A woman who received $10,800 (approximately £8,522) in aid for her family of four blew most of it on a luxurious trip to Miami.
Canethia Miller, 27, hails from Washington, DC, United States. She received the money from the government’s pilot programme for impoverished families called “Strong Families, Strong Future”.
The families selected under the programme were asked to choose between a lump-sum payment of $10,800 or 12 monthly payments of $900 (£710.42). Miller, along with several other families, chose the former and decided to take her kids and husband on a trip.
She set aside some money from the amount for essential expenses and spent a major portion of it on a Miami trip.
“Some of it I just left alone. The other side is, I wanted to blow it. I wanted to have fun,” she said. “[My kids] got to experience something I would never have been able to do if I didn’t have that money,” she told The Washington Post.
Miller spent hundreds of dollars to buy new clothes for her kids and spent $180 on her own makeover. “I didn’t have to look like a working, stressed mom,” she said about the money spent on herself.
She spent a good portion of her money to expose her children to what wealth looks like. She took her children on a boat tour past some of the city’s most expensive mansions.
Her children got new gadgets and new toys, and they also got to eat at a Japanese steak and sushi restaurant for the first time. She believes this was also meant to inspire her children and make them think that they too could afford an expensive mansion if they worked hard.
She used the remaining money on bills and a used car. Miller is all set to start a new remote job that pays $30 (£23.68) an hour.
The direct cash transfer pilot scheme was launched by Mayor Muriel Bowser for 132 new and expectant mothers in Wards 5, 7, and 8 in Washington, DC.
Miller was one of the 132 mothers who received aid under the programme in 2022. The programme was meant to analyse and assess how the no-strings-attached money could improve the lives of impoverished families.
“Having a newborn is a big life change, and we also know how critical those first months and years are to a baby’s life. This program is about supporting new and expectant moms with cash so that they can have the autonomy and flexibility to make the best choices for them and their baby,” Mayor Bowser said at the time.
