I grew up dirt-maximum-food-stamps-and-rent-control poor, in New York City, and I was LUCKY that labor laws allowed me to work full time since I was 15 years old.
This helped me to avoid homelessness and complete high school.
This helped me to avoid homelessness and complete high school.
Systems are complex things, if you look at individual pieces in isolation you end up with suboptimal outcomes.
Sure you know more about my own lived experience than I do...
Paying highschool students is one example of a possible solution that eliminates requiring underage employment for graduation.
Especially with a crazy parent saying when you're 14 "work and contribute money to the rent or get the fuck out".
So I worked.
Still got kicked out with no meaningful money and nowhere to go at 18, by the way. Then I worked three jobs and lived off of the free coffee at work and couldn't afford to buy my own food for a few years.
And, at least back then when you had to apply in person, when you're young and white and male and walk into the office trying to apply for EBT in NY literally no one wants to help you and some will actively prevent you trying to get the benefits you're entitled to by trying to give you the runaround.
No, I didn’t say that but it turns out:
> Especially with a crazy parent saying when you're 14 "work and contribute money to the rent or get the fuck out".
Talking with social services would have been an option to avoid homelessness for yourself. Some people in similar situations are trying to help their families which is a complex topic.
Lol, not that easy and especially then when you couldn't do any of that shit online, as previously stated.
You have no idea how many institutional barriers there were to most people getting benefits before basically 2008. People would literally lie to you to try and derail you through the system.
NY wasn't exactly tripping over itself to give out money back then unless you were a model poor person (single mother, etc). Applying for these services in person meant you relied on the sympathy and personal investment in your situation of the case workers in the city offices.
Growing up my mom always made sure whenever we had to appear at city offices or go to free clinics that we looked extra poor, extra grubby and extra dirty. That was the reality but you really did have to look the part and leave your dignity at home.
Bleeding-heart people know absolutely fucking nothing about the reality of poverty and will also tell other people what their idea of it is like assuming they also have no real experience with it.
Parents threaten to or actually kick their kids out on a depressingly regular basis there’s various procedures for dealing with it. I don’t think talking through the specifics of your situation would be appropriate on a public forum like this, but you can look them up.
I don’t know how much of that 75-95 period where alive for, but it was still one hell of a city even through the worst of it.
"Federal law forbids all minors from working in jobs deemed hazardous, including those in manufacturing, roofing, meatpacking and demolition." "although there is an effort underway led by Republican lawmakers, to undo those restrictions,"