What’s the welfare system like in America?

[Toastandcrumpets]

I have been watching Maid, and just wondering what it is really like for lone parents, people with disabilities, and so on.

Is there social housing, access to benefits, and so on?

Why do we see so much homelessness there? Tent cities and people queueing at shelters.

Why do we hear about single parents holding down three jobs?

It totally depends on the state. When my parents were in New Hampshire or New York they could book in with any doctor they needed to see and the care was fantastic. When they had to move to DC for a while they couldn't find anyone who was able to see them - all patient lists full, etc and their "gold plated" insurance was no help at all. It was wild. They ended up flying back to the UK and seeing a private GP here for a few things as their insurance wouldn't cover them going back to their old doctor in NYC.

@Charlieiscool
Those are just extreme examples. They don’t represent the majority in any way.

@Charlieiscool

Why do we see so much homelessness there? Tent cities and people queueing at shelters.

The UK's homeless rate is 57.2 per 10,000 (according to Shelter).

The USA's rate is 17.7 per 10,000. That average encompasses the fact that the rates vary wildly between different states.

The DC metro area is 90 per 10,000 - a third higher than the UK

New York, Hawaii and California are the next 3 largest, and they are all between 40 and 45 per 10,000 (2/3 that of the UK)

The next two largest, Oregon and Washington, are 35 and 30 respectively (half that of the UK)

And the rest are all well below half of the UK and some are a fraction - Alabama's rate, for instance, is only 12% of the UK's homeless rate.

See: www.statista.com/statistics/727847/homelessness-rate-in-the-us-by-state/

However...of course the USA is a much, much bigger place than the UK with 330 million people so the raw number of homeless people in the USA is much greater. Hence pictures of tent cities, queueing at shelters in DC, etc.

I was shocked last time I was in DC how many homeless people there were. Seemed to me that they were older, more likely to be black and more likely to be disabled than in London.
So sad...

Oh that’s interesting , was wondering about the welfare system in the US after watching Maid too,

Perioddotty doesn’t this make MA a very popular state to live in? if you are low income or claim benefits? do people move from other states to MA?
I absolutely have no idea how the system works in the US , we’ve been to few states Many times and things like wealth is so disproportionate, for example I couldn’t live in places like NY or California so many homeless people, right next to so much wealth.
But places like South Carolina , CT, are a whole different story.

It sounds dreadful, especially the healthcare. I watched a YouTube documentary recently which was heartbreaking. A chap accidentally amputated four fingers due to an accident with a large piece of machinery. All of them could have been saved but due to financial reasons he could only afford to save one (might have been two) The surgeon literally had to throw away two healthy digits.
Then another heartbreaking one was about a young man of 27 ish who had just come off his family’s health insurance due to his age. Couldn’t afford his own and was buying his insulin in somewhere like Walmart.
Spoilers…he died 😢😢 Both are just so tragic. And people take the piss out of the NHS but I personally think we’re very fortunate.

@queenofarles
Yes it is a popular state to live in but not everyone will want to live here. It’s a very large country so I expect it is difficult to leave your family and friends behind to move states. Many people stay in the same regions that they grew up in. Different regions will have very different culture eg north versus south USA. I don’t think people would want to move away from what they know and are comfortable with.

BigYellow, "documentaries" on youtube are sensationalized to generate the maximum number of ad views and don't have any proper fact checking or editorial review like a documentary you would see from a reputable media source.

75 million people in the US get medical insurance from the government under a program for people who are on too low an income to obtain insurance on their own.

www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/index.html

Another 12 million or so get subsidized private medical insurance under the Afforadable Care Act.

@MissConductUS

BigYellow, "documentaries" on youtube are sensationalized to generate the maximum number of ad views and don't have any proper fact checking or editorial review like a documentary you would see from a reputable media source.

75 million people in the US get medical insurance from the government under a program for people who are on too low an income to obtain insurance on their own.

www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/index.html

Another 12 million or so get subsidized private medical insurance under the Afforadable Care Act.

This is amazing. And not at all how the media in the UK portrays USA healthcare, so good to know. But I still don't understand why there was such a backlash against the Affordable Care Act, especially amongst Republicans. Surely more people having medical insurance is a good thing, not a bad thing?

@Jillydix I'm loath to weigh in to this too much as it's a complicated problem, but I think a lot of it comes from a general mistrust of the federal government. Many also have concerns that it'll remove freedom of choice (can't pick your doctor or your hospital etc.) and the government will be able to dictate what healthcare you can and can't have.

There's a generally feeling that healthcare should be privately funded through philanthropy - contrary to what Mumsnet will tell you, most hospitals in the US are non-profits (charities) or government owned (so veterans or military hospitals). There isn't a single for-profit hospital in NY state.

(As a side note- the culture of philanthropy and giving is very different here, so that doesn't sound as mad as it might in the UK)

@Jillydix, to add to what @allfurcoatnoknickers said, it's complicated. Like any major regulatory change, there were winners and losers. Prior to the ACA, insurance companies were allowed to set premiums individually, so young, healthy people paid very low rates. The ACA required community rating, so much larger pools were created and rates went way up for young people and way down for older people. Requiring coverage for a broader range of services also raised prices, even for people who didn't need them. A couple in their 60's would have to pay for maternity benefits, for example.

The individual mandate was also unpopular. There was no precedent for a government requirement to buy insurance. This article covers the main points.

khn.org/news/why-do-people-hate-obamacare-anyway/

I found 'maid' really fascinating for showing how different our welfare systems are.

She was made to get a job. When I was in a similar situation I was very strongly coerced into not looking for work. In the UK you will be hard pressed to get into a women's aid shelter if you are working as the space is paid by housing benefit. The rates are much higher than 'normal' accommodation so aren't affordable unless you are on HB (I know it's UC now bit this was back in the noughties.

Also that she wasn't criticised for using daycare. It was expected.

But overall the system there is so harsh compared to here.

The social workers role is very different here!!!