States must find welfare recipients jobs

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - Welfare officials in Pennsylvania, California, Michigan have their work cut out for them when new rules take effect next month: find jobs for tens of thousands of people on welfare or risk losing millions in federal money.

Those three states are among about two dozen identified by the federal government as lagging in efforts to get welfare recipients to work.

The rules require states to place into job training, community services or other work activities 50 percent of households that get welfare aid and 90 percent of two-parent households receiving assistance.

"About half the states are in pretty good shape," said Wade Horn, the Bush administration's point man on welfare overhaul. "About a quarter of the states that are really going to have to work hard," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060908/ap_on_re_us/welfare_work

[rpannier]

1. I'm sure if they look around

some hotel probably needs a 5 buck an hour maid.
Maybe a butler or maids job is available somewhere.

The good jobs are being filled in Mexico and India.

[noonwitch]

2. In Michigan, it's the people in the rural areas that have the most trouble

There are different problems in the Detroit area, as far as transportation and such goes. The poorest county in Michigan is not Wayne (Detroit), it's Lake County. Lake County has no industry, 1 prison, some restaurants and bars and a couple of stores.

Although, the real Idlewild is there-it was once a great resort for black people, when they weren't allowed to stay at places like the Grand Hotel and such. There is a group trying to restore the area. If you eat ice cream at Jones in nearby Baldwin, you can see the photos on the wall of Idlewild in the 30s, during it's heyday.

[rocktivity]

3. Good news for the phone sex industry.

:eyes:
rocknation

[kineneb]

4. What jobs, in rural California?

Other than part-time seasonal labor packing pears or picking grapes, there isn't much here (Lake Co., California). The tourism industry is done for the season (Mid-June to end of August), and is temp work, anyway. Construction, except for a few projects already in the works, is dead. I see more layoffs coming because of the housing bust. If we had a WPA/CCC, some of our aging infrastructure could be repaired, but that is unlikely to happen with the greedheads in power.

So, again, I ask: What jobs?

[WhiteTara]

5. 30% of the pear crop in Lake county

was ruined this year due to no pear pickers. It cost $2.5 million in crop loss.

Not saying this should be someone's work, but it's sad that people are starving, the food is rotting and people sit on the streets begging for work. What is wrong with this picture? And how does it become right? :shrug:

[kineneb]

6. lots of problems this year

lack of pickers was only one...the pear growers are now competing with the wine grape growers for the same labor pool. Also, this year, pears and grapes were ready to pick at the same time (weird weather in Spring). One of the school districts started classes early, Aug. 14, to allow a long summer next year for construction. So there were many factors involved.

I had seen the ads for packing shed workers. The problem is, for the locals on relief, the pear job only lasts 3 weeks. And many are not able to do that kind of work- we have a lot of middle-aged poor here. Many young people leave the area, just because there are no real permanent jobs here. Until now, the migrant laborers did a lot of the work, but apparently the packing sheds have been affected by the immigration crackdown.

Many of those who really need the crops are the least likely to be able to pick them. I don't know what we should do.

[cap]

8. you cant make a living wage that way...

the pickers wont pay decent money. If they paid minimum wage you could make a go of it. Its all a question of money; not jobs; not basic motivation to work.

[WhiteTara]

9. my question is why the growers don't

put out some flyers around and let people pick for personal use or for the food banks. Seems kind of mean not to think about how to use the fruit if you can't make money off it..

[kineneb]

13. demographic problem

Lake Co. has the largest percentage of citizens over 60 of any California's county. We also have a large quantity of disabled people here as well, because of the lower cost of housing. The population of 65,000 is spread around Clear Lake and outlaying areas.

We are talking 25 mile-plus drives to the orchards for many people, assuming they have transportation and are physically able to pick the pears.

[sadiesworld]

10. Test McCain's theory...

see if $50 per hour garners any interest.

[w4rma]

7. And again don't expect Bush to help with anything. (nt)

[ikojo]

11. A lot of welfare recipients do work but the work they

do pays very low wages.

[zann725]

12. They'll soon say the same for Disabled, or those on SSDI.

No more "handouts" in this land of "opportunity." People will be forced to do what they can't, at wagges they can't live on...thus DISqualifying them from future benefits for prolonged time in future, if ever again at all again.

Even Dickens couldn't imagine anything so "dark."