When public assistance pays less than a family needs to survive, nearly every recipient has to find extra money elsewhere, often by breaking the rules. The one mother who lived on welfare alone was so deprived that her neighbors thought about reporting her for child neglect.
Hidden income and unreported help are common among poor families, but they go to basic needs, not to comfortable living. Mothers usually do it by not reporting earnings from work or by taking quiet help from boyfriends and relatives. The stereotype of the cheat living in style gets both the motive and the scale wrong.
A low-wage job cuts or ends cash assistance and cancels public health insurance. At the same time it adds new costs for child care, work clothes and transport. The worker can end up poorer and uninsured, so staying on welfare is often the sensible choice, not a sign of not wanting to work.