Author Archives: sabrams688

After hearing about the welfare programs in other countries it made me wonder about the welfare services that are offered in Guyana, South America, which is where my family originated from. I did some brief research and it made me realize that to even have a program that provides aid in a country when you are down in the dumps, is a luxury.

Now the government says that you can receive pension, but how many people actually have a good job in this country. When you take away the 15% that are unemployed and then take away those who work for next to nothing, you are not left with many who can find a good government job that has a pension plan.“In 1990, about 40 percent of the country’s workers were in minimum-wage jobs, earning the equivalent of US$0.5 per day (at December 1990 exchange rates). These low wages, often not enough to even cover the costs of commuting to work, helped explain the high rate of emigration.” Even though this information is outdated, I have seen how hard it is out there. My cousin is a police officer and she makes $30,000 a month in Guyana which is an equivalent of US$150.

I hear Americans complain about taxes but in this poor nation they charge they recently (2007) enforced a new tax of 16% on everything you buy, including food. I was there this past Christmas and it just made me really angry because they were definitely not seeing that money back.
Americans might say over and over again that they oppose increasing government spending on welfare programs, in reality, they support the majority of programs defined as “welfare.” The majority of social welfare spending is on education, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. In fact, only 17% of government social spending is directed toward means-tested programs that target the poor.

Guyana is a poor country that lacks a lot of the bare necessities that we take for granted each day. Of course you will never see this in the tourist area but take a walk to the country. Imagine not having a mailbox and just making routine trips to the post office just to check. If my mom wants to send money down, she has to call and let my family know in advance so they can go to the post office to collect it.

I have included a link to read about the welfare services in Guyana (don’t wry it’s not long : )) for all of u who won’t read it at least read the quote.” Statistics for 1988 showed 164 physicians in Guyana, which made for a physician-to-patient ratio of one to 5,000. About 90 percent of the physicians were in public service. Guyana’s 789 nurses made for a nurse-to-patient ratio of one to 1,014 in 1988” Makes u wonder…

http://www.photius.com/countries/guyana/society/guyana_society_health_and_welfare_s~310.html

I know that we have all heard of what people think of people who receive welfare. The media plays a huge role in  what people come to understand about welfare. Well this article that I found provides evidence that there are many other ways to cheat the government for money. The link I included shares a personal testimony of a rich woman who tells her story of how she cheats the government. She doesn’t even seem apologetic about it. This is one of the things that she said in her article. “So if the ocean ate what I built, I could rebuild and rebuild again and again — there was no limit to the number of claims on the same property in the same location — up to a maximum of $250,000 per house per flood. And you taxpayers would pay for it.Thanks.” This is her life as a Welfare Queen. Enjoy !!