Parents on government subsidy

[waterloo day mom]

1) I don't have a job that includes medical benefits (luckily my husband does) but as a single person if I would not be able to continue working this job as I would have to pay medical expenses out of pocket

2) I don't agree that the cost of living is in proportion to what it was when our grandparents were growing up. We live in modest house, I drive an 18yr old car, and almost everything inside the house is used, and mostly gifts. My husband makes a good salary but nowhere near enough for me to be able to stay home with my kids if I were not taking in other kids as well. I do daycare from home so that we can pay the mortgage.

3) I have spent a lot of time volunteering in areas of the GTA and of the world where they do not have the luxuries that we do. I don't want to go off on a long speech here, but I have seen 8yr olds who walk their younger siblings home to an empty house every evening. I have seen 9yr old girls start hanging out with teenage gangsters because she is so desperate for attention. There was even a story in the news recently about a 9mnth old baby left in their crib with a stack of diapers and jars of baby food (the mother figured the baby had all they needed and went away for a few days). Simply handing out free money is not the answer, Judy is absolutely right. But I have seen children change after having children's aid pay to send them to daycamp for a week. I have seen homeless teenages cry when they get new glasses to replace their old ones that were stolen. There are people out there who abuse the system (I even know some personally) but there are also people, especially children, who given just the littlest bit of nurturing and support and guidance can make drastic changes in their own lives. The system absolutely needs to be revamped, but that does not mean that there are people out there who need it and benefit from it.