Women & Children First

Here we go again, messing with Social Security. This time it's survivor benefits. President Bush's budget proposes cutting the one time $255 death benefit when a spouse dies. I can see that--the amount is so ridiculously out of the ball park it's sort of an insult to even go down and apply for it. What's it going to cover? Maybe the little cards you print out for people to pick up at the wake?

After Rich died, I didn't bother to apply for it. I went down to social security to apply for survivor benefits for my kids. I sat there in the waiting room, still in a state of shock, and waited for my number to be called. The woman who processed the kids' claims was properly sympathetic. Toward the end of the interview, she says, "Oh, by the way, you are entitled to a one time death benefit for your husband."

Yeah, I knew that. I almost laughed. A one-time benefit of $255. Who the heck came up with such a stupid figure anyway? She said she would go ahead and file the form for me and I just shrugged. Whatever. Rich worked so hard all his life. He could certainly have qualified to be on disability benefits because he was so seriously ill but he never wanted to bother with that. And so this was the sum of his life from all he'd contributed to social security: a one time $255 death benefit. Ugh.

So...good riddance. Get rid of it, does anyone really think it helps or makes a difference?

What worries me, though, is that Mr. Bush would also like to get rid of survivor benefits for kids who drop out of school. Okay, I know that a good incentive to staying in school would be to get paid to do it but I also know that not all kids drop out because they are lazy bums.

Besides, once you start cutting where do you stop?

As it is, kids are cut off just before they turn 18. Come on...we all know that had Rich lived, he'd be helping to support the kids through college. That's what we do as parents, right? Some parents flat out pay for everything but most help out however they can. In the case of survivor benefits, though, the support from the departed parent ends. Period. It continues only if the child is in still in high school. Like...my son was 18 in May. If he hadn't been in 12th grade, his benefit would have stopped April. My daughter will be 18 in September. She will be out of high school so I think her benefits stop in August, the month before her birthday.

Come on, Mr. Bush. Leave the kids' survivor benefits alone. Lord knows it's not all that much to begin with--children of the departed parent get only 75% anyway. That's not very much when you consider how much you need to raise a child. The surviving parent doesn't get any assistance--not unless they're at retirement age. So if the surviving parent doesn't have a job, well, it's not easy to feed, clothe and keep a kid in school with peanuts.

The article is here.

Booking Through Thursday

1. How many books do you usually take with you on vacation? Too many? Too few? Do you still have room to pack clothes? It depends on how long I'm going to be away--usually I'll pack 1 thick book per week. I usually have enough to last me. As for clothes, hey, there's always the laundromat if I have to choose between them and books. ;-)


2. What kind of books do you read on vacation? Usually books that move fast--mystery/thrillers or horror. Never romance though, it's not my cup of tea.


3. Do you read the same kind of books when you're on vacation as when you're at home? Not always. I don't read "thinking" books while I'm on vacation and that's the only difference I can think of. For example, I wouldn't read Grapes of Wrath on vacation.