Universal nightmare for those who are in need of a lifeline
“THERE were plenty of times [since 2020] where I’d have to go to a food bank and I felt like my options were running out. I had suicidal thoughts because I felt like there was no way out.”
These are the words of Lauren Daw, a first-year student who said her life had become a nightmare as she sought financial support through the Universal Credit (UC) system.
The 22-year-old said she had tried claiming UC since she started her degree as she was out of work due to mental health and struggling to make ends meet.
However, she said she was yet to receive a payment as she battled with “loopholes” within the system that she claimed prevented her from getting the money she is told she is eligible for.
She is one of the many people who responded to our website Walesonline about their good and bad experiences of Universal Credit when we asked for you to get in touch with your stories.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said 90% of claims are made correctly, on time, and advance payments are available from the start of a claim. And people have been sharing their positive experiences with us as well as the negative.
Lauren from Cardiff said: “My mental health means I suffer with depression, anxiety and OCD, which meant I wasn’t able to work. I would always end up having a relapse and then being on the sick,” she said. “I was rejected for UC when I first joined university and was on low student finance which I only got every few months.
“Then, during [the pandemic] my partner lost his job and my student finance adviser told me we could apply for it together.”
But, Lauren said, it didn’t feel as simple for them as signing up and getting the support they so desperately needed.
She explained: “I needed to contact the landlord for proof we lived together and that was hard because she’s away at the moment and doesn’t have much service. We’re still not sure what the situation is with it. We’re on it as far as we can log in online, but there are no payments coming in, despite our being told we’re entitled to a certain amount.
“We got an advance out between us [to help with those struggling financially before the first UC payment comes in], which we have to pay back each month, but we haven’t had any payments. And I can’t work at the moment to pay it back that way.”
She said the situation had exacerbated her poor mental health and had contributed to her going back on anti-depressants
“It just makes me feel so low,” she said. “My friends, family and GP have been amazing helping me, but the situation has made me so depressed. I can’t afford to get certain things for university and I’ve had to go hungry.
“My friend has been amazing and has really helped us with food recently, but there have been times where I’ve hardly eaten proper food for two weeks at a time.
“We’ve lost weight and now when we do have food we just don’t have the appetite for it because we’re used to not eating and we’re stressed because of being on UC.”
UC was introduced in an attempt to simplify the welfare system by bringing six means-tested benefits and tax credits into a single monthly payment.
Many people have praised the system, claiming the amount they receive serves as a vital lifeline, allowing them to support themselves and their families.
However, the system has also been criticised in recent years, with some people calling it confusing and, in some cases, claiming it has left them worse off than they were on the previous system, adding stress into the lives of the already vulnerable.
And with the coronavirus pandemic hitting the economy hard, many more people have had to turn to UC to support their families, some seeking support for the first time ever.
There were 4.5 million claims for the benefit between March 13, 2020, and January 14, 2021, according to DWP figures.
The total represents 39% of all claims since the benefit was introduced in April 2013. Figures also showed there were 4.9 million households on UC in November 2020.
That was up by 2.2 million since March. More than a third (37.5%) of the 4.9 million households are families with children – around 1.8 million as of November, a rise of 51% from March 2020.
But despite the high volume of people now claiming UC, many people say they are still struggling to get to grips with the system, with hundreds of people getting in touch with Walesonline to talk about their experiences.
A number of people praised the system, calling the support “amazing” and saying that they’d never had a problem with it. One person said: “UC works for me. It was easy to apply, my claim was straightforward, and I’ve been on it just over two years.”
Another said: “My signing on lady was brill, she couldn’t do enough to help me. As I am a single parent to four girls she put all the support she could and never pushed for anything she knew I’d struggle with.”
But sadly not everyone who got in touch could relate to those positive experiences, with some claiming UC left them with a “pittance” at the end of each month.
Shauna Davies from Port Talbot aid she found the system confusing because it would deduct money from her payment if she was paid early or received a bonus.
The 25-year-old claimed: “Multiple times it has led to me begging for money to pay my rent and to live off. I also work part time [in a nursing home] alongside claiming this benefit but I would benefit from not working at all. I don’t like how if you get two payments within a certain time frame they deduct you a lot of money; for example, the Easter just gone I got paid early due to a bank holiday. This payment ended up falling within 28 days of the previous one. £800 was taken from my benefits, leaving me short and actually leaving me to then turn to food banks.”
Deductions seemed to be what have caused most of the stress and confusion for those claiming UC.
Father-of-four Andrew Davies, from Swansea, works full time in highways after recently giving up his groundworker job for a more steady monthly salary in the hope it would simplify his time on UC.
He said: “Our money comes in on the 9th of each month, but for the whole time we’ve been on UC we have constantly been owing them money back and it doesn’t make sense to me at all. Our money is never consistent and I’ve had the same wage for four years.
“It seems like they constantly overpay us and we have to pay it back, which leaves us short.
“I was a groudworker until starting with highways three months ago. When I was a groundworker I was paid weekly and it wasn’t a lot so we used that on rent and it was gone straightaway.
“Then we used to use UC for bills, but because it didn’t come in time, we wouldn’t have enough money to pay the bills. And because they keep changing the amount we got, there is never enough money in there to pay it.
“I’ve had to speak to the gas and electric companies, who I’m now owing hundreds of pounds in debt to and I also owe the rent arrears. I’m grateful for what I get and it’s not so bad that we need to go to food banks, but consistency is key. You can’t rely on it if you want to pay major bills, in my experience, you will end up in debt.”
Mum-of-two Lisa Jones, from Newtown in Mid Wales, claimed last month she was left with just 43p with eight days to go before her next payment.
The 39-year-old said she had been working since she left school and started to claim UC when she was made redundant from her store manager job in August 2020. She said the contrast in her life made her feel “scared” and “worthless”.
She claimed: “You are left with pennies and there is no help for it. They offer you loans, but you have to pay them back so you’re running around in circles.
“You’re living hand to mouth every day. It feels like you’re being punished. I have come close to having to use foodbanks, usually at the end of the month, and it’s scary.
“I’ve been on the edge a lot this year. I’m a single mum of a seven-year-old and an 11-year-old and the last 12 months have been horrendous. Stuck at home trying to home school and not being able to get a job, it makes you feel worthless. You exist rather than live.”
Another mum of a twoyear-old child said that she had struggled with her money going up and down each month, making it sometimes difficult to clothe and feed her family.
The mum from Swansea, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed her family had been constantly hit with overpayments which they’d then had to pay back. At one point, she said she was supporting her family, including rent, bills and essentials, on just £150 a fortnight.
“We’ve had to live off food banks,” she said. “As this has gone on it’s made me so depressed. They make me feel as though I have failed as a mother because I can’t dress my child. It’s impossible for two adults, a child and to run a house on the money we are getting. I can see how it leaves people suicidal. I take anti-depressants now because of everything going on with it.”
Another mum, who also wished to remain anonymous, claimed her UC allowance was deducted each month because she earned money caring for