that your only option is probably to get a student loan from the government as they will give you a living allowance. Sure you’ll have to pay it back, and it won’t be as flexible as your parents’ schedule, but, that might be your only option.
The system sucks and encourages people to be lazy — you’re right on that.
Good luck to you, OB.
@ pretty kitty: i don’t think people on SA are eligible for student loans, which is what i meant by social services often disabling people from improving their situation.
They CAN get a loan, but their SA is cut off.
But if they won’t pay SA to OB while she’s in school anyway, at least she’ll be getting a living allowance.
I’ll dive in first because I have some peripheral knowledge of this. First, you are to be absolutely commended both for the desire and the achievement of turning your life around, especially for the sake of your child. I doubt you are in the minority here (I fervently hope you aren’t); the simple truth is that we rarely hear the success stories, like yours. There is no way that I would look down on you for being on social assistance, because you have expressed a fervent desire to get off of it as soon as feasible. Again, I commend you for this.
As far as your dealings with the kafkaesque world of Government bureaucracy, I’m afraid I can offer you little but my sympathy. I share your frustration fully and wish I had some answers for you, but I don’t. Trudeau’s “Just Society” has come to resemble Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” – a dictatorship of cubicle mice with competing and often contradictory agendas, power without responsibility, a dystopian hell where work is it’s own function, achieving results is not part of the plan.
I wish you luck and success. From your attitude I have no doubt that you will find it, or make it. You have every right to be proud of yourself.
That stinks, OB.
I’m not going to rip you.
You are in a hard circumstance, see a good way to better life for you and the little’un, an it feels like you’re being punished for breaking the shitty cycle.
While you (rightfully) complain of the unfainess as you try to better your situation, I hope you see having a kid in your circunstance was your fault(and the weiner owner), and that your actions ultimately caused this.
I’m trying to sound gentle as opposed to judgemental on this. It really does suck you get cut off while using assistance the way it’s meant to be, as a transitional help while fixing a problem.
Good luck! I hope you and the young one have a great life!
Wpaul
I understand your situation OP.
There is people who know the loop holes to abuse the system and others who actually use it to help themselves.
Glad there is someone out there who is using the system the right way.
There is a reason so many people abuse it. The way the government has the rules set up for welfare people have to lie.
Sooo, your parents agreed to loan you the money? Take it and get that education for both you and your surprise.
” The way the government has the rules set up for welfare people have to lie.” … huh … people will always lie … the rule doesn’t matter.
http://www.gov.ns.ca/just/regulations/regs…
Check out this link. It gives the details on the Welfare system for Nova Scotia
I can’t be bothered to read any more about that.
All I can say is boooooooooo. I’d be pissed off too OP. You should write your MP or whatever.
I agree that our present social system could be revised to actually assist those who want to help themselves off of the system.
Who came up with the ridiculous term baby-momma or baby-daddy? It is everywhere. It brings to mind a 10 or 12 year old who brings a child into the world. If you have a child, you are a mommy or a daddy, not a baby-mommy or baby-daddy. The necessity to apply the word “baby” in front of the word mom, dad or parent is foolishly redundant and seems to be applied in a derogatory sense in most cases.
OP.. chin up friend. There are always ways. Student loans are one way.. Also, depending on what you’re studying, there might be someone out there willing to give you enough skills in that field to jump into the industry without even incurring student debt (for example, I am a programmer because i studied computer science but i am a designer because someone was kind enough to teach me along the way – i never got any kind of graphic design or photography education – i was taught. Many industries don’t actually give a shit on WHERE or HOW you learned to do it.. they merely care that you DID learn to do it)
But.. on a more socially universal note.. what, exactly is welfare supposed to be for anyway? I can’t see why it even exists..
I mean.. if you’re sick, there is disability. If you’re laid off, there’s EI. The only reason i can see to give anyone welfare is if he or she is a single parent of small children and cannot work because she must take care of them all day. But this should only last until the child is old enough to stay on it’s own for a few hours between school and the end of mom’s workday. A single mom or dad with two teenage kids has no real childcare excuse for not working.
It’s almost as if an artificial class of people is being perpetuated by the government and human laziness. For every one person who collects welfare because they genuinely have no other option, you find thousands who collect because they don’t feel like working. And these people are rude, entitled, demanding and dumb. And a good chunk of them have additional income that isn’t on record.
It’s not fair. Not at all.
Oh listen mamma 🙂 Here’s a suggestion too that you might not want to hear but it will totally work for you..
Take one of the free classes. When you’re done, find me and i’ll set you up with a job. Seriously. I have a small business of my own, I work full time for an ad agency and I also do contract work for another agency in the health sector. Once you’ve got that job and are off the system for good, you can then easily get a student loan and go back and do the program you REALLY want to do. And all the people in my network would be happy to help you do that.
Takes longer, yes. But patience is a cornerstone of beating the system.
