A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BENEFITS CLAIMANT

AS YOU'RE READING THIS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE UNITED KINGDOM ARE SURVIVING ON ONE OF THE LOWEST FORMS OF INCOME, JOBSEEKER'S ALLOWANCE. LIVING THEIR DAILY LIVES JUST OFF £57 A WEEK.

To many in this position such a struggle is real: with many willingly sending out hundreds of CV’s and undergoing endless job searches, not knowing when, or if, they are going to get a job, let alone eat or have enough money to pay bills and rent.

And yet, the general public’s perception of these hard-hitting financial struggles that many people face is far from reality.

On average people think that 27% of the welfare budget is claimed fraudulently, while the government’s own figure is 0.7%.

To add further fuel to the fire, on average people think that 41% of the entire welfare budget goes on benefits to unemployed people, while the true figure is only 3%.

Yet, he dismissed an online petition of nearly 300,000 signatures calling him to do so, on the grounds that he has already experienced life on the breadline during two periods of unemployment.

In early 2014, Channel 4 aired a documentary about James Turner Street, entitled: Benefits Street, where nearly all residents are on benefits.

Bosses of the documentary were criticised for portraying residents negatively and encouraging criminal behaviour as it featured interviews with people who admitted cultivating drugs and stealing.

Mid 2014, channel 5 aired a similar documentary called Benefits Britain, exploring the reality of life on benefits in the UK.

The topic of benefits has been popular within the TV industry as a way of highlighting issues and raising social awareness – whether that be in a positive manner or negative, is up for debate.

I can honestly say surviving on this kind of shoestring budget is a challenge, or worst still, next to impossible.

For three days I was one of these people on Jobseeker's Allowance, waking up each morning to the thought of knowing that I only have £8.19 to my name to delicately spend that day.

With all that in mind, there are always two sides to one story, this is mine.

It's 8:00am again.

I wake up to the familiar sight of the morning sunrise trying to peek through the slits of my curtains, as the sound of my phone alarm beeps away.

The same disheartening thoughts go through my mind for the third day running: what am I going to do today? What can I do today? Almost as disheartening as the cold air in my room making my feet cold under my quilt with the heating off.

Looking up at the ceiling for a few moments to wake myself up, the recurring noise of borborygmus creeps up on me once more. That's the sound of hunger to you and me.

I then decide to get out of bed, quickly putting on more forms of sleepwear closest to me to soften the feel of the harsh cold temperature.

Groggily commencing my morning routine of going downstairs, I enter the kitchen for some breakfast. Opening the cupboards to find the same box of ASDA own brand cereal and the same small cheap carton of milk from the fridge.

Fruit and flavoursome yoghurts are expensive to buy and would take out a lot of my money. Eating healthily is something you can't commit to easily on this type of shoestring budget.

For an under 25-year-old like myself, in this case, with no job, I would receive £57.35 a week, which equates to £8.19 a day.

For 25-year-olds and over it is up to £72.40 a week, while couples both aged over 18 receive £113.70 a week­. With the payments made usually every fortnight.

After lolling around for a while, eating breakfast and watching the usual mundane morning TV programmes to pass the time, I open up my laptop and take to Google to undergo a spot of job searching.

Since the previous two days I had searched for jobs online not much had changed. Still, many jobs either require a lot of past experience and certain qualifications.

What if you're searching for a job for experience and to gain qualifications, what then?

Whether the rest simply consist of opportunities such as dog walking or housekeeping.

Jobcentres expect jobseekers to abide by The Claimant Commitment, which outlines what job seeking actions a claimant must carry out while receiving Jobseek's Allowance.

And emphasize the responsibility that a claimant should do all they can to look for work in return for the support they receive from the state.

A JSA claimant in my position would be asked to do thirty hours a week of job searching, otherwise face penalties.

A person who has done this for the past three years is Matt Braker.

When I interviewed Matt about his time on JSA, I was let into his cosy three bedroom ex-council terraced house by his friendly mother.

After being offered a drink and politely accepting, Matt came down from his bedroom having just played on his PlayStation 3.

I was escorted from the plush leather sofas and purple abstract flower paintings in the lounge into the dinning room. A room full of books and paperwork, stationary on the shelves and a printer.

