Canethia Miller, Washington DC mom given $10,800 taxpayer funded lump sum for poor families blows most of it on luxury holiday, but insists she learned a valuable lesson.
At least she got to put $50 of it aside… A Washington DC mom given $10,800 taxpayer-funded lump sum as part of government scheme to help poor families has caused furore following reports she spent most of the money on a luxury Miami holiday, cause she wanted to know what luxury living felt like.
Canethia Miller, 27, was accepted onto a DC government pilot program last year as she and he three children were struggling to make ends meet. The Strong Futures pilot is one of many across the US – but the only one to offer the cash as a $10,800 lump sum, or in monthly $900 instalments.
Miller opted for the former – and confessed to the Washington Post that she splurged more than $6,000 on a five night trip to Miami for herself and her three sons.
‘I wanted to blow it. I wanted to have fun,’
‘I wanted to blow it. I wanted to have fun,’ she said. The spending spree included 15 brand new outfits for her kids – one for each child for each day of the vacation – and a $180 haircut to make her not ‘look like a working, stressed mom.’
Yes kids, the good life has finally arrived. Just stick your hand out and someone will pick up the bill…
Joined by her children’s father (who may or may not be contributing to his children’s material future…?), Miller and her troupe splashed out on luxury amenities including steak dinners, new gadgets and toys for the kids, brand new outfits, as well as a boat tour past Miami’s most expensive mansions (so one can gawk and wish…).
While others who shared their stories on the program were more pragmatic (even if being responsible might come as an inconvenient after thought) Miller said she ‘splashed’ (euphemism for ‘blew it all’) through the entire $10,800 in a matter of months and struggled to keep $50 in her savings account.
A pilot program for impoverished families … but will it work?
The young mom shared her story as part of a profile into DC’s ‘Strong Families, Strong Futures’ pilot program, showing how the no-strings-attached money helped various low-income mothers. Or did it?
Almost $1.5 million in taxpayer money was dished out in the program, with 132 mothers selected to receive either monthly payments of $900, or $10,800 lump sum.
Miller opted for the lump sum, and said being accepted onto the program was a slice of luck as she missed the application deadline but submitted her paperwork anyway.
The stay-at-home mom said her financial struggles worsened when she welcomed her third child in the summer of 2022, but received an array of help including a subsidized two-bedroom apartment in Anacostia.
Funds through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program also helped cover her $120 monthly rent, while food stamps barely helped reach the end of the month.
How to get ahead?
‘Groceries last us the first three weeks of the month, then it’s trying to figure out the last week of my benefits,’ she said. ‘It lasts, but it cuts close.’
After pausing her degree in social work to focus on her growing family, Miller was accepted onto the program – which she used as a lifeline to leverage her and her family’s destiny by planning a luxury holiday.
Miller said she set aside some funds to cover essential bills, but put a majority of the windfall into giving her family a vacation that they ‘never would have been able to do if I didn’t EARN have that money.’
Although other mothers in the program gushed over how the program allowed them to pay off their debts, and re-consider how they may lift their family’s fortunes. Miller decided to spend over $6,000 on a five-day trip to Florida. Cause why not?
‘Every outfit they wore was new,’ the mom of three gushed.
Miller also spent $180 on books, courses, educational vouches, trips to the local museum, new hair and nails.
While some may have thought the funds could be better spent, the mom of three maintained that the vacation could help motivate her children for success by showing them the spoils of hard work in the glitzy Florida city. Do you suppose?
Addressing social and income inequality
Miller added that she had never been taught financial literary or important lessons on saving cash for a rainy day, something that was offered to her for the first time in the program.
This led her to open a savings account, which she said she aims to keep at least $50 in, and although she spent the remaining $4,000 in a matter of months, she insisted the funds helped her learn about saving money for the future.
‘A lot of communities in my area don’t know the financial gain of credit, saving for your kids; that’s why we’re broke, that’s why we don’t have nothing to pass down or no house to give down,’ Miller said.
‘I’m trying to get to the level where I’m passing something down that really matters, so I can be set and my kids can be set, and they don’t need to push so hard like I’m doing now.’
Miller is now set for a new remote job that could pay up to $30 an hour, a new opportunity she credits with the confidence she gained in the program.
Almost in afterthought, the mom of three offered, ‘A lot of communities in my area don’t know the financial gain of credit [or] saving for your kids; that’s why we’re broke. That’s why we don’t have nothing to pass down or no house to give down.’
“I’m trying to get to the level where I’m passing something down that really matters, so I can be set and my kids can be set, and they don’t need to push so hard like I’m doing now.”
Yes kids, $10,800 isn’t going to buy anyone a house, or never be enough to set up your kids’ entire future, necessarily address income inequality, but it may be enough to catch up on bills, avoid costly interest rates, perhaps offer the occasional dinner treat or new sweater, put a deposit on a course or new school that may tie in to greater opportunities down the road and get one on the road to living the American Dream … assuming it’s still there for the taking?
