Universal Credit means my baby and I go without food – and childcare fees mean I can’t go back to work
SINGLE mum Lauren Anderson lives on a knife-edge, constantly in fear of falling deeper into debt but unable to get back into work due to Universal Credit.
Sometimes Lauren, who lives in Bradford, can’t afford to buy food or even top up her gas and electricity.
The Sun wants the government to pay childcare costs upfront so parents can get back to work faster, as we’ve demanded in our Make Universal Credit Work campaign.
Lauren added: “Universal Credit is designed to encourage people to get back to work, but it doesn’t work if you’re single with a baby.
"Universal Credit will contribute to childcare but you have to make the upfront payment for the first six weeks before they give you the money for it.
“That they take money off you when you have a new baby is not right. It’s disgusting, it really is.”
The Sun also wants the taper rate reduced and work allowance increased.
And to make matters worse Lauren had even more money docked from her first Universal Credit payment to pay back the advance she’d needed while her benefits stopped.
It left her with £336 to last a month – and it wasn’t even enough to cover her bills.
'I worry about how to feed my son - I should have to ask for help'
She said: “I didn’t have any money left until the month after when I got universal credit. I was worried about fending for Harley.
“I shouldn’t have to ask my family for money for him I should be able to do it myself.”
The Sun’s Make Universal Credit campaign also wants the government to reduce the amount of time people wait for cash to two weeks, down from five.
The single mum now lives with mounting debts hanging over her head.
She said: “I’m £5,000 in debt, due to my ex, who left after taking all sorts of finance out in my name, and never paid a penny.
"I also opened some clothing accounts just before Christmas 2017 and got into a mess trying to make repayments.”
“I’ve been trying to get the money together to get a Debt Relief Order, but I can’t afford the £90 fee.”
“I’m left with nothing. I do my shopping with whatever scraps I’m left with and need to borrow from step-mum and dad to ensure I’ve got enough to feed myself and Harley and we don’t get cold at home.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “Ms Anderson received over £3,300 in income and Universal Credit during the first two months of her claim, and continues to receive over £900 a month now. She has turned down any budgeting support offered by the jobcentre.
“If Ms Anderson starts work she can claim back up to 85 per cent of her childcare costs and there’s help available for any upfront costs.”
Lauren disputes that she gets £900 a month as £100 is taken off each payment to repay loans she needed to take out during the five-week wait for cash.
How is Lauren Anderson doing now?
SIX months on from the launch of our Make Universal Credit Work campaign, we've revisited some of our most hard-hitting stories.
We spoke to Lauren Anderson again in June 2019 to get an update on her situation.
She told us that she's now got a job as a barmaid in a pub working two shifts a week, from 10am to 5pm, earning around £400 a month.
Lauren really enjoys the work, but she's worried she will fall foul of Universal Credit's harsh taper rate, which reduces your benefit entitlement the more you earn.
The Sun wants to see the amount of money earned before your benefit starts falling slashed from 63p in every £1 to 50p in every £1.
Lauren said: “It’s really not fair. I’m in danger of being penalised for working. They should increase the working allowance threshold so single parents such as me aren’t hammered for just trying to work.”
The mum has also had issues with the childcare element of Universal Credit since she started work five weeks ago.
She says she was given the impression that she would get 85 per cent of the £80 she pays each month for Harley to go to nursery on the days she works up front.
But actually, Universal Credit pays her a month afterwards.
She said: “I had to borrow money off friends just to make sure Harley kept his place. Luckily for me my sister works at the nursery, and the people who run it are very understanding.”
She is less impressed with Universal Credit’s handling of the situation: “It came out of the blue.
“Why on earth didn’t they think it wasn’t worth telling me that I’d need to find the money for childcare up front?
“Were they embarrassed or something? If they weren’t they should be.”
The Sun is also campaigning for Univesal Credit childcare payments to be made upfront instead of in arrears.
In an updated comment, a spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “It’s great to see that despite her previous concerns Ms Anderson has been supported back into work through Universal Credit.
"She continues to receive support and recently received over £900 in benefits, as well as over £300 in childcare costs back.”
What is Universal Credit, who’s eligible to claim it and how has the benefits system changed?
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