Evelyn D
Have you had any employment support and what has this been like?I have previously had support but not before I had reached the point of being desperate. Nobody tells you that you can get that support. I had to really reach out to so many people/organisations, including the CAB, who I am sad to say at the time we’re not helpful.
This was when my son was very young and I would say was the beginning of our descent into abject poverty. It meant that I had to do work that was really not ok and try to find ways to support my son which impacted me dreadfully. There is no doubt that this also impacted my relationship with my son and his development because I was so emotionally and mentally ‘absent’ as I was constantly worried.
This was around the time I was introduced to our local food bank.
My experience was that the avenues to financial scaffolding from social services seem shrouded in mystery, and that as a solo parent in desperate need of support I was unable to rely on anybody to point me in the right direction to get that support. I felt that I was a ‘drain on the system’ and that I didn’t deserve the help.
It also led to many issues of support being stopped dependent on my earnings, again this was not made clear to me at the time and my employer did not help in that situation, they didn’t have the information I needed to access services and receive any money to top up my salary. I also ended up being in debt to the DWP because I was largely unaware of caps and limits on earning. This meant that when I was trying to get back on my feet I was knocked back in my financial recovery by having to pay quite a large sum back.
At this time I am fully dependent upon Universal Credit as I am unable to work consistently. However my previous experience leaves me very muddled as to what I would need to do if I were in a position of needing information and ongoing financial top ups in the future.