Desperate parents dreading the proposed £20 Universal Credit cut have said they regularly skip meals to feed their kids.
Almost eight in 10 on UC will find it harder to make ends meet when £80 a month worse off under the cut, a poll by the The Food Foundation charity found.
Marcus Rashford is urging Boris Johnson to axe the £20 cut.
Marjorie Armson is a parent who regularly skips meals, always prioritising filling her 16-year-old daughter’s stomach over her own when her money for the month has run out.
She said: “Charlotte says to me, ‘Mummy, why aren’t you eating?’
“But I tell her I’ve just had a bit of bread and I’m fine.”
Marjorie, 54, a widow and single mum from Colchester, Essex, has been forced to shield for 18 months due to bad asthma and relies on Universal Credit payments. She said: “I’m very worried about the rising energy prices as I’ve just got a smart meter fitted and I have to feed it money in order to get gas and electricity.
“I’m worried it’s going to run out very quickly – and then what are we going to do?” Marjorie, who was receiving £380 a month when off sick, has just gone back to work part-time, escorting kids to and from school.
She said: “Both Charlotte and I have bad asthma and I’m petrified we’re going to get ill from having to sit in the cold at home. I’m already struggling and have debts but this is going to cripple us."
Anthony Lynam, 35, is a former school special needs support worker from Northampton who has equal custody of his son Oliver, nine, and daughter Florence, four.
He was made bankrupt in 2019 due to debts, which means he is on a pre-payment energy meter.
Anthony said: “I will be badly affected by the rise in energy, about £15 a month.
“With the £20 UC cut, overall I will be £110 a month worse off. I will be relying on charity to get us through the winter.
“The hardest thing for me is hiding it from my children. I want them to feel safe and secure but I have a lot more stress and sleepless nights now worrying about money.”
Anthony, who is autistic and has mental health problems, said: “ The charity Christians Against Poverty helped me sort out my finances.
“I have my kids for half the week and although we are in the 10% of the poorest UK households, I do my best as a dad.
“In fact, I’ve gone without meals to make sure their tummies are full of food.
“I will lose £86.67 as of next month and it will come down to me choosing to feed my kids or putting the heating on.”
We'll have zero left spare
Carly Newman fears the hike in National Insurance payments and rising energy bills will leave her skint.
The 35-year-old, a single mum from New Cross, South London, is a manager at a branch of Citizens Advice and all her salary goes on rent and nursery fees for her son Ezra, three.
She said: “I work four days a week and pay £900 a month for Ezra to go to nursery three days a week. My parents, who live nearby, look after him one day a week.
“My salary is less than rent and childcare put together, so I rely on the universal credit to live. I live payday to payday. My rent and nursery fees are going up and I now lose the uplift. This all means I am over £120 a month worse off.
“As winter approaches, Ezra will need new shoes and a coat. Where does the Government think I’m going to find this shortfall?
“I pay well over £120 a month in energy bills in the winter. Working from home adds to that. Added to this increase, the NI payments plus UC cut means I will have nothing to spare by the end of the month.”
I can't afford gifts for my children
Brahim Rarbi can’t afford to buy his kids birthday presents after being made redundant from his job as a warehouse delivery driver during the pandemic.
A single dad of four children aged five to 12, the £900-a-month Universal Credit payments have kept them afloat.
Brahim, 51, of Colindale, North London, said: “I only eat my children’s leftovers – only after they eat can I eat. I stay up at night worrying about money and sometimes I feel so desperate I cry but I don’t want the children to see me.
“I can’t afford to buy presents for their birthdays and when my youngest turned five recently, I could only afford to spend 75p on balloons and £2.99 on a cake. No presents, nothing. They tell me not to worry when I can’t afford to buy them things but it breaks my heart.”
Brahim couldn’t work over the summer holidays because of childcare