impoverished by our social security system

Labor last month cause an uproar Keir Starmer is refusing to commit to changing the current Social Security two-child limit. Just a few weeks later, The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced The number of people out of work due to long-term illness has reached a new high.

The need for an adequate, equitable and effective social safety net has never been more evident. Use of Food Banks It is higher now than during the epidemic 39% of households are struggling to maintain a decent standard of living.As the cost of living crisis continues to spreadthe weakest income safety net in 40 years Poverty and extreme poverty affect more families than in any recent period.

Rising poverty hits women disproportionately. The reasons for this are multiple: Women have taken on more care responsibilities, 57% of the cuts in Social Security and tax credits since 2010 have been borne by women, and women’s wages have been hit by women’s wages. gender pay gap. When combined with race, disability or age, a woman’s likelihood of being poor increases significantly.

We’ve been exploring these experiences since the start of the year, gaining a better understanding of the problems women in the North West of England face when using our social security system.Our findings, supported by mounting evidencerevealing that social security systems are locking women and children into deep poverty, denying them access to jobs that pay a living wage and match care responsibilities and skills.

The 16 women we interviewed emphasized that income support was both insufficient and unreliable. Most said they were under constant financial pressure, which made it difficult to plan or save money. They are often forced into a cycle of debt:

“You can’t afford to live. So you’re borrowing money all month, and then, when you get paid, you pay someone back and then you borrow money. So you’ve been in debt too. “
35 year old single mother with one child receiving Universal Credit and Disability Living Allowance

Many women will skip meals or buy themselves new clothes to protect their children from the harshest realities of poverty. But the meager social security and wages they live on can render these efforts futile, perpetuating a cycle of financial instability that erodes their physical and mental health:

“My mental health was constantly in shock. Like, it’s just one thing after another. I keep getting calls and letters saying I owe this and I owe that and I sit there like, ​‘I don’t know what to do if I borrow money at the end of the month to buy food for the girls or for myself. ”
29 year old woman with two children on universal credit

The two-child limit, which limits income support for families with more than two children, was criticized unanimously by the women in our study.Most of the households affected by the policy already working Typically includes single mothers and Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) families from racial minorities.

The women in our study felt that the two-child restriction robbed them of self-determination and autonomy over their own and family life. In some cases, it has led to the erosion of women’s bodily autonomy. The policy can enforce and control women’s reproductive choices, with the immediate consequence of forcing some to terminate pregnancies:

“I should be able to support a newborn whether I work or not, and you can’t, you simply can’t.we live in a scary world […] I would like to say that the welfare system I enjoy allows me to [end the pregnancy]”.
28 year old female with two children receiving Universal Credit and Disability Living Allowance

Another recurring theme is the two-way link between being poor and various barriers to getting good jobs. For example, several women said childcare costs were difficult to manage with zero-hour contracts or fluctuating income at work.

Some live under the threat of welfare sanctions, which they say force them to take any job available, regardless of wages, long-term stability or suitability in terms of their aspirations, health or care responsibilities.this pressure is Career Center Worker Application Designed to manage a system that prioritizes enforcing the rules over building trusting and productive relationships. This can lead to cycles of inappropriate work, exacerbating mental or physical health problems, and causing people to lose their jobs and have to rejoin the system:

“They don’t even help you anymore, they don’t actually do anything, I don’t know what they get paid for – you get your own job.A few years ago I was on a job seeker site [Allowance]…I remember…those job coaches really used to help you, they would send you jobs. These, now, they don’t do anything, they just tell you, ​‘You have to find a job or you will be sanctioned. ’ That’s their job, there’s no support.”
A single mother in her 30s receiving Universal Credit and Disability Living Allowance

“If you go out and look for a job yourself, you’ll pick a job that’s better or more suitable for you. But in the job center, they just tell you to pick as many jobs as you can and apply: ​‘I don’t care what you do, what skills you have, what interests you. Just apply and hit this quota so I can approve you, I’ve done my best. …I feel like it’s a numbers game for them because you have to keep applying and applying and applying. ”
Universal credit for women with one child

Taken together, the social safety nets these women depended on weakened their control over their futures. The women we interviewed wanted to shape their lives and find effective ways out of poverty. What we need is not a social safety net designed to punish, but policies to support it. But policies such as two-child limits and welfare sanctions persist despite mounting evidence that they are brutal and ineffective.

We call instead living income: A no-strings-attached support scheme to help people through difficult times. A living income guarantees a minimum income to ensure everyone can afford the necessities of life.

We will explore these women’s experiences in more detail in an upcoming report.

Photo: iStock