[jelena-nanana]

So how many of the people you know do not have photo ID?

I grew up poor. I have fond memories of standing in lines waiting for blocks of government cheese. So my anecdotal data is surely going to be different from yours.

To answer your question, most of the friends I had from the old neighborhood had to go through hoops around the time we all reached drivers license age. Plenty of reasons for not having their BC. Parents split up, moving, no social, can't afford to go through the hoops to get a social, no utilities, no utilities in their names, etc.

Are there any numbers? Dunno, but the skeptic in me would seriously question the authenticity of any reported number because, and again this is from my experience, when a 'surveyor' shows up in the hood to ask you a bunch of questions, you close the door in his face or pretend that you're not home.

How do they collect welfare etc.? I am really curious. Do they not need any proof of ID, residency etc.? Also, where do they live, and do they not have electric, water etc? How many people in a house do you think needs to have the ID to do all of those things? How many poor people sharing residency because they can't afford to live by themselves?

But before I waste more time with explanations, are you seriously curious or will you think that poor people are just being lazy no matter what is explained to you?

I mean, I could explain how utility theft is way more common in poor neighborhoods than you'd think, how crafty folks use the names of their dead parents/grandparents for utilities/services that were never shut off, how some like Jackie think "The Man" is after them so they won't put money in a bank or even register to vote, how some still use kerosene heaters to warm their house or just rely on the thin walls of their neighbors for heat.

Some just don't know how to navigate the system and some are the failures from our weak school system that has a terrible drop-out rate.