You gotten some good information. It is true, people who get assistance get very little, even less than you it seems. But they manage, with Section 8 for housing expense, food stamps, medicaid with drugs costing $2 & $4 each, food banks, no car or related expenses. It's no wonder they can't afford to work. They would have to earn so much money to make up for what they would lose. I have several friends on SSI which means they get about $700 a month but their expenses are really low because of all the programs they are on.