I totally 100% disagree with this bitch. Why should we as taxpayers pay you to go to school? I have friends that worked part time jobs and took out student loans in order to support their children while they went to school, and they never considered SA an option. I understand your frustration, and I empathisize with your situation, and commend you on your ambition to better yourself, but I don’t believe it’s societies job to make sure you succeed. I’m not trashing you or your lifestyle up till now, but why should you get an advantage that someone else doesn’t get, just because you have a child. Because of student loans the playing field is even, making education accessible to everyone. Just because you don’t want a structured payment plan when you graduate is not a reason to be pissed at our social programs which seem to be providing a pretty good safety net for you. That’s what SA is, a safety net, not a free stepping stone to the life you feel you deserve.
sometimes o.p., someone such as yourself comes along. some poor soul, who had a rough go of it, then you might get yourself in with a nice guy. get preggers and have a little one. nothing wrong with that, it’s ma nature at work.
you worked even when you were fucked up, to help support you and whatever habit you had, still okay. but now, you need a bit of help, and where is it at? not anywhere you can get it. i feel sorry for you o.p., really i do. but someone else is getting the fat of the land, while you are getting shit all.
yes, i agree that there are a lot of fraud in the welfare system, but how to catch them. just go to any of their homes, and look for new wide screen plasma t.v.s, video game systems, new cars, and all kinds of other markers, that show they are getting too much, or making money some other way, or having a full time live in lover and sponger there too.
try welfare rights o.p., maybe they might help. this time of year is a bad time. too many real good people without help. because all the conners are miking the system dry,again.maybe the coast and a few other places might just help a bit. what about it tim, bird?
i have to say that this young woman sounds very articulate and genuine and seems to be using our welfare system exactly as it was intended, as a hand up, not a hand out. I feel that our social programs should have the flexibility to deal with people as individuals and flex the rules when deemed appropriate.
I wish you luck on your journey and hope you can follow your dreams to fruition.
Just to put it out there, perks of using student loans do exist. For example, you are eligable for more bursarys and scholarships and if your loans get too high you might be able to get them cut down at the end of the day. Also, if you find yourself losing a job or needing some time to get your income up after graduation, you can do repayment assistance and get your payment waived for six months (then another six months, if your still qualify, and so on). OR at least I got the benefit of all of these things, you just need to do the paperwork.
If I were you, I would consider applying for a student loan to cover your expenses and save the parental loan for unexpected events down the road. Or you could use the parental money to pay down a chunk of the student loans after graduation and save on interest that way.
Op, there is a difference between you and theasy street women that you described. You are willing to work and want to improve yourself…..and that is a good formula for success. Don’t change your attitude. If you have to work pt, get a student loan, and rely on your mom and dad for a little bit, i say go for it. Education os a ‘burden” that doesn’t weigh down your shoulders like other things can.
OB. great bitch
Here’s fucked up for you.
I know someone who was promised a good job, if they could upgrade their skills & get a medical terminology course, upgraded computer course & an Admin program.
They were unemployed so they went to see about a program & were told, we won’t help you…because your live in boyfriend (& father of your child) had a laborer job with a local construction company, you don’t qualify.
But if you had no boyfriend & were running out of EI they could help you.
So isn’t that an interesting dilemma.
They figured out how to expedite his ‘departure & proof of it’ got her into school, & once she finished they ‘reconciled’ & they have moved on … look at what you need to do to play the system…because it is definately going to play you !
btw, OP, the best wellfare is a job. get one, you lazy bitch.
Sebas and victor you’re both pieces of shit. OB I wish you luck and I hope you get the hand up you need.
What’s up with the Jekyll and Hyde act GV? Your last two posts sound like they were written by two different people.
welfare’s not supposed to work..the budget would be trimmed and all these “social workers” would be out of work..
StephenHarperDevil, usually i agree with you. And I sort of agree with you now too.. but think.. if it were easier to TRANSITION off of welfare, we’d have fewer people on it, or that’s my theory. Seeing as how many people on welfare (not talking about you OP.. just musing) are scammers, maybe i just have my rose colored glasses on.
But i have had friends on the system.. and they say once you’re on, it’s hard as hell to get off.
Which sounds like dirty shenanigans to me.
I can agree that it might be hard to get off welfare IK, but that’s where it stops. This person had a “full time job”, which means during her pregnancy she would have worked through most of it (unless there were complications, they weren’t mentioned so I can only assume there weren’t any). That’s when mat leave takes over for a full year at 70% of your salary, for an entire year, with little to no taxes taken out of it. In order to receive welfare you have to prove that for three months you have no transactions through your bank account (a friend fell on hard times and needed the help and those were the conditions). Where is the father with the child support? Her parents seem to be supporting her for education, and I’m sure more support than just that. Welfare is for people with no support structure at all, she appears to have one. She is also not claiming that welfare is not supporting her, but, just the fact that she cannot pick and choose what education they will pay for.
It makes no difference that she wants to pay her tuition herself, the system (tax payers) should not be responsible for giving her a paycheque while she attends the educational institution of her choice. There are programs set up to allow for training, if we make exceptions for one person we’ve set a precedent which must be followed from that point forward. It really grinds my gears when people getting something for free think they deserve something that everyone else has to pay for.
Education is a sacrifice, how is it a sacrifice to get money from your parents and have the taxpayers of this country pay her to go to school. I’d love to go back to school to upgrade my education, but my credit, car payments, and just the basic cost of life prevent me from doing it, why should someone get that for free because they irresponsibly had a child they can’t afford?
Well now, if you kept your legs closed, you wouldn’t be in this stuation, now woudl you?!
It’s really not that hard to get off wellfare, you wake up in the morning, you go to work.
Hey, Take the money from your parents and go to university — and don’t report it. So you can become a hair dresser, but not an attorney or engineer, or any occupation requiring a degree. It’s fucking ridiculous. (Not that there’s anything wrong with being a hair dresser). Basically, it comes down to this: We (the gov’t) can’t allow the citizens to become too smart, less they start questioning things — dumb em’ down. You simply can’t accept this moronic, infantile thinking. So go to school, just do it. We must refuse to be intimidated by laws that simply do not make any sense, no matter how you look at it. Good luck!