EY Mom – you say “chareidim work!! I work, and so does my husband. But we still do not cross the threshold of having to pay income tax.”
That’s entirely my point – even when chareidim work, they still don’t (usually) pass the threshold for paying taxes. There’s a reason for that – because there’s a lack of basic secular education that is statistically proven to increase income. There’s a system and culture in place now that creates this problem and it’s a cyclical problem! The system needs to change in order for chareidi families to be able to work and support their families properly.
You can’t fairly say that I insist on getting a limited secular education, knowing full well that this means there’s a statistically proven likelihood that I won’t earn enough to properly support my family. I’ll then just claim that I’m doing the best I can and it’s the job of the government and all of the people around me to make up he difference. To me, that’s the same thing as a diabetic not taking his medication that is statistically proven to help. He then just claims that he’s doing the best he can & he’s learning Torah so it’s the government and everyone else’s job to make up the difference. This is an abuse of the safety net system that was set up to help poor & disabled people.