One in five Los Angeles County residents — nearly 2.2 million people — are receiving public assistance payments or benefits, a level county officials say will rise significantly over the coming months as the fallout from the recession continues. The percentage of people on county aid already equals the figure at the height of the 2001-03 recession and far exceeds the one in seven who needed help during the economic downturn in the early 1990s and the one in nine assisted in the collapse of the early 1980s. County officials warn that tens of thousands of additional frustrated job seekers — unemployment in the county currently stands at 9.5% — are expected to seek aid to weather the persistent recession once their other benefits run out. Full Story at today’s L.A.Times.
The rising demand has left public assistance offices ill-equipped to deal with the growing multitude of indigent people. In some locations, lines routinely snake hundreds of feet outside entrances.
“We have the highest human service burden of any county in the country in sheer numbers,” Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.
“Two million people is the size of some countries; that’s how big our problem is,” he said.
To have reached the point of receiving county aid, recipients usually have little left.
Qualifying for help most often means they already have run out of unemployment insurance and drained their bank accounts and other assets.
Said one applicant, “This is getting scary. There are no jobs”.
This is why public assistance programs remain relatively popular…vast numbers of people realize they are just one paycheck, one job loss, one healthcare crisis away from needing help.
Public assistance is popular, because when you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the Support of Paul!
What’s everybody worried about? Job loss is a self correcting thing. Some out of work people will take up a new job in burglary, theft, and armed robbery, which in turn expands employment in law enforcement and jail guards. It’s happening right now in L.A. They need a lot more deputies to watch the jails, so … criminal record? no problemo … as long you’ve reformed. Here’s the link:
http://www.latimes.com/classified/jobs/news/la-me-hire20-2009feb20,0,789964.story
Considering that there are other types of public aid out there, including aid from the sateand federal government, I wonder if this percentage is actually around 50% to 60%.
WELL DUH!!!
THE HIGHEST ILLEGAL ALIEN POPULATION IN THE COUNTRY. WIC ANYONE? HOW ABOUT FREE HEALTH CARE?
COME ONE, COME ALL!! CALIFORNIA TAX PAYERS ARE HERE FOR YOU!!
OH YA
DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH? WE WILL HIRE SPECIAL TEACHERS TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO. WE WILL ALSO MAKE SURE WE PUBLISH EVERYTHING IN YOUR LANGUAGE SO YOU CAN FEEL RIGHT AT HOME.
SAHS TEACHER.
THE ONE’S IN THE JAIL DIDN’T WANT TO WORK IN THE FIRST PLACE. THEY ARE ILLEGAL GANG CRIMINALS WHO ARE HERE TO SELL DRUGS AND DESTROY THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE. THEY ARE CROWDING OUR PRISONS AND COSTING TAX PAYERS BILLIONS. THEY AND THEIR FAMILIES SHOULD BE DEPORTED IMMEDIATELY!!
ANON,
GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS ARE SO POPULAR BECAUSE IT IS SO EASY TO ABUSE. MOST OF US ARE ONLY ONE CRISIS AWAY FROM THE POOR HOUSE.
BUT THE ONE’S WHO ARE ABUSING IT NEVER HAD ANYTHING TO LOSE, BECAUSE THEY DON’T NEED TO TRY TO GAIN ANYTHING ON THEIR OWN. THEY GET IT FOR FREE.
Shirley,
How’s Laverne doing these days?