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Private Notes
How the bedroom tax has affected people living on benefits.
In Blackpool, a mother-of-six is banned from the job centre.
We meet the immigrants who are claiming UK welfare to send back home.
Single mum Marie Buchan has been battling the system for years to get a bigger home as she currently has to share a three-bedroomed house with eight kids, all aged under 13. The family has now expanded further with the acquisition of a new dog called Patches. It looks as if Marie and the kids might have one of the best Christmases ever, as they have just received some good news – the family will finally move to a bigger housing association home in Birmingham.
Until the move, however, life on benefits goes on. Marie is annoyed that her benefits are capped at £26,000 a year, but she says that nothing is going to spoil Christmas for the Buchans. “No matter what, claiming benefits or working, everybody deserves a Christmas Day."
Tony ʻScrapʼ Taylor is a well-known figure in the community doing odd jobs and collecting scrap. He claims just £51.40 a week but does odd jobs for food, enabling his benefits money to go a bit further. If you need something in Jaywick then Tony is the man who can sort it out!
Engaged twenty somethings Claire and Luke have recently moved to Jaywick from Canning Town in search of a better life. They have a baby son called Louis and Claire has two older children from a previous relationship. They all live in a two-bedroom house alongside a host of animals including two dogs, three snakes and guinea pigs – all supported by benefits.
Claire has been on benefits for most of her life and Luke finds it hard to get a job as he has a criminal record. Claire does not see the point in working as she would earn no more then she already gets on benefits. “I used to be able to earn a thousand something a month, but I get that on benefits so whatʼs the point of me working?” she asks.
Michelle moved to Jaywick from Chelmsford. She has a lengthy criminal record and was first called up in front of a judge when she was only 12. Michelle has a ten-year-old son whom she rarely sees, a fact which she finds very upsetting. A cycle of drinking, aggression and fighting has led to her being fined for abusing police officers and she has been given an electronic tag following her latest attack on a fireman.
When her house is burgled Michelle must stay somewhere else for the night, but the tag is registered to her home address, which gets her into trouble with the police again. Stuck between poverty and the police and always close to returning to prison, Michelle is walking a tightrope.
Dean, an 18-year-old from Harlow in Essex, made sure that he signed on as soon as he was old enough, regarding benefits as “free money”. He still lives at home with his mum, has zero ambition, spends his days in bed until 2pm and plays on his phone the rest of the time. His mum does everything for him and his benefits are spent on booze and fags. A brief stint in a reality show gave him a taste of fame and left him with no intention of getting a normal job – until he is sanctioned.
Danielle, 21, and boyfriend Josh, 25, moved to Blackpool to make a new start. Both suffer from anxiety and depression, which prevents them from working. They have four children between them from previous relationships, though none live with them. They are struggling to make ends meet on benefits of £52 a week each and with a fifth baby due in five monthsʼ time, they will not have enough to survive. Like many young people on benefits, Josh has turned to crime, selling drugs to supplement their income.
Joshʼs partner-in-crime is 22-year-old Paul, aka Titch. He came to Blackpool with Danielle and Josh and stays a couple of nights a week in a converted cupboard in their bedsit. Money is tight, even with everyone pulling together, and they already owe all their benefits money to friends who have helped them out. Four days before the benefits are due, the food runs out. Danielle goes to the food bank, but needs to register before she can take any away with her. After filling in the referral forms, she is forced to leave empty-handed.
In Sheffield, 25-year-old single mum-of-two Steph faces a common dilemma. She wants a job but also wants to watch her children grow up. With childcare so expensive, benefits seem the only option, although she always needs more. Steph dreams of a better life – off benefits and in work.
Stephʼs new best friend, 18-year-old Travis, dreams of better things. Like Dean in Harlow, she also wants the big money and bright lights of showbiz. In the meantime,
Life on the dole north of the border with a pair of wannabe pop stars, a globetrotter who has invented her own new age Chakra swing, and a woman who is convinced that her weight is stopping her from getting a job.
This time we're at the seaside. Debbie suffers from numerous disabilities, while single mum Stacie is living in a small flat with a three-month-old baby. We also meet Dave, a firearms fanatic who hasn't worked for two years and lives in a two-bedroom home with his mother.
A man whose partner earned too much on a zero hour contract.
Tom and Stacey have 14 children and claim £70,000 a year.
Ex-prisoners trying to go straight on the welfare state.
