Non-Moan no.3 (Week 6)

There’s a hole in my bucket...

I only work part time. The job I’m currently in is my first since my partner’s cancer treatment. It’s very much about us getting back on our feet financially. Or at least that’s how we hoped it would be.  Unfortunately however we’re now worse off money wise then we were when we both received benefits. Much worse off in fact.

So I don’t spend all my time at school 9-4 – but I do work hard and I do work far beyond the hours I’m actually paid for, and for what? We’re poorer now then when we ere doing nothing.

Neither of us had ever been on benefits before. We’ve both had jobs since we were 15 and 16. So when we were forced to claim them through unpleasant circumstances it was quite a shock. I immediately seized the first available opportunity to get back in to the work place.

We’ve never lied to the authorities, always been honest regarding our claims. When we told them I would be going back to work, they immediately cancelled all of our benefits. This left us with a month long period between having no benefits and me getting my first pay check.

Fortunately we have an amazing support system of friends and family who were able to help us, but what about those who don’t? When I posed the question to the benefits office of how we were supposed to manage for an entire month with no money, despite the fact we were attempting to come off benefits, the lady on the other end of the phone simply stated ‘there was nothing we could do.’

I actually understand why some people simply stay on benefits; it’s easier than trying to get off them. For some people it must be impossible to survive and come off them. Clearly there’s a massive gap in the system here.

So now financially we’re treading water. Paying off debts VERY slowly and only just getting by each month. People who are in the same position but still on benefits and not going back to work are actually better off than we are...

Does that sound right to you?