More claimants are seeking help from internet
A growing number of Universal Credit claimants in the North East are asking for money online, we can reveal.
More than 100 campaigns linked to either the controversial benefit or foodbanks have been set up in the region since 2013.
In the North East, 74 GoFundMe campaigns linked to Universal Credit have been set up between 2013-2019. This includes 16 in County Durham, 11 in Sunderland, seven in Northumberland, six in Hartlepool and five in South Tyneside.
A further 31 campaigns linked to foodbanks were set up in the same period, including six in Northumberland, four in County Durham, two in Hartlepool and one each in Sunderland and South Tyneside.
Poverty charity Turn2us said the situation was “really quite shocking”. Data shared exclusively with the JPIMedia Data unit by GoFundMe reveals more than 1,100 crowdfunding campaigns have mentioned Universal Credit since 2013.
They received more than 6,000 donations, raising at least £250,000, according to the website.
As many of the campaigns are no longer live, JPIMedia Data cannot say in what context the benefit was mentioned in the appeals.
More than £500,000 has been donated to campaigns mentioning foodbanks, although the data will include appeals for pet foodbanks or overseas foodbanks.
There are about 2.5 million people now on Universal Credit in the UK. As of September 2019, that included 28,052 in County Durham, 15,170 in Sunderland, 9758 in Northumberland, 9065 in Hartlepool and 8868 in South Tyneside.
Sara Willcocks, of poverty charity Turn2us, said: “Our social security system was created in the 20th century to stop people from going hungry and having to rely on the generosity of strangers for help.
“Needless to say, the scale of people in a 21st century society having to resort to crowdfunding so they can survive day to day is really quite shocking.”
A spokesperson said: “Universal Credit provides a vital safety net for people who are out of work or on low wages with more than 2.5 million people supported by it. It’s a better, simpler system that will see 700,000 families get on average £285 moreamonththanunderthe previous one”