I was on SSI until I married my husband. Never qualified for SSDI because I didn't work long enough before becoming disabled.

Poverty is a hard cycle to break out of. If I hadn't married a man with a middle-class income, I don't know if I could ever have done it. Part of the problem is that the systems in place are designed to keep you dependent. Try to improve your circumstances, and some social worker somewhere is going to warn you not to. I can't count how many times I was warned I shouldn't try to get a job, or I might lose my SSI.

You're allowed to make some income on SSI before the check stops. Also, you can always get that check back again, if the job doesn't work out. But some people are led to believe, whether on purpose or not, that any income at all means your check instantly and permanently stops. If your condition worsens, too bad for you. You'll never see that check again. If you thought that was how it worked, wouldn't you be afraid to even try? Well, it doesn't work like that, but I've been in mental health programs where the staff would lead their clientele to believe it works like that. People were terrified to even look for a part-time minimum wage job. When I took one myself, I was actually told I was doing a stupid thing, rather than being congratulated on trying to improve my situation.

Sometimes people just don't do the math. I'll use round numbers for easy calculation. I don't even know what the actual figures are now, since I haven't been on SSI in ten years. So let's say I draw $600 a month. Then I get a part-time job making $1200 a month. They don't do anything about the first $100, but then for every two dollars on top of that, they take one dollar out of my check. So that's an overage of $1100, which would be $550 that they pull out. Now they're sending me a check for $50, in addition to the $1200 I'm earning. That's $1250 total, as opposed to the $600 I used to get, and I've still got my Medicaid. But ALL some people are going to look at is, "Oh, my gosh, they took almost my whole check! I better stop working!"

I was even warned not to marry my husband. If I did, I'd lose my Section 8 housing. Hello! That's the whole point! I don't need it anymore! Wouldn't it be better for me to live with my husband in a house we own, and save that Section 8 apartment for somebody who doesn't have other options?