I Had a Middle Class Job and I Still Ended Up on Food Stamps at 60

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/i-had-middle-class-job-and-i-still-ended-food-stamps-60



On December 23, 2013 two days before my 60th birthday, I swallowed a stomach full of pride and walked into the Department of Social Services to ask for help. It is something I never imagined I would do. I am ashamed to admit that I am one of those people who thought it would always be someone else, someone worse off who just didn't or couldn't work hard enough, who would need that type of assistance. I was wrong, because I am the new working poor.

Both my parents were children of the Great Depression, both knew hunger -- the real, not-having-food-for-several-days kind of hunger. Both knew disappointment. My father had to turn down a scholarship to Notre Dame to work alongside his father, delivering coal to the wealthy. Neither of my parents ever caught a break. Every time an illness or disaster would set them back, they would work that much harder to make my life and those of my four siblings better. We didn't have much, hand-me-downs and second-hand everything. But unlike our parents, we never went hungry. After all, this is America, they would tell us, and your life is not dictated by the circumstances of your birth.

Like my father, I had to start working at the age of 16 to help the family pay medical bills. At 30, I was able to enroll in college classes through a tuition assistance program. Over the next few years circumstances changed, my marriage ended amicably, so I never attained a degree. Overall, I still did much better than my parents had. In my early thirties, I was able to buy a small home despite the fact that mortgage rates were above 16 percent. I worked steadily up through the ranks as a technician, engineer, and manager in small and mid-sized companies, and then I spent the nineties at a large corporation. I did well.

I had no trouble refinancing my home for a lower interest rate; I paid my bills and, unlike my parents, I was able to save money for the future. I could go out for dinner when I wished, and could indulge in my passion for the new home computers. I never went anywhere on vacation and I didn't buy expensive luxury goods but even so, I believed that I was safely ensconced in the middle class. I was wrong.

[canoeist52]

1. Very good read. Explains where most of us are at.

"Looking back I could have survived the stroke or the recession, but not both."
There's just no way out if we get sick.

[madrchsod]

2. been there done that

did`t work for almost 5 yrs before i turned 65.

[nikto]

3. I'm sorry for your troubles, but thank you for sharing the pain

Your story is important for people to hear.

Good luck.

[KG]

4. let's get real, both political parties got the economy where it is today. no reason to hope for help

from the dems on these issues...

[1StrongBlackMan]

11. Do you really believe that? n/t

[elzenmahn]

20. Actually...

...considering how both parties are funded primarily by the same sources (the banks, Wall Street, etc.), and that the left wing doesn't have the political (or financial) backstop that the Right does, I'm not holding out any big hopes for big changes. If the left had a comparable financial/political foundation, then Hillary wouldn't need to go reassuring Wall Street about a potential Clinton II administration (as she did recently). She would be going to the union halls, the universities, and appearing regularly on liberal/progressive media. Another thing - why is Goldman Sachs still a primary source of appointees to key government positions? Do you think that in this environment, that meaningful campaign finance reform will happen? Not with the current configuration of power...

[1StrongBlackMan]

34. Agreed ...

under the current power configuration, the Progressive message goes wanting, as even wealthy "progressives" do not see a need to fund Progressive Media platforms.

However, a couple thoughts:

As quiet as it's kept, the politicians, on both sides of the political divide, are pining for campaign finance reform, as the current system makes it impossible for them to do anything other than raise money ... but neither side wants to put it on the table. That's where citizen initiatives (at the state level) come in.

Secondly, given the current configuration of power ... how can Democratic politicians do anything other than play along and nibble at the policy edges, until such a time that there are more seating progressives, than non-progressives.

Finally, I think we put far to much weight on where Administration appointees have worked, as very few approach jobs as a personal philosophical/ideological statement (witness: Senator Elizabeth Warren, the former MBS attorney) ... working at GS is a poor predictor of how the appointee will perform in their Administration job

[FBaggins]

5. Let's not miss the ACA connection here

The author says "The thing is, I did everything right" and that he "planned for the unexpected"... but that isn't really true.

