The push for changes in the minimum wage are still rampant in many online communities, with thousands of people continuing to fight for higher hourly pay.
However, there’s another side to the story that some people are forgetting to consider, which is that of government assistance. A story posted by one single mom shows where a conflict could arise between higher minimum wage and receiving government support, and where that conflict could land people.
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A heartbreaking story was posted to Reddit’s antiwork community.
It discussed how extremely limiting it is to live off low hourly wages, especially when one has a child they have to take care of, and provides a unique perspective on the minimum-wage debate.
The title of the post reads, “I make $15 an hour, too much to receive government assistance but not enough to live off of. Yesterday, I had to shoplift ibuprofen for my teething daughter. This sucks.”
She opens the story by saying she debated even posting it as she’s still so ashamed of her actions.
She then says something that many might find controversial, “Honestly I did better financially wise when I made barely above minimum wage.”
She used to make $9.75 an hour, which she did admit was awful, but when making that little, she was eligible for government assistance programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, WIC, and daycare assistance, meaning she was able to afford groceries and didn’t need to worry about taking her daughter to the pediatrician.
She received a raise to $15.25 an hour.
While she’s technically making more, her SNAP and Medicaid were cut off as she was making “too much”. Alongside that, her WIC and daycare assistance have been slashed. Her caseworker says she should be able to afford all her bills along with food, childcare, etcetera, but she admits that she often has to juggle which utility can be paid and which can be shut off.
She’s struggling to raise a child by herself while also keeping herself afloat.
She then tells the story that resulted in the theft, which was her daughter getting sick with a fever while at daycare and the pediatrician telling her to rotate Tylenol and ibuprofen for a while.
She says she only had $10 in her account at the time, and the only ibuprofen the closest store had was $9. She picked it up, hid it under her purse in the cart, and walked out.
She still hates what she did.
“I still feel so [expletive] guilty. My stomach hurts every time I think about it. I know Walmart isn’t hurting over some infant Motrin but […] I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m terrified to get arrested next time I go to [expletive] Walmart. I’m terrified I’m going to have to do this again because I have no other way to make ends meet.”
“Everything just sucks. I don’t want to be in this position anymore.”
She said she expected no support, as she knew what she did was wrong, but the comments came to her defense anyway.
“Having extensive retail experience I can tell you that Wal-Mart probably doesn’t care about your theft of one bottle of medicine and no one is going to bother you if you go back to shop,” wrote one user that many others agreed with, hoping to calm her worries about returning to that same Walmart.
Another said, “You took 50 cents worth of medicine from the Waltons, a family worth $215 Billion (with a B) dollars. That’s not stealing. Do not feel guilty.”
Others provided tips to help care for a sick child while poor.
“Ask your doctors if they have samples of medicines you can take. The pharmacy reps usually leave them some,” said one comment.
Another replied, “Oh my god, OP please do this! I survived on samples of asthma medicine from my doctor for the longest time when I didn’t have health insurance. I’m talking years.”
Overall, many were simply there to comfort her.
They reminded her that she’s not a bad person for doing what she needed to in order to keep her child healthy under such restrictive living. There were other parents sharing similar experiences, and others offering to send money to help her take care of her daughter.
What is still a heart-breaking story did become a community discussion full of love and support for those out there trying their best. Hopefully, this mother will be on the up and up soon enough.
