I just read in the news there gonna make it harder for people on the wellfare system where I live. and it makes me pretty sad

I been in the wellfare system last year and Hated it to death. I got there because I ended my education pretty suddenly, I where in a difficult time with difficult activism for a friend who where to be deportated and this stress + a boring school with transphobic comments made me quit. I was around half a year by the wellfare system. In the time I aplied for getting a job, worked free as a waitor by a weekend festival, Illustrated a book and spent 5-6 mount with course who should higher my chance on getting a job. I also went to course in my summervacation and ironically I spent money on getting out of the wellfare system.
i'm on the egde of getting back even when I managed to get myself out of this agenst all odds, but honestly this is not about me, It about those people who now are in this situation.

Some of the thing I really hated on being on the wellfare was not being poor, I am as poor now as back then, But I really hated the ignorance I was and still am faced with when I talk about people on wellfare system.

a couple of typical sentence people on the wellfare system get are:
"just find a job theres alot out there"
"your just lazy"
"you are a burden for the sociaty"
"you didn't try hard enough"
"you are spoiled"

these are not only told by strangers, in random newspaper comments, friends or classmates, it also from the goverment and politicians.
and if you look at them they dont make sense. like why are you considered spoiled because you own less money than people with a job, you have less freedom and security, and you are looked down on?
or if we take me as an exemple why would I be considered lazy when I used my summer vacation on a course and did 2 jobs for free?

I dont know about every country but in my country there have started to get a certain kind of dicrimination of the poor. Homeless have caused there own misery, beggers are criminals, and now the people on wellfaresystem are lazy people who just hurt the sociaty and everyone.
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its not helping anyone having this prejugding, What people who is on the wellfare need is not to heard how horrible they are.

If you are a person with prejugde for people who is on the wellfare then remember: you dont know there reason, You dont know if they cant get a job because there ill or because every job they have seached do not want to hire them due to bad grade, there past, there religion or gender identity. Many people have there reason and what they need is diffrent from each other, but Very few need to heard there just lazy and spoiled.
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if you are a person who is on the wellfare
then hang on, it can be pretty though but try to think positive in what you got insteed of what you dont.
accept the offers you get and keep yourself active, it both help on your jobchance but it also help mentally to go out and meet with people when everything is going the wrong dirrection.

(with this little post I in my naive mind try to cause alittle less hate, and alittle more love)

I think people get this idea that people on welfare are on it for life and/or don't work hard enough to get off it. In reality, most are genuinely trying to make things work and it's a lot harder than people think. Sure, some people take advantage of the system, but there really isn't enough in the system to take advantage of. It's not a fun place to be. It's more like a stepping stone or a safety net.
There's also this idea that people get here on purpose. The things they say poor people shouldn't have done (have kids, go to school, not live in an abusive and/or dangerous environment, etc) are things that they can do and take for granted.

Many things are easier said than done. Like getting out of an abusive relationship or repressive household. Like finding a job.

I have nothing but sympathy for the poor. And there's a difference between being poor and being broke-- the latter is capable of being a choice, the former is often systemic.

And it doesn't help that at least state side, you're much more likely to find a job ... If you already have one since no one will higher you if you're unemployed since they assume that you where fired for a reason. This is why a lot of people (...including myself) have been unemployed for YEARS.

I've been unemployed since September of 2009 due to a cut in budget where I was working. Thankfully I've stayed busy going to college in that time, most of my pay went to daycare and gas (which I no longer have to spend as much on since I can watch our kid when I'm not in school) and my wife has a decent job. Otherwise, we'd be completely sunk.

Just the same I've been looking for a job up until recently (I've finally decided to just wait until I get an education at this point).

A lot of people assume I'm on government assistance of some kind, but my unemployment was stopped when I started college (since I get student loans) and my wife makes juuuuust enough that we don't qualify for any government assistance.

I spent most of 1988 living in my van, just because my job didn't pay enough to afford me an apartment...everywhere I applied the wage was the same--dirt, more dirt, sometimes a bag of peanuts, but always not enough for housing.

So I spent a lot of time with the street people, partaking in soup kitchens, etc. That's where I learned if I shared just a few dollars, it could really help someone...it's amazing how much self-esteem is raised when one can get a haircut or buy deodorant.

I lived off the pennies and nickels I found on the street for a while.

And yes, people thought I was getting welfare. And that I was a "bum", because I lived in an old van.

Some people are homeless by choice, many (imho and in the US) are homeless due to addiction or mental health issues), but most are invisible--they don't fit the "wino" stereotype or the freeloader (both of whom are high visibilty)...this is where the stereotype of "welfare person = deadbeat" begins.

The ironic part is that I saw prejudice even among the poor...I lived in my car, so most of my friends also lived in their cars. The ones in RV's (even the rusty old ones) looked down on us car-dwellers....while we looked down on those with bikes...who in turn, looked down on those who had to carry their cardboard shelters, who then looked down on those with nothing.

Even though we were all broke. Humanity is a strange species....

Back home, a lot of mentally ill people ended up homeless due to budget cuts to the mental health system. (Specifically, the number of beds in the hospital.) They really need help that they are not getting.
I ended up homeless for a year after I was kicked out. I worked, but there weren't enough hours, I was making minimum wage, and it's difficult to save up enough for even just a room (apartment was out of the question) and damage deposit. Learned how to budget pretty well though.