Perspective of AFDC recipient

I am responding to a letter published in the Bangor Daily News on Jan. 26-27, which advocated making AFDC recipients do charity work three to four hours a day in order to receive these benefits. This ignorant attitude makes me very angry. For those who bring home $300 or more a week this sounds like a good idea, but let’s get realistic. Many AFDC recipients live on that a month….

I am a single mother of a 6-year-old son and we live on AFDC. I don’t want to be on AFDC anymore than many of the other women in my situation, but sometimes there is no choice. Most of us do the best we can. I have an associate degree in paralegal studies. I want to work, but there are no jobs out there. In the meantime, I am putting my energy into volunteer work as a court-appointed special advocate for children of abuse. I love this “work” and do it because I want to….

Most women receiving AFDC want to work, but because of limited resources such as child-care costs and accessibility, it is very difficult. A job paying minimum wage is not enough. Wages have to exceed AFDC benefits in order to make ends meet and to pay these other costs incurred if we were working. Also, what about medical insurance?

There are many factors and issues to deal with in this situation and there are no simple solutions. Women receiving AFDC do the best they can, but people with the attitude like the person who wrote that letter make it harder. Ellen Winchester Bucksport