Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Glossary
- Notes on author
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Introduction: Beyond Benefits Street – exploring experiences and narratives of welfare reform
- one Social citizenship from above
- two The emergence of a framing consensus on ‘welfare’
- three The everyday realities of out-of-work benefits receipt
- four Is welfare-to-work working? Relationships with work over time
- five Ending welfare dependency? Experiencing welfare reform
- six Scroungerphobia: living with the stigma of benefits
- seven Diverse trajectories between 2011 and 2016
- Conclusion: social insecurity and ‘welfare’
- References
- Index
three - The everyday realities of out-of-work benefits receipt
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Glossary
- Notes on author
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Introduction: Beyond Benefits Street – exploring experiences and narratives of welfare reform
- one Social citizenship from above
- two The emergence of a framing consensus on ‘welfare’
- three The everyday realities of out-of-work benefits receipt
- four Is welfare-to-work working? Relationships with work over time
- five Ending welfare dependency? Experiencing welfare reform
- six Scroungerphobia: living with the stigma of benefits
- seven Diverse trajectories between 2011 and 2016
- Conclusion: social insecurity and ‘welfare’
- References
- Index
Summary
‘I’m 27 years old and live in a one bedroom flat. I am currently receiving Jobseeker's Allowance. I am looking for a full-time job as a means to pay my bills and support myself but my long-term goal is to undergo full training to become a housing support worker.
I have a seven-year-old daughter who comes and stays with me alternate weekends. I don't receive any money for my daughter so most times I find myself going without a meal so she can eat when she's in my care. I find it extremely hard living on benefits and have found myself in some desperate situations, especially since having to pay towards Council Tax.
I don't believe anyone would choose to live on benefits: why would anyone want to suffer and struggle like me? In the future, I look forward to supporting myself and maybe one day being able to go to bed with a full tummy, no stress or worry about money / debt and a smile on my face.’ (‘James’)
As part of this research, some of the participants worked with an animator and myself to create a film about their experiences of welfare reform. This became known as the ‘Dole Animators’ project. A website was developed to accompany the project (www.doleanimators.org), for which each participant wrote a brief biography that captured their experiences of benefits and hopes for the future.
In his account, reprinted above, James mentions many of the themes explored in this book. He highlights the ways in which being on benefits carries negative associations and requires him to make difficult choices and sacrifices. His narrative explicitly challenges the notion popularised in political accounts of benefits as a lifestyle choice and hints at some of the hardship that welfare reform is causing. He powerfully illustrates the challenges of surviving on benefits while simultaneously hoping for a better future.
Individuals such as James were interviewed on three (sometimes four) occasions, enabling their experiences of out-of-work benefits to be tracked over time and the dynamic interactions between benefits receipt, relationships with paid employment and experiences of welfare reform to be captured. Popular notions of claimants ‘languishing on welfare’ (Duncan Smith, 2014a) and trapped in a ‘cycle of dependency’ (Cameron, 2014b) were critically examined and the extent of the (mis)match between these dominant representations and lived realities explored.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- For Whose Benefit?The Everyday Realities of Welfare Reform, pp. 57 - 86Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2017