kathy
The fact that you know someone who used welfare does not mean they would not have survived without it.
Some people survived auschwitz but survival is not how I look at it. I look at it more at what was most help. My moms and dads family were both sorta poor but dads was no where near like my moms. Both were large families.
Mom grew up in some places that you could see the outside light through the walls. This was while her dad was still alive. her dad died when I was about one year old. I have an uncle that was only two years older then me and so when her dad died her mom still had probably five young children at home. The part I remember is the house that is just as iddee mentioned he grew up in with no water and out houses and the whole nine yards. Having a wash pan to wash your hands in.
So now to what helped. There was charities. I remember getting opened toys and coats and such at xmas and it being welcome. I also remember eating many sandwiches of bread dipped in bacon grease with slices of garden tomato and onion and many whole meals of just potato mostly french fries.
Now I never noticed it being so bad it being this way as for as life goes but can see how much worse it would have been if hunger would have been worse though it was not perfect as it was.
What did help was the regularity of the cheese, Hard peanut butter, corn syrup, milk that came much more regular then the charity stuff which did help also.
I will say circumstances were so much better and with many more options in my parents and also my life in comparison cause at the bottom there was no choices except pure survival.
So looking at the few things that helped the most, it did come down to the regularity of what the government did not that there was no help from charities here and there.
I can not look down on my grandma but more look up to her cause fate gave her a pretty tough hoe to roe and she did what she could.
When the kids were old enough to watch themselves, she worked at some minimum wage jobs cause they were available to her as here carreer started pretty late in life.
I am very seldom jealous that some one might get something they did not work for cause I would not trade my situation for theirs any day.
Cheers
gww