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@Danizaur: @sunny: but a six or seven or eight year old should not be left alone. If the mom works while the child attends school childcare would be needed after school or on the weekends to perform community service.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: agreed! I was never left home alone until I was probably 10. Even then, parents have responsibilities at home such as helping with homework. I read that one of the reasons for the achievement gap between the poor and rich is that rich parents have more time to help out with homework, whereas poorer families are working and don't have time and certainly can't afford to hire tutors. I wouldn't want to continue and widen this kind of achievement gap with mandated community service--it seems so counterproductive.
As with all social issues, there are plenty of Un-intended consequences. It's not easy to just say wholesale "we should do X" and expect that only 1 thing changes.
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I only read about 2/3 of the thread but curious what these "community service" would be. If this entire "unpaid" work force comes out en masse I think there's potential for them to be taking up positions that would otherwise be paid positions which seems counter productive.
For instance in my city the people who weed out the gardens on parks are being paid a living wage by the city. To turn something like that into a community service position would likely have a trickle down effect of losing positions like that and ending up with even more people on welfare.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: That's true but they get to pick their own hours and work whenever they please. They can work during school hours and be home on evenings and weekends.
Summer would be a problem though.
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@Sapphiresun: That's a good point. They are just extra hands where I work...they can't replace our employees. We can't count on them to be there 5 days a week and any shift since they pick their own hours. But I could see how most places, like the example you provided could just replace paid employees with community service workers.
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I started reading this in the morning but I was too cranky to respond like an adult. Others have summarized all the information I think is relevant to the discussion -- suffice to say I think it is a terrible idea. It has been proven to cost more than it saves, it's rooted in prejudice, and its ramifications only further entrenches the cycle of poverty.
The underlying notion that everyone accessing welfare is not working and / or cheating the system is troubling. I'd be willing to bet everyone here knows at least one family who has received services without sharing that they have.
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@Mrs. Jacks: Yes! It's just too expensive to drug test people on assistance. And, honestly, it's unkind and rooted in extreme prejudice.
As far as community service, I think if the person has time, that's one thing, but most people struggling to make it are already working their tails off, and often in more than one job, so that just may not be a realistic possibility.
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Not to ressurect this thread, but here is a nice piece on welfare myths:
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