I introduce myself and explain the purposes of this interview to Matt, who shows a glimmer of a smirk on his face and starts rubbing his hands, as if gearing himself up to enter a boxing ring.

"With the Jobcentre it can either be all fun and games or just hell.
"It starts off simple then it gets more and more confusing as you go on, it's a heck of a lot different since I started and has become a hassle."

THE BEGINNING:

Matt signed up for JSA to get help finding a job after finishing his time in education.

Currently living in Birmingham with his parents, the 20 year old is one of the many unemployed young people on JSA in Birmingham. He has applied for hundreds of jobs, and keeps a stash of CV's in his bag to hand out whenever he goes out.

Several months in, the Jobcentre put him on double funding from the government through schemes like Ingeus and Seetec.

"But say I wanted to do this other course, the people at the Jobcentre would say I can't do it because I'm on double funding.

"There’s all these cases where they say 'you’re on double funding you can’t do it’, which is something I really hate, it stops me from doing a lot of courses I want to do."

Ingeus and Seetec are employability programmes, which provides jobseekers with a wide range of support in finding long-term jobs.

During the three years he has had seven interviews, due to focussing a lot on completing courses through the Jobcentre to increase his skill level.

TOUGH TIMES:

In that time he took three weeks off JSA to do a voluntary work placement in a care home, but returned back on to JSA after having to leave the placement due to lack of experience.

"All of it is hassle, if you get a job out of it in the end maybe it's worth the hassle. But when you haven’t and you hit dead end after dead end like I have, then no it’s not."

Matt has to do thirty hours a week of job searching, otherwise face penalties. Yet while on Seetec he is only given four hours a week for job searching.

Meaning he has stay up most nights to match the required hours, which he says "is hard" to do.

"I remember when I used to see this woman who worked there and every time I went to see her she used to scrutinize my job search.

“So I'd check it with other workers and they'd say it was good, but she’d still say it’s wrong. She then tried to sanction me. So I complained and the person I spoke to saw it from my point of view and it got sorted.

“Turns out I was the fourth person to complain about her."

From April 2013 to March 2014, more than 900,000 JSA claimants were subject to a benefit sanction decision.

Matt is most interested in video games, and hopes to one day get a job at his favourite shop, Game. He tried to download the employment application form via Twitter on a computer at his local Jobcentre, but couldn't as the computers had content filters.

Resulting in him having to spend his saved up money to buy some internet data for his phone to download it.

IN REALITY:

Matt has friends who have had to sell a lot of their own possessions just to meet the money demands, often putting bills before food.

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE:

Matt is presently participating in an eight week long social media placement at the BBC, which he managed to get on through the Jobcentre.

He says it was one of the first placements to come through that he can actually get on.

"It took me a few weeks to fight for my course, but I got it, and I'm really enjoying it. I've learnt things that I didn’t know. I can now build a website.

"This is why I’m hoping the placement I’m on at the moment doesn’t hit another dead end."

Similarly to Matt, during my three days I tried walking to places as much as I could to save money on transportation fares, except for when travelling to university.

On the third day however, I chose to travel to my nearest town centre, with aims of buying food, searching for jobs and heading to my local Jobcentre for some further insight.

Nonetheless, due to the government's increase-the-cost-of-living-a-lot-a-year efforts, a daysaver return ticket on the bus is a whopping £4.20. Already, that wipes out just over half of my £8.19 budget.

Traveling via bus isn't the classiest form or transportation, nor the most sanitary. Still, with that said, it helps getting from point A to point B on a low income.

Looking out the window from the downstairs seating area, I contemplate how expensive travelling by car is; insurance, petrol, let alone actually buying a car. £57.35 a week just would not cut it.

Upon arriving, layered up to the max to shield myself from the cloudy March weather, I instantly come across an information kiosk clearly stating "Jobs Available" in large formal, deep purple writing.

Upon looking at each piece of paper a man in a sharp suit strolls towards me from behind the kiosk, and tells me a new store is opening across from where I'm standing that are looking for employees.

It seems there are a lot of jobs available, however unless you have the experience, skills and qualifications, such job opportunities like these are a dead-end.

