As a mother on ‘‘welfare’’, you will find that a number of people will treat you very badly. On a personal level, you will have to find a way to deal with this. Don’t hide your head in shame. Stand up to them and say nasty things right back to them if you feel like it. Don’t put up with being called names just because some idiot has gone brain dead when s/he finds out that you are on ‘welfare’. On a group level, we must fight back against these attitudes and lies going around about us. Fighting back includes not putting up with some of the crap people say about us in the media.

For instance, people on ‘welfare’ are constantly hearing things like “God helps those who help themselves.” These people are implying that we are poor because we are lazy. And God punishes us for being “lazy” by not helping us. This is garbage! Many, many poor people work extremely hard and are not rewarded for it simply because their wages are too low and the cost of food, housing, and clothing is too high. The system is systemic, with maternity leaves too short and the cost of living so high, it is very difficult to make it as a single mother.

Another lie that we keep hearing is that people on ‘welfare’ are stupid. An example of this happened in 1990, when a Dartmouth Police Constable representing the Community Relations Department said to the newspapers:

“Let’s face it, the parents who are on welfare are dipping into a pretty limited genetic pool…The genetics are just not there to produce Einsteins.” (Daily News, April 29 & 30, 1990)

Normally I would dismiss this man as being a Neanderthal. However, I don’t want to give Neanderthals a bad name. Let’s look at this comment though. First of all, I can only assume that Mr. Police Constable is talking about Albert Einstein, the man who is widely recognized for his Theory of Relativity. However, through research and Albert’s own letters, it has recently come to light that his first wife, Mileva Maric, actually did all the mathematical computations to develop the Theory of Relativity for which Albert won the Nobel Prize. Mileva eventually became a low-income single mother who struggled to raise her and Albert’s children. Incidentally, Albert didn’t pay his child support! That blows Neanderthal’s logic that poor people are stupid people!

One of the most important things to remember is that the ruling class of politicians and corporations love to point to people who are victims of recession, unemployment, racism, sexism, and such, and tell the middle class people that we are to blame for their high taxes. Then they tell poor people that there isn’t enough money to feed, educate, and house the children properly because middle class people don’t pay enough taxes. Don’t fall for this crap! This is called a “divide and conquer” tactic. That is, if they can keep all the oppressed people divided and angry at each other, then we can’t come together and organize for a more equal society.

Don’t be ashamed of the money you receive from ‘welfare’. Women are doing an enormous amount of free work for this country by raising children to be good citizens and hard workers. Our government and businesses make good use of the work we put into our children. We deserve respect and recognition for the hard work we do.
Another reason you should not be ashamed to receive ‘welfare’ is because multi-million dollar businesses and corporations also get ‘welfare’. Many large and wealthy companies (I’m not talking about small businesses) receive from the federal government and/or provincial governments large grants of free money. That is, they often do not have to pay taxes, interest, or even pay the money back. These businesses and corporations don’t get a measly $800 a month, they often get millions of dollars. This is called “corporate ‘welfare’.”

Being on ‘welfare’ can be depressing, humiliating, degrading, and very discouraging, if you let it! But, if you get together with other single mothers and decide to stand up to the oppression and discrimination, you can make positive changes. Being on ‘welfare’ can give you opportunities you might not otherwise get, such as the chance to organize and make changes, the chance to go back to school and further your education, stay at home to raise your children, or to pursue job training. You have to recognize these rare opportunities and take full advantage of them. You do this by taking control of your life, getting together with other women like yourself, and standing up for your rights. Remember while Nellie McClung said : “Never Apologize. Never Retract. Never Explain. Get the Thing Done and Let Them Howl!”