Food stamps for college students

[AllieBaba]

College students working at least 20 hours a week and earning no more than $1107 per month can qualify for up to $162 in food stamps per month. Even if their parents pay their tuition and rent...and can afford to buy their groceries.

More college students using food stamps - 08/12/2008 - MiamiHerald.com

If you are a college student, would you do this? If you are a parent, would you encourage your kid to apply for food stamps, even if you could afford all of their expenses?

I don't see many students whose parents can pay their full way applying for foodstamps. In fact, it's pretty complicated for them to even get foodstamps, and certain of their $$ is counted as income (from grants and such).

 

[AllieBaba]

Also, there are quite a few college students who also have kids.

 

[Paulie]

Also, there are quite a few college students who also have kids.

Well then they have a reasonable situation that may require the need of assistance. There's a big difference between a college student who has to feed a child, and one who only has to feed themself and has the freedom to eat and party as much as they want.

A single college kid with no dependents can buy a couple boxes of pasta, a couple cans of dollar store beef stew, and live off of it for a while.

 

[DiamondDave]

Also, there are quite a few college students who also have kids.

So??... they live by the consequences of their actions..

Paulitics... there is a solution... it is called taking responsibility... doing what you have to do, getting a second job, etc....

 

[Care4all]

The VAST majority of college students are 18 or older. All adults last I checked.

Again Jillian if 18 year old Fred lives in a trailer park and can't make ends meet and meets the requirements for Food stamps why aren't we also checking HIS parents income and ability to pay for him?

College is not some special circumstance to enslaves the parents into permanent support till they get out.

In fact are you aware that now you can not even claim a person over 19 on your taxes, even if you provide 100 percent of all their expenses? Provide them room and board, feed them, cloth them and totally support them? The only exceptions I know of are some kind of medical handicap or condition.

parents can claim what they pay for in college expenses for their children up to 21 i believe, they also have the ability to save for their children's college through tax free accounts...

*just read it was up to 24 years of age, parents can get the earned income credit using this child, if in college....

 

[Paulie]

Paulitics... there is a solution... it is called taking responsibility... doing what you have to do, getting a second job, etc....

hey you don't have to preach responsibility to me. I do that enough around here for all of us.

As against hand-outs as I am, I can understand the necessity to help someone who's in school and has kids. There's no one who DESERVES a hand-out more than one who's making the most conscious effort to better their life, which is what a college student is. If you're going to school, you're ultimately going to better this country through your future production. And if you have a kid to boot, and you're going through rough times, then I am all for helping that situation out. But ONLY if you're raising a kid along with going to school.

If we could get our welfare systems in this country straightened out, they'd be FAR LESS wasteful than they are right now.

As it is, there are way too many people sucking off the tit that simply do not need to have their lips on it.

 

[DiamondDave]

hey you don't have to preach responsibility to me. I do that enough around here for all of us.

As against hand-outs as I am, I can understand the necessity to help someone who's in school and has kids. There's no one who DESERVES a hand-out more than one who's making the most conscious effort to better their life, which is what a college student is. If you're going to school, you're ultimately going to better this country through your future production. And if you have a kid to boot, and you're going through rough times, then I am all for helping that situation out. But ONLY if you're raising a kid along with going to school.

If we could get our welfare systems in this country straightened out, they'd be FAR LESS wasteful than they are right now.

As it is, there are way too many people sucking off the tit that simply do not need to have their lips on it.

But this 'helping out' almost as a reward for poor decision making is not really something good.... these young adults have to learn that they are the ones who have to deal with their situation... if they have to change their schooling to community college or less than full time or even to drop it until the child is in kindergarten, then so be it.... I am in no way in support of any of this touchy-feely assistance for people who are quite capable of taking care of themselves and their situation.. no able bodied or able minded person is DESERVING or OWED jack shit

 

[Paulie]

But this 'helping out' almost as a reward for poor decision making is not really something good.... these young adults have to learn that they are the ones who have to deal with their situation... if they have to change their schooling to community college or less than full time or even to drop it until the child is in kindergarten, then so be it.... I am in no way in support of any of this touchy-feely assistance for people who are quite capable of taking care of themselves and their situation.. no able bodied or able minded person is DESERVING or OWED jack shit

I agree with this almost 100%. I just disagree where education is concerned. College education is a great investment. It doesn't seem like it benefits the country to have someone go to a lesser accredited institution, which amounts most likely to a lesser productive job, just becuase someone has a kid. Having a kid is not in and of itself a "poor decision". Someone who has enough drive and determination to STILL want to make something productive of their life by chasing a higher education while they're also raising a child, is someone who I think deserves some respect.

It's certainly better than giving up and living off the government for the next 18 years of your life because you can.

 

[Jon]

Hey, cool. I'm a 24 year old college student with a part-time job. I didn't realize I could get free handouts.

I'll sign up tomorrow.

Personally, if the system allows it, I'm all for it. Everyone else abuses the system, I may as well get mine, too. I pay taxes just like everyone else. Truth is...most people on this program don't pay taxes. They don't have jobs. They live off disability, Medicaid, food stamps, and other government handouts. It's pretty sick, actually. I wish politicians would put a stop to programs like this.

 

[DiamondDave]

I agree with this almost 100%. I just disagree where education is concerned. College education is a great investment. It doesn't seem like it benefits the country to have someone go to a lesser accredited institution, which amounts most likely to a lesser productive job, just becuase someone has a kid. Having a kid is not in and of itself a "poor decision". Someone who has enough drive and determination to STILL want to make something productive of their life by chasing a higher education while they're also raising a child, is someone who I think deserves some respect.

It's certainly better than giving up and living off the government for the next 18 years of your life because you can.

But... your education is your responsibility... not the government's, not mine, not John Sawzaw in Idaho...

