[quote=FlyerInHi]How does marriage make a difference in terms of social services? Don’t poor kids who are born out of wedlock get foodstamps, Medicaid, and free lunches?[/quote]
Yes, they do, FIH, but as you know, each kid living with a single parent collecting public aid for them has another parent … somewhere. If that “other parent” is still alive, whenever and whenever they are working and their employer reports their wages to whatever state they are working in, the other parent will get a portion of their wages garnished for aid reimbursement if there is an active court order in place for child support. If there is not, an order for support is typically sought by the state paying the aid and wage garnishments for CS commence.
It’s NOT typical for American non-custodial parents (who are not married to the custodial parent) to have 23-30 children with 4-8 “wives” simultaneously and with 12-20 of those children still minors. This scenario IS typical for the isolated sects of (ousted) “Mormons” I’m referring to here. It WORKS for them because they live in relatively unpopulated rugged backcountry which is undesirable to the masses (hot and dusty several months per year) and where the families can live off the land and barter and help each other in times of need.
If this population moved into big cities (especially in expensive coastal areas), there is no way they could keep their families together in one home. They may be able to obtain leases on several homes in the same neighborhood but not without having hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in an endless stream of passive income. Without that, every family member would be on 1-4 forms of public aid within 60 days of arrival … out of necessity.
One “patriarch” (even 3) cannot possibly support that many people in big cities if he and his brothers and older sons cannot compete for good jobs there because they have little formal education and no “white collar” skills. And I think the older women (not needed at home anymore) who tried to compete for service-sector and retail jobs in cities would be shunned by employers because they would refuse to wear the company uniform citing it was too immodest.
Some of the service sector employers in Southern UT and Northern AZ allow these women to work as cashiers and fast food workers, etc dressed in their typical brightly-colored or pastel full skirt, bonnet and buttoned up LS shirt with peplum as there are few reliable employees to choose from in that region. The tourists passing thru there are used to seeing this and expect it.
