A generation blighted by benefits
TEENAGER Tamsyn is hoping that her drumming skills might be a way out of living in poverty. Meanwhile, unemployed Nathan and Abbey take their dog hunting for moles, rabbits or squirrels to eat because it’s a free meal. There’s also a cancer survivor who may have the disease again and needs to be on a special diet, but can’t get any financial help from the Government.
It’s a devastating and bleak
insight into the realities of life for those living on the breadline.
This eye-opening series visits the residents of Hartlepool, who were used as guinea pigs for the roll-out of the new benefits system Universal Credit.
The aim of Universal Credit was to get people on benefits back to work, but with a five-week wait for the first payment, the results were catastrophic.
Spiralling crime, loan sharks, homelessness, hunger and evictions hit the town as claimants struggled to survive and queues at the food banks grew.
“I’d rather go back to selling drugs, I had money every day,” says one man.
While another describes the town as “Beirut”.
Partially blind David has his payment reduced, leaving him just £5 to live off for the entire month after his disability is reassessed and he’s told he must now look for work.
Meanwhile, single mum Terri’s job hunt – in the town with the UK’s highest number of jobless households – isn’t looking promising.
And cancer survivor Tracy’s finances are further strained with bad news on her health.
She says: “There is no future for the young’uns. There are just no jobs.”