r/BeAmazed • u/Fuma4fun • Jan 25 '25

Miscellaneous / Others Heartwarming video of homeless boy bursting into tears.

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u/HommeMusical Jan 25 '25

They had to leave their apartment because of the fathers heart surgery,

Even if I didn't know this was in America, that line would let me know.

I lived in America for over 30 years. Now I live in France.

If you can't work because of illness, they pay 100% of your salary for the first year. Then it goes down to 50% - but indefinitely.

Also, like in most countries in Europe, they'll do anything they can to prevent you from being homeless if you're currently housed. This is simply good economics - making a worker homeless essentially breaks them as a worker.

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u/ParadiseLost91 Jan 25 '25

Exactly. When my mom was diagnosed with a chronic disease, she was only able to work part-time due to her symptoms. She used to work full-time before that.

So the government pays her "half" unemployment benefits each month. So together with her part-time job, she can keep her home and pay her bills. Because it's not her fault she got sick, so of course the government steps in and helps her. This is in Denmark. Because you're right, making a citizen homeless is the worst thing you can do, for both the citizen and society at large. It pays to keep people housed.

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u/melymn Jan 25 '25

Just a quick note - the government doesn't really pay your mum anything, it's not their money they're taking out of their pocket and giving to her out of the goodness of their hearts.

She gets the money she rightfully earned by her previous work and the taxes she paid (and still pays in various ways), and that her family and loved ones pay, and the society as a whole. That is really the whole point of a functional county.

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u/ParadiseLost91 Jan 25 '25

I hope you're not implying that me or others didn't know that?

That's basic knowledge, hopefully. We all pay taxes to fund our welfare state. Then, if we ever need help from the government, they administer that money back to us. I hope you're not implying that I, a citizen who pays taxes, didn't know this lol. It's very basic knowledge and shouldn't need explaining (unless someone is unfamiliar with welfare systems).

I pay my taxes happily to fund our welfare system. That same system paid for my university education. I now earn a decent salary and therefore "pay back" (and more) every month when I pay taxes from my salary. It's a very neat system that's used in most of Europe, with slight variations depending on the country. Works really well most of the time, though there is always some disagreement about what should and shouldn't be part of the system lol

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u/mallclerks Jan 25 '25

Sigh. This is the kind of answer I used to give when I was 17 as well.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '25

Just curious how what did you have to do to move there? I’ve been wanting to go to France for years and learn French as well. But isn’t it nearly impossible to migrate there unless you get a job in France?

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u/HommeMusical Jan 25 '25

We did it the hard way. We moved to the Netherlands when I was British right before Brexit. We learned Dutch and became Europeans (again). Now freedom of movement lets me move here, even though I work for a foreign company.