If you get married to someone 18 or older can you still receive public assistance if you are pregnant?

Answer 1

It depends on your state, your income, and your citenship status. So firstly, you can't receive cash assistance (what most people call welfare) if you're not a citizen. Secondly, the most important consideration for eligibility for cash assistance is your income. When welfare benefits were decentralized in 1996, states gained the ability to control who is eligible for cash assistanc called TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). So, every state's income eligilibity requirements are different. Typically you have to be under the povery threshold or within like 20% of it. The poverty threshold for a family of 4 is $20,000, i don't know what it is for a single person or pregant person. Thirdly, it depends on your state's policies regarding marriage. Though traditionally, cash assistance was meant for single parents and their children, many states do have programs for low-income married couples, especially since part of PRWORA is geared toward marriage promotion. However the timelines for many of the programs for married people I believe are shorter than the TANF timelines for single people with children. In most states individuals are only allowed to receive cash assistance for 2 years at a time and for 5 years in their lifetime. But i think married couples only get 6- 12 months of assistance. Also while receiving cash assistance, you'll have to prove that you're looking for work during that time or are improving your work skills through education. However, having a baby who is less than one year old, if the mother is over 18, is usually an exemption from the work requirement. If you are under 18, most TANF requirements would require you to return to school or work within about 4-6 months after having the baby. As a side note, if you are married at the time of the baby's birth, the person you are married to will be listed as the legal father and he will be responsible for caring for the child unless he can prove he is not the biological father. If at some point in the future you divored, and you received cash assistance and he had a child support order against him, you would not receive that child support, it would go to the state to pay back the cash assistance. Also, if you decide not to marry him, and you are receiving cash assistance after the baby is born, the welfare office will probably make you identify the father and they will assist you/make you file for child support as part of your continued eligibility. The best way to find out about your eligibility for cash assistance is to go to your local public assistance office (they're called something different in every state - you might want to go to your State's home web page and see if there is a listing there). Your state might also list the eligibility requirements on their web page.

Also, if you're under 18, then it might be a whole different story. Pregnant/parenting teens under the new TANF laws are not allowed to receive cash assistance if they live on their own. They have to live with a parent/guardian and I believe the parent/guardian has to be the one to apply for the cash assistance and it then counts against their own 5 year time limit.

Regarding publicly funded health insurance, Medicaid(title 19). You would be eligible right now, if you are pregnant and low-income. The income requirements for pregnant women and for children are higher, and once the baby is born, she/he could also be eligible for SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program - Title 21) as well. That program's income requirement is $40,000 for a family of 4. There are also specific Medicaid programs just for pregnant women - so if you don't have mdeical insurance, you should definitely seek that out.

You would also be eligible for WIC - women infants and children. They provide coupons for free food items such as cereals, milk, cheese, and juice (beccuase of the nutrition pregnant women need). And you might be eligible for Food stamps based on your income - which would be advisable, again to make sure you're getting good nutrition.