Bus pass is actually $90/month. I must have mistyped. Clothing care - if one is working, one cannot save money by not going to the laundromat. One also cannot go on a fast to save on food (at least, I can't if I'm working) so need to provide good food for lunches at work.

Welfare - $520

Expenses
Rent - usually around $440 for a room or a cheap 1 bedroom apartment (maximum -allowed- rent is $325, which price hasn't been available for over 20 years unless you're renting a room from a friend who doesn't really need to rent out) - 80 left
Hygiene - 6 - 74 left (I have heavy flow and have to buy pads once a month.)
Medication - 20 - 54 left
Clothing care 10 - 44 left (10 if not working, though it's hard on the clothes, and don't tell me to hand-wash, it's either not clean or I just can't rinse out the soap, and it'll cost more in water.)

Work expenses
Phone - 30 - 14 left (if you want to work, you have to be able to call employers and to call in sick if necessary. Also good for internet.)
Transportation - 90 - negative 76
Clothing care - $40 if working - negative 106

Food - whatever's left. Actual food costs are about $60 per week, if I want to eat milk or beef or vegetables which I need for nutrition. If I just want to eat rice and beans... it's a lot less. But that's inviting malnutrition, particularly since I already struggle with that.

Visiting friends is difficult, because you have to get there, transportation costs money. If people buy pizza or drinks you never have any money to chip in. You never have money to go with friends to see a movie... rent a video... whatever.

You can keep $143 (plus 25% of whatever you earn over that,) of your monthly paycheque. If you earn $400 you get to keep 207 of it, the rest gets taken off the next month's welfare cheque.

If you earn $520 or more, you're off welfare, unless there are extenuating circumstances (like, if the job only lasts two months).

Actual monthly cost, working:
$950 minimum, allowing for some entertainment or emergency money.

Maximum welfare income if earning $500/month:
$752.25

Actual monthly cost, not working:
$800 minumum, allowing for some entertainment or emergency money. And I find a phone to be very necessary.

Maximum welfare income if not working:
$520

These figures don't look too good, do they?

I really pity people who have to have alcohol or cigarettes... or who have cars... or pets...

There are two things that contribute to these results. One is, the lack of affordable housing. The other is, the lack of money from welfare for the REAL cost of cheap housing: though financial counselling recommends that the housing cost be 33% of income or lower... they set it up that the maximum allowed housing cost is over 60% of income. (These rates were set many decades ago, and have only been CUT since. CUT!!!!!)

If housing was reasonable, other things could be managed. Barely, but managed.

Put people in situations where they either cannot work fulltime or are out of work for a length of time and have no savings... and I have no clue how people are supposed to survive.

The one good thing about welfare is that if you have up to $5000 savings you can still get on it, then you have some kind of cushion that can hopefully get you through while looking for work. But... if you have no savings... if you are unable to work in any way... *Shrug*