Paul Ryan was 16 years old when his father died. Using the Social Security survivors benefits he received until his 18th birthday, he paid for his education at Miami University in Ohio, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics and political science in 1992.
From the Official Website for the U.S. Social Security Administration:
About 4.4 million children receive approximately $2.5 billion each month because one or both of their parents are disabled, retired or deceased. Those dollars help to provide the necessities of life for family members and help to make it possible for those children to complete high school. When a parent becomes disabled or dies, Social Security benefits help to stabilize the family’s financial future.
Now, the only reason I am familiar with "death" benefits is because I have a family member who started receiving the checks when her father died at age one. Like Ryan, it paid for her college education with the added benefit of helping her single mom raise her.
from http://www.wpri.org/...
Within months (of his father's death), Paul’s maternal grandmother moved into the house. She suffered from Alzheimer’s, and it often fell on young Paul to care for her, including brushing and braiding her hair. Ryan credits his father’s death and the care of his grandmother as giving him first-hand experience as to how social service programs work.
What's weird is Ryan's disconnect with a plan that helped him and his family. Ryan has been
quoted as saying,
"It made me more of a self-starter and scrapper."
Ryan is a self-starter because federal money allowed him to pursue a college degree.
And, that also means that Paul Ryan has been a member of the 47%, someone paying no income tax and dependent on government services.
I'm curious if Ryan has the introspection to realize he was a "47%". Ryan is quick to point to Ayn Rand as a big influence on his life, but would he have even had that opportunity if it weren't for the safety net of Social Security "death benefits".