The Reality Of Living On Benefits

“This Morning” is a British breakfast programme with celebrity gossip, fashion, cooking and some debate of current affairs. Today they’re featuring a benefit claimant who says she’d never consider getting a job because she gets £70k worth of benefits – propaganda on “This Morning”‘s part as she gets THE EQUIVALENT of £70k, apparently she’s getting her daughter’s tuition fees paid for (I didn’t even think they did that) and that’s included, which will presumably take it up by £9k a year for three years. Anyway, cue the regular comments about everyone on benefits being subservient to taxpayers and completely inferior and all being workshy layabouts. I wrote and posted this, both on the status (it’s on Facebook) and on the page itself, and the comments are mysteriously vanishing – I wonder why? However, please read this, and share it as much as you can – on Facebook, or wherever. People need to know the reality – Maddy x

 

Ok then, how about this? I’ll quite gladly volunteer to come in and sit on your sofa, and tell you the reality of living on benefits. I’ll go further than that, I’ll tell you the reality of the reason why we have to live on benefits.
 I’ll tell you how the house is freezing through the winter because we can’t afford the heating; how we live in extra layers and the day when you can walk around in a t-shirt IN the house is a massive celebration.
I’ll tell you how my parents have gone without food, to make sure me and my brother and sister can eat.
I’ll tell you how, at sixteen, I saw both my parents become suicidal when we were wrongly accused of benefit fraud by local busybodies.
I’ll tell you how my eleven year old sister has to put up with being bullied at school by all the other kids – all of whom have middle-class parents and nice homes and few financial worries – who insist that we get a free car (wrong) and all our shopping paid for (wrong) and our house paid for (wrong) AS WELL as all our benefits (yep, ALL of them, because apparently we’re rich!), and that my dad isn’t even ill. She’s eleven years old, and gets into trouble for fighting back when KIDS are being taught to view genuine benefit claimants in this narrow-minded, bigoted way.
I’ll tell you how yes, we do go away on holiday – for a week, usually to somewhere like South Wales. Why will I tell you that? Because apparently people on benefits don’t deserve holidays. Not even when they’ve spent the other 51 weeks of the year caring around-the-clock for ill, disabled family members, and just want a break to get away and be a family without worrying about the people at home and what they think of us.
I’ll tell you how my Dad has refused to leave the house in all but a few occasions for the past three years, because he became convinced we were being watched by people from the DWP.
I’ll tell you how the DWP lied and twisted words in the interview, and STILL couldn’t find my parents guilty.
I’ll tell you how the rumours still circulate about us, peddled by a few ignorant bigots determined to believe that everyone on benefits is a scrounger. I’ll tell you how we’re social paraiahs in our own village, outcast for the simple crime of my Dad being disabled.
I’ll tell you how, when you’re on benefits, everyone feels entitled to know every detail of your financial life. “How did you afford that?”, “Oooh, how can you afford that?”. And if you have the gall to tell them it’s none of their business, you’re met with “Well, it’s MY tax money paying for it!”.
I’ll tell you how being on benefits and being wrongly accused of fraud can make you paranoid. You suspect everyone of having it in for you. Leaving the house becomes uncomfortable. It destroys relationships, ruins friendships – years on I still suspect my ex played a part in reporting us. What kind of life is that?
I’ll tell you how, even at university, there’s a stigma attached to being from a family on benefits. As soon as people find out how much financial aid you get – and it wasn’t by me telling them, before you ask – you’re suddenly to blame for everyone’s financial difficulties. People having to cut into their overdraft? My fault. People being unable to afford accommodation? My fault.
I’ll also tell you how determined it’s made me. I’ll tell you how I was able to read and write before I started school, because although my parents are “scrounging benefit scum”, they care enough about my education to make sure I didn’t end up the same way. I’ll tell you how I’ve always been complimented on my manners, because although my parents are “scrounging benefit scum”, they’ve instilled courtesy in me, to make sure I don’t end up the same way. I’ll tell you how I’m at university against all the odds, because although my parents are “scrounging benefit scum”, they pushed me to reach my potential and get to where I am. I’ll tell you how I’m hoping to become a primary school teacher, and never want to have to live on benefits, because although my parents are “scrounging benefit scum”, they want the best for me, they’ve encouraged me to follow my dreams and they’ve helped me every step of the way – not financially, but emotionally, through support and motivation.
I’ll tell each and every one of you how, if you spent a week in our shoes, you wouldn’t see all benefit claimants as “scrounging benefit scum”. And I’ll also tell you this now – if the family I was brought up in makes me “scrounging benefit scum”, and being “scrounging benefit scum” makes me the person I am today, I am proud – because I am a damn sight more motivated, and presumably more educated, and definitely more polite than any of you who write us all off as benefit scum.
So before you shoot your mouth off about me, or my parents, or others like me, think about what you’re saying, think about what I’ve said, and think about what life is like for us. If you still have any doubts, come and talk to me, and I’ll tell you how it really is.