[astrokahn]

Oh Jesus the food stamp thing. I got them a few times when my daughter was very young. In both states there wasn’t a work requirement; there was a requirement that you fill it a form each week or two stating you applied for jobs.

I was a single mom and got no child support because doing so would have put my daughter in a terrible and unrealistically unsafe position. In the “on” season I made okay money but averaged out over a year, I was told I made too much for assistance. Their cutoff level was SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH.

The federal poverty level is a fucking joke. THIS YEAR it’s about $16k for a family of two. Minimum wage is $7.25. Average rent in my city is around $1400 per month, and the average income for my city (Austin) is around $36k. So if you Make $36k your rent is around 60% of your income and if you make minimum wage you can’t afford to live here unless it’s under a bridge because you take home pay is around $1100 a month total.