‘No parent should have to choose between supporting their child and being able to afford to live’: Single parent from Warwick speaks out about life on benefit cap
A single mother from Warwick has spoken out about how the benefit cap is affecting her life.
A sudden illness to her daughter led the mum, who we are not naming to protect her family's identity, to leave her job - and now she says the system has left her battling financial hardship.
"No parent should have to choose between supporting their child and being able to afford to live," she said.
"I will continue to speak out and advocate for change for myself and other families affected by this."
The benefit cap limits the total amount a household can receive in social security payments. The charity Gingerbread has been campaigning to abolish the benefit cap for single parents - and has put pressure on the Government to "seize this opportunity to ease the financial pressures...on single-parent families living in poverty in the UK". The charity says 41 per cent of children in single-parent families are living in poverty in the UK.
The Warwick mother, whose story has been featured on ITV, added: "I had been working, but after my daughter suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in April and was diagnosed with Long QT syndrome, I made the difficult decision to leave my job so I could be there to support her and my other children who are currently themselves undergoing genetic testing as well as myself.
"Despite being a parent who wanted to work and contribute, I’m now facing the reality of trying to raise four children on an income that simply isn’t enough to live on."
The benefit cap is currently deducting £674.25 from her Universal Credit entitlement every month. This leaves her with £689 a month for herself and her four children, alongside other household costs.
"I find it incredibly difficult to understand how the system expects a single parent in my circumstances to manage on this amount, particularly when I have had to leave work to care for a child with a serious, potentially life-threatening heart condition," she said.
"I have contacted my MP and raised my concerns with the DWP, and I have now taken the step of speaking publicly because I know I’m not the only parent experiencing this."
"I believe the current system is failing families who are already in incredibly difficult circumstances. If this is happening to me, it’s happening to thousands of other people who may not feel they have a voice."
The government says it is looking at 'fair ways' of reducing overall the overall benefits and welfare spending, with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimating that the cost of the welfare system will increase by about £79bn over the next few years.
Following the recent Budget, political opponents criticised the Labour Government for a lack of detail on how they were going to make the savings.