Before getting some lunch I meander through the shops seeing if there's anything affordable to buy.

For a university student with a student grant, buying these would be a normal occurrence for me.

But for a young JSA claimant like myself on this day, each item would wipe out over half of my weekly payment when I would desperately need all that to pay for food, travel and bills.

Walking out of the shop I couldn't help but feel partially annoyed at not being able to spend much money, and partially somber at realising buying such luxuries would be beyond a JSA clamiant's reach.

Having learned that lesson, I head towards the nearest charity shop. I didn't expect to see as many people in there as I did for an early Friday afternoon.

Charity shops are definitely less expensive to buy clothes at, but still, I would lose a chunk of my budget, having already paid for a bus ticket. Whilst obviously food takes priority.

No clothes for me today.

Scouring around for other places that would be within the reach of my small budget, I cross paths with an entertainment store, CEX.

Usually I would go to HMV for these types of items, but CEX is much more beneficial for my budget.

It's eye-opening to see how difficult it really is to find anything cheap when you're used to a high wage. Even more so when you put yourself in the shoes of someone who lives off this kind of finance daily in highly demanding and expensive social economy.

LUNCHTIME:

It's 2:30pm.

My bittersweet familiar friend, hunger, returns.

Now, it is not a question of what can I eat? But rather, where can I eat? A question that holds no comfort, yet umpteen amounts of worry that leads to further questions:

Are there any deals on? What's the cheapest one? Where's the cheapest place that serves food? Will it fill me up? Can I have a look at the menu prices, please? Will I still have enough left for dinner later?

Usually when I get food from Greggs, I'll happily buy the three pound sandwiches, alongside a packet of crisps, a drink and a sweet treat afterwards without thinking.

But this day is different. An 80p sausage roll it is. One of the cheapest purchases you can make at Greggs, not to mention the least healthy.

What's worse, soon after I still feel hungry, with a stomach semi full of trans-fats and salt. Contemplating the hours there will be until dinnertime, I risk buying some more food to ease the pain.

A singular 80p banana from Marks & Spencers? Or a three for one pound deal of snacks from Poundland?

I think you know the answer.

Upon buying the food I give a small donation to a charity bucket on the side of the till. Feeling ashamed of my paltry contribution, as usually I would give more, I try to remember how I still need money for dinner later.

After that, the feeling of hunger subsides, while the feeling of boredom creeps in. It takes me a long few moments to think of places I can go to with my newly tight financial circumstances.

If I didn't have enough money for electricity or internet bills, using the free library computers would be a God sent.

I take the time before heading to the Jobcentre to do some further job searching.

Jobcentre scene from feature film, CAL (2013) | Disclaimer: offensive language used

THE JOBCENTRE:

Plain laminate flooring, bleak cream coloured walls and warm tones of orange, red and blue furnishing welcome me as I enter the Jobcentre.
Accompanied by a tall, big built, bald male of African origins standing by the entrance in a dark grey suit.

He asks me if I have an appointment, clearly spotting the lost and blank expression on my face, as if I've just walked into a maze without a map.

Intimidated by his grand image, I response with a quiet "no". Tilting his head slightly, trying the think of what other reasons I could be here written all over his face, I say how I'm just looking for some more information.

He looks at me for a moment before looking over to woman standing meters away, stating how she will help me out. Lifting his hand to show me the way, I say "thank you".

As I walk over I soak up the low hum of public-sector productivity and anxiety-filled employment based conversations. All around are photographs of smiling faces and encouraging slogans: "Jobs for everyone", "The work you want, the help you need".

Shortly I am greeted by a petite middle-aged woman, her uniform and name badge evidently showing she is a worker here. Her long brown hair and fringe framing her face, consisting of a friendly smile.

I explain what I've been doing today and the past two days and what purposes it holds for me and my university module. I then go on to ask her whether I would be able to talk to anyone in the centre and take pictures.

With a sympathetic, yet stern, tone to her voice she states that taking pictures within the building and talking to any of the staff or claimants would not be a possibility.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to take pictures of anyone in the jobcentre to then be put on social media due to political sensitivity, without permission from a higher position."

