The idea that people receiving public assistance have disposable income to spend regularly on luxury items simply isn’t supported by the math. But can all those stories about people using their Electronic Benefit Transfer Card while buying a steak, wearing brand name shoes, using expensive cell phones or sporting newly painted fingernails be false? Certainly not all of them, but a lot fewer than we might assume.
First, it is important to recognize that some of these luxuries may have been gifts, or bought when money was not so tight. Other displays of apparent wealth like expensive hairdos may have been bartered or done among friends. But even for those receiving aid and indulging in a trip to the nail salon, the dilemma comes down to whether we think people living at or near poverty deserve any small luxuries. Should people who receive public assistance never enjoy a steak? Should they never buy a well-made shirt? Should they never treat themselves to a visit to the beauty shop? Some may answer, no, not as long as they are receiving government aid. Others may argue that life living close to or in poverty is hard enough, and that complete deprivation of any small luxury at all is unrealistic and unnecessarily harsh. No amount of statistics or facts will resolve this dilemma, but the experiences of aid recipients can at least provide a perspective rarely heard in the media.