‘It’s my worst nightmare. I’m skint, sat in the house sick with worry every day’
MANCHESTER’S UNEMPLOYED REVEAL THEIR DAILY BATTLE TO MAKE ENDS MEET
WE spent an hour on the street outside Newton Heath Jobcentre, talking to the area’s unemployed.
Together, their accounts paint a picture of modern hardship. They tell of how sickness, short and long-term unemployment, skills issues, age and family circumstances have impacted lives.
The benefits system is supposed to make things easier for those who have fallen on hard times and help them back into work.
But each of the people we spoke to felt trapped. They were struggling to understand the new benefit Universal Credit, were wracked with worry, and had little optimism about finding a decent job....
DAVID TISCOFF: David, 53, has been a proud worker all his life. But health problems changed his fortunes dramatically.
He was a self-employed driving instructor until he broke his legs in a car accident 18 months ago. Since then he has suffered from osteoarthritis. He’s awaiting surgery but says he cannot receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) because he has been deemed fit to work. He does get Jobseekers Allowance. “I’m just here to sign on now,” he says. “They sent me on a course in town today but she told me to come back here and tell them she can’t find me a job. She told me to tell them I’m not acceptable for the jobseekers’ course.
“I worked for the housing department for 20 years and for the last 15 I have been self-employed as a driving instructor.
“This is my worst nightmare. I’m skint, sat in the house sick with worry every day.”
Dave says he has been forced to sell the car he used for teaching because he could no longer afford the tax.
“I’ve not got a chance,” he said. “I hate coming here. I do my job search every opportunity I get. I’ve worked since I was 14 - I’ve never been unemployed. I’ve never signed on until now.”
GEMMA DEARLOVE: Gemma, 31, from New Moston, is bringing up two young children on her own. She would rather work than be on Universal Credit, but has no relatives nearby to help her balance motherhood with employment. She told us that now her youngest son is older, she’s been told she needs to work up to 25 hours a week. “It’s impossible when I don’t have that family support network here,” she says. “Realistically I could only work from 1pm - 4pm but I would need to leave at 3.30pm to pick my daughter up from school. “How can I get a job within that time frame? I’m on my own. It’s impossible. It’s overwhelming. All I want is what’s best for me and my kids. If I could go to work I would, because it would be so much easier than Universal Credit,” she says. “I’ve never been sanctioned and I do everything to the book. I have to make sure my bills come out on the same day and it doesn’t leave me a lot.”
HOWARD: Howard, who didn’t want to use his full name, hasn’t worked since the seventies. At 57, he feels ‘like a waste of space.’ He’s been on Universal Credit for around a month, and has applied for dozens of positions over the last year, but has been told he is not qualified for any of them.
“I’ve been claiming Universal Credit”, Howard says. “Before that I was on Jobseekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance.
“They have sanctioned me in the past because they said I didn’t do enough job seeking. That was because I’d been looking for jobs on my phone and I couldn’t bring it up on the screen to show them. It was sorted out that day, but it did cause me stress at the time. It upset me.
“There are lots of websites offering jobs now, but if I’m not qualified for them I don’t apply for them.
“It makes me feel tiny - like a waste of space. I was 17 when I last worked and I’m 57 now. I suppose I don’t feel worthy and I don’t have confidence to go and get work.
“It can be hard to manage on benefits. After rent and bills I’ll be lucky if I have £50 left over at the end of the month.”
Howard is waiting to hear about a cleaning job with Manchester City
Council. He says: “I’m waiting for a start date to be passed on to me. I’m hoping to get full-time hours.”
JOAN: For the 57-year-old mum-oftwo, £20 a week is the cause of sleepless nights. The home where she raised a family is now subject to ‘bedroom tax.’ She can’t get a smaller place, and is struggling to get the cleaning work she did when her boys were little. She currently claims Jobseekers Allowance but was today told she will be moved on to Universal Credit. And she’s anxious about managing her finances on the new all-in-one benefit, which is paid monthly.
“How I will manage my money is stressing me out. It’s the mental stress. “I already pay the bedroom tax, which is £21 a week for a three-bedroom house. “I don’t sleep for worrying about it. I want to be moved but there aren’t the one-bed places to move to. “Last time I worked was when my boys were small. “I can’t get a job now I don’t know if it’s my age or because I have got no skills. The jobs are not there. “I’ve been sanctioned lots of times - once because I missed an appointment which I forgot about and last time because my husband died and I was grieving. I pay all my bills and the rest I scrimp and save. “I don’t have a TV because I can’t afford the licence so I read and I listen to the radio.”
It makes me feel tiny, like a waste of space. I was 17 when I last worked and I’m 57 now Howard