However she must have noticed the eagerness I had for knowing more about what goes on here in my voice, as she went on to tell me more about what she does.

"We are in very close contact with the food banks, helping out claimants who perhaps cannot afford food, due to paying bills."

"We are also focussing a lot on modernising the centre and having computers available for claimants to use freely who perhaps cannot afford electricity bills.

"Accessibility is very important to us, more or less all of our information is now available online and the centre now send claimants texts and emails for appointment reminders."

"It is not just all about helping people to find jobs, but that I often find myself becoming a bit of a social worker or safeguarding, to help claimants improve their lives, and lifestyles."

"We concentrate on providing as many readily available services as we can, like free computers to use and going to food banks for food, which is more than the previous decades before where it would just be reading available jobs on a board."

It's 5:30pm.

With my daysaver I get on the bus to the nearest supermarket from my house, ASDA.

I begin roaming through each food aisle, dismissing anything more than a pound or not labelled "ASDA chosen by you" or "Smartprice", gripping my mere £1.69 in my hand.

Aldi and Lidl are also both strong contenders in the inexpensive food department, unlike some of the more mainstream stores, such as Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Tesco, which are more costly.

I come across the pasta aisle, a substance I know is full of carbohydrates and energy and has a long shelf life, both in terms of quality and quantity.

I grab a packet from the lowest shelf, having to bend down to fetch it.

Needing something to accompany this, I scour around for some affordable sauce, which turned out to be a tougher job than I thought, not being able to buy my first preferences or what I usually eat.

Looking at my £1.40 in the palm of my hand, I have no choice but to get this sauce, it's one of the cheapest there.

Travelling back home I look at my half empty plastic bag, pasta and sauce, that's my dinner until breakfast the following morning. Doesn't look like much.

Eating my meager plate of basic flavours, I start to thank my past fifteen years of thorough education and stable finances that mean I don't have to live on just £8.19 a day.

I come to realise how expensive daily necessities are, especially when on a very low income. I would definitely would struggle to do this on a day to day basis, let along weekly, monthly or even yearly.

It would be particularly impossible if I were living on my own and not in education, how would I cope?

At the end of the day I have 51p left.

 It's been challenging to say the least and I haven't eaten nutritionally at all. The cheapest food is usually the unhealthiest, no way could you lead a healthy lifestyle on this income.

Neither could I buy the luxuries I would normally due to strict usage of my money.In this tough reality, living on such low income week after week is difficult. Constantly worrying whether you'll have enough to buy food and pay bills.

I can imagine saving up would probably take a very long time and might not be that rewarding in the end.

You might just be able to live off this money when looking out for just yourself, but if it involved caring for someone else, £57.35 a week would be stretching it thin.

From what I've discovered, jobs are available but it all comes down to whether you have the experience and qualifications, which are needed in most jobs.

Yet, if you don't have any of that, how are you meant to get a job?

Finally, I've seen for myself ways in which the Jobcentre helps claimants find jobs as well as helping them to cope with buying food and paying bills, and most importantly, improving themselves.

Nonetheless, I was only a visitor for a 30 minute chat in a place that I have only ever visited once. I only witnessed a miniscule slice of what goes on in there, from a students point of view, not an actual claimant's.

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH CLAIMS THAT HE COULD LIVE ON £53 A WEEK. BUT FOR MANY PEOPLE IT IS A MISERABLE REALITY.

If I were to do this again, I would do it over a whole week, to get a full portrayal of what it is like. How about you try living on £8.19 a day...?

I hope this first person interactive journalistic narrative has given you some insight in to the challenges JSA claimants would face daily when living on such low income.

HEAD OVER TO BIRMINGHAM EASTSIDE TO SEE MORE LIKE THIS AND DON'T FORGET TO HAVE YOUR SAY ON ISSUES THAT AFFECT YOU IN THE RUN UP TO THE GENERAL ELECTION.

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CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO READ MORE ABOUT YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT:

Educational providers and careers advisers have "failed to adapt to changes" - UK unemployment: expert talks causes for joblessness:

5 visuals that tell you where the parties stand on youth unemployment:

Ladywood reaches most benefit claimants to start own businesses in Birmingham:

UK benefits: how different is perception from reality?