The semi nouveau riche?

One thing working in the welfare sector has shown me is the vast divide in classes that rears its ugly head in society. If the buzz word "generational poverty" means the same to you as it does me, I won't be offended if you zone out now.

For those woh don't know, generational poverty is a term applied to those families where generations of that family are brought up in identical circumstances. Perhaps the most prevalent example of this would be the Centrelink generation - a semi nouveau riche. These are people who are more often than not born to young mums, on the teat of the taxpayer (note the sudden change in tone?) or put more politically correctly, Centrelink benefits.

I don't want to offend anyone legitimately on benefits, let me make that clear.

Anyway. These particular children are brought up in public housing, or moving frequently from private rental to private rental. Their parents know the welfare system inside out, who gives out what, when they do and how often they can access it. They will gladly tell anyone who will listen that the government doesn't "pay" them enough (yes, they call it pay, like sitting on your bum with Foxtel, Radio Rentals and Cash Converter debts up the whazoo qualifies them to deem their cash flow of taxpayer dollars to be akin to actual paid work).

They expect everything, and contribute nothing - them as children are taught that whoever has the loudest voice, or is obnoxious enough to make a scene in public gets the best results. Then, at the ripe age of 16, they have their first child - the earlier the better, because more children equals more money, and if you're in the market or living in public housing you get a bigger house.

This sounds extremely cynical, and don't doubt me, I acknowledge that it is. For the most part it's true. I speak with the knowledge and experience of having worked in this sector for over 12 months, and you learn things fast. There is certainly room for compassion; it is a major component of our daily work. You take things with a grain of salt, give them the benefit of a doubt the first time. Then the faces become familiar, the excuses the same.

For every one case that is genuine, the exception to the rule, there are the countless others who are there to use and abuse the system that is designed to help those most in need. Like I said, this is nothing new. The simple fact of teh matter is that as long as there are allowances for this type of behaviour to continue, so it will. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I think people need to be held more accountable and educated, equipped with tools to break their own cycles of generational poverty.