Sounds to me like more of a poor job of parenting and decision making than anything. The failure is often in the home and it trickles down to the children who have no idea about responsibility before they face the world ahead of them. As for a man who will not provide for his own (in the case of your niece) he ought to be tarred and feathered in royal fashion. The whole scenario sounds wacked to me from the parental perspective. Asking someone else to take responsibility for your children is not good in any way. I'm not for entitlement in any way -- for any one. I'd never run for political office because I'd never give a handout to anyone who won't work. Ok I'm done now.