At the point where he was making more money than he ever had... and in fact had the cash to pay off his mortgage... he didn't have health insurance.

[onlyadream]

7. He never said that

And I don't think we can assume it. Maybe the insurance topped out, or he didn't have long term care. We just don't know. I hope the ACA fixed whatever it was that did this, but he was also self employed so if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid, aside from meager disability that he may have gotten.

[FBaggins]

19. That's how it reads to me.

His insurance "ran out" a month before his health problems began.

Based on the rough dates he gives, the timing is very close to when COBRA benefits would run out.

[merrily]

8. He says his insurance ran out, whatever that means, but

most people who go bankrupt because of medical costs had health insurance at the time they got sick. Nonetheless, deductibles, co-pays and things not covered at all landed them in bankruptcy court.

So being insured has not historically been a guaranty of much. Whether ACA will change that statistic significantly, I do not know.

[riderinthestorm]

12. I'm sure it means he maxed out his lifetime cap on what the insurance company would pay

A hideous little clause in almost every policy that capped your coverage. So if he went through $1 million in health care costs he was then SOL after that and on the hook for the rest.

Thr ACA stopped that pernicious practice.

But many families were ruined by it if someone got something very serious or expensively chronic.

[merrily]

13. Maybe, but my point was, while exactly what happened to this

individual is very important for his individual story, there has been a much larger problem in society as a whole, namely, for one reason or another, health insurance has not kept insured people out of bankruptcy court.

Maybe it's been lifetime caps for some; but maybe, for others, it's been all the copays and deductibles and costs that insurance has not covered at all.

[riderinthestorm]

27. Agreed. nt

[Yo_Mama]

35. It's more often the deductibles, uncovered and copays.

And we haven't changed anything about that. For many families, a couple of years of medical problems under the new system will hand them anything from 10-25K in uncompensated costs, and combined with the income losses from serious illness, BK is the only out.

We haven't changed that at all.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. My buddy's dad had lung cancer and reached his cap and decided to end it ....

..... earlier than necessary rather than bankrupt his wife.

He had a couple surgeries and radiation. The tumors were out but he was suffering some pain and effects from radiation so he was on a liquid diet.

When the insurance ran out he said fuck it and quit eating.

[FBaggins]

21. He says that it ran out a month *before* his health problems began.

So we can't read that as being insured, but using up all of the benefits.

As I said above... the timeline he gives if very close to when he would lose the COBRA option from his previous employment. The way I read it, his old insurance expired and he didn't go out and buy a policy.

Under ACA (after whatever temporary exceptions expire), he would be required to purchase insurance.

[Hoyt]

33. I read it COBRA probably ran out. But whether it was that, or life-time max, ACA would have helped.

If this all happened now, he could have gotten insurance after COBRA expired (or before) when he started his own business, there would be no life-time max on benefits, and his maximum out-of-pocket cost would be $6350 in any year. If he had enough cash to pay off his mortgage, that would have covered that for awhile I suspect. Of course, if he had a stroke, I'm sure his income stopped for a long period. He probably did not have any disability insurance though. In any event, I think the ACA would have helped him if all this happened now. Sad story in any event, and all too common.

[MrMickeysMom]

6. So, because he did everything right, but got sick, he was spit out...

This story puts in into perspective once again.

Follow your parents advice, cause they worked hard and we live in America. Put INTO the system, as result, but don't EVER expect to get a leg up FROM the system…… cause… that's what? SOCIALISM?

That's America. And for every American I'm around who dares to say that it IS, but that socializing debt and stealing to give to add to the rich through Wall Street ISN'T the problem…. hold their damned eyes open with pinchers and make em read THIS!