One of the biggest problem the government has is this touchy-feely stuff

and BTW... I think "poor decision" was a bad choice of words by me... but I think you understand what I meant... I hope

 

[DiamondDave]

Hey, cool. I'm a 24 year old college student with a part-time job. I didn't realize I could get free handouts.

I'll sign up tomorrow.

Personally, if the system allows it, I'm all for it. Everyone else abuses the system, I may as well get mine, too. I pay taxes just like everyone else. Truth is...most people on this program don't pay taxes. They don't have jobs. They live off disability, Medicaid, food stamps, and other government handouts. It's pretty sick, actually. I wish politicians would put a stop to programs like this.

And this is EXACTLY what is wrong with so much today

 

[Jon]

If you couldn't detect the sarcasm in my post, I'll have to get you a sarcasm detector.

But you're right, that's exactly the problem. The system is so easy to abuse, that everyone's doing it. They tell their deadbeat friends, who sign up, who tell their deadbeat friends, and the cycle is neverending.

I worked at a pharmacy. We had a doctor whose kids were on Medicaid. That's how fucked the system is.

 

[CA95380]

So??... they live by the consequences of their actions..

Paulitics... there is a solution... it is called taking responsibility... doing what you have to do, getting a second job, etc....

Wow! Someone that actually understands the term "Abuse of the System"!

 

[Paulie]

But... your education is your responsibility... not the government's, not mine, not John Sawzaw in Idaho...

Agreed. But I'd say the gov. has a bit of a vested interest in the citizenry continuing to attain higher education, so the absolute highest amount of productivity can be achieved.

I don't agree with all the handouts to fund education, but a little food money for someone trying to advance their career path while raising a child isn't the worst thing in the world. Out of ANYONE who gets handouts, I'd say those PARTICULAR people deserve it with justification before anyone else.

and BTW... I think "poor decision" was a bad choice of words by me... but I think you understand what I meant... I hope

Well I didn't automatically assume you didn't really mean that. It wouldn't have been the first time I've seen someone say it like that and mean it.

 

[Care4all]

The VAST majority of college students are 18 or older. All adults last I checked.

Again Jillian if 18 year old Fred lives in a trailer park and can't make ends meet and meets the requirements for Food stamps why aren't we also checking HIS parents income and ability to pay for him?

College is not some special circumstance to enslaves the parents into permanent support till they get out.

In fact are you aware that now you can not even claim a person over 19 on your taxes, even if you provide 100 percent of all their expenses? Provide them room and board, feed them, cloth them and totally support them? The only exceptions I know of are some kind of medical handicap or condition.

We are not checking the guy who lives alone parents because his parents are not eligible to write off tax free his college....only students who are supported by their parents for 50% of their living expenses..... are eligible for tax write offs until the age of 24, for their children in college..at least this is true with the EIC.....and for college tuition tax write offs.

 

[Anguille]

College students working at least 20 hours a week and earning no more than $1107 per month can qualify for up to $162 in food stamps per month. Even if their parents pay their tuition and rent...and can afford to buy their groceries.

More college students using food stamps - 08/12/2008 - MiamiHerald.com

If you are a college student, would you do this? If you are a parent, would you encourage your kid to apply for food stamps, even if you could afford all of their expenses?

When I was a college student at one point I did have to apply for food stamps and I qualified and took them. I had been completely financially independent of my parents since I had turned 18. I went to school part time, worked full time and even managed to pay off my education loan before I graduated. But at certain point when my hours were cut, I really did need some food stamps if I wanted to survive on something more nutritious than left over muffins from the 2 restaurants I worked at. The thing that struck me as odd was that when I was laid off later from a different but also low paying job, I was denied unemployment benefits because I was a college student, regardless of the fact that I worked full time and took only as many classes as I could afford or had time for. The rationale for denial was that being enrolled in classes certain days meant I was unable and unwilling to work. I saw it as ironic that I was educating myself so that I could get a more dependable job than one that meant being laid off from time to time and thus become less likely to claim my unemployment benefits in the future.

I can't say whether this kid truly is in need of food stamps to eat but in my case I know that I was. They got me through a hard winter.

 

[Ravi]

I don't see many students whose parents can pay their full way applying for foodstamps. In fact, it's pretty complicated for them to even get foodstamps, and certain of their $$ is counted as income (from grants and such).

Read the article.

 

[Ravi]

Hey, cool. I'm a 24 year old college student with a part-time job. I didn't realize I could get free handouts.

I'll sign up tomorrow.

Personally, if the system allows it, I'm all for it. Everyone else abuses the system, I may as well get mine, too. I pay taxes just like everyone else. Truth is...most people on this program don't pay taxes. They don't have jobs. They live off disability, Medicaid, food stamps, and other government handouts. It's pretty sick, actually. I wish politicians would put a stop to programs like this.

But is it abusing the system if it's legal to do it?

 

[Jon]

Anguille, I actually went through the same thing a few months ago. I was working full-time AND going to school full-time. I was fired from the job because my school schedule would no longer allow me to work, and the bank refused to work with my schedule.

When I applied for unemployment, they told me that I was not able to work 40 hours a week. I told them it was not their decision on how much I was able to work, and I asked if they had ever heard of a thing called "night shift." It annoyed me to no end because I saw plenty of deadbeats waiting in line to get their benefits paid, people who obviously not looking for jobs but still getting the benefits.

 

[Jon]

But is it abusing the system if it's legal to do it?

Sometimes.

A lot of people work jobs that pay them in cash, and they make pretty decent wages. But since they don't report that income, they receive full government benefits.

I even had customers at the pharmacy who would use their Medicaid to buy prescriptions and sell the prescriptions on the street. I reported to Medicaid at least 2 dozen families that were doing this.