[merrily]

9. +1

[closeupready]

30. Righteous rant. +2.

[another_liberal]

10. No shame!

Don't feel ashamed to take that assistance. You earned it. Not only did you earn it, you and the rest of America paid for it to be available in a time of need. If those who have done really well in our system would only pay something like their fair share, then the assistance would be a great deal more generous as well.

[maindawg]

15. I was thinking about this yesterday.

I work in the trades. I am a journeyman. Until 2008, I never had a problem making a living. There was always work. Even back in the 70s and 80s ,although I had to go south to work I found plenty of work. Once I drove down to Miami, showed up at my friends house and his wife was worried that I was unemployed. I got up the next morning, opened the phone book ,make 2 calls and went to work.
In 2008 the housing industry crashed as the economy crashed and we have a second great depression. They gave the banks about 2 or 3 trillion dollars since then. We are still giving them 80 billion dollars a month. Maybe they lowered it to 60.
I went back to school and got a job part time ofcourse working for the school as an aide. For 8 dollars an hour. About 50 dollars a day. No benefits. I am still active in my trade and sometimes there is ample work. Not in winter though. I have an EBT card.
The great depression did not end in 1934.It did not end until there was a war, and the war was over. It ended because the government went into high gear. FDR's programs helped people, and to this day SS keeps people from being desperate. The congress of the 30s created regulation that eventually helped end the depression.
So they undid that regulation, I suppose in the days of the Reagon, Bush and yes even under Clinton and the second Bush who completely destroyed the world economy. They tried to even steal SS. Now they want to end medicare because its the only thing we have left. The only cookie jar left to raid.
I own a house now so I cant just move south even if there was work. There is not anyway.
But my house is for sale because I can take the equity and build a smaller house and not owe the bank anything.
Why can they give the banks 60 billion dollars and deny unemployment to PEOPLE ?

[samplegirl]

16. I'm right there with ya

after 31 years of a solid job with good pay...........now at 56 years old working 2 jobs at half the pay!

[xchrom]

18. ...

[FBaggins]

22. You joined just so that you could post that?

Seriously?

[kcr]

23. 3 people voted to leave this

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. I thought it was such an obvious hide, I didn't bother commenting

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

Obvious troll

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Thu Jan 16, 2014, 06:27 AM, and the Jury voted 3-3 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: no job is secure, no person is free of risk. It's much better to do what you love in life then live forever as a worker for someone else. Take risks, stop living in fear one post wonder!
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Juries don't hide trolls. If they are, MIRT will get them; but there is nothing hideable in this post. I don't agree with them, but can't hide it.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: leave it because I want to play with the troll

I'd say to #4: juries do hide trolls. They're disruptive (eg someone coming to a Democratic site and claiming that it's not up to the state to provide a safety net for those hit by illness and a recession). And to #6: OK, let's see you play. The alert was at 19 minutes past the hour, so you're not one of the first 2 replies to this. Get on with the 'play'. I demand to be entertained, since your vote was decisive in leaving this troll here.

[kcr]

32. I especially hate the reason behind 4

Nothing hideable about that? Come on. There's no place at DU for the spew that came out of that poster.

[samplegirl]

26. Hey Mr. Big "1 post"

I lost my job due to the fact that a Japanese Company bought my Company out. The new Company then wanted to re-hire at 11.00 an hr.

So I guess I should ask a church to help me as well.


Your a complete armchair idiot!

[WinkyDink]

28. WTH?! In your spare time do you make gruel?

[tenderfoot]

29. I see datasuspect has returned...

[Sunlei]

24. It's a mortgage that is like a ball and chain. If there is any way one can pay it off, do it.

[Egalitarian Thug]

36. Lack of economic understanding is probably the single biggest deficit working against Americans.

It's not entirely their fault as facts regarding how the system works and for whom are not made easily accessible. Even those who are interested the most readily available information is simply the false premise that the system wishes people to believe.

Still, after the mountain has fallen on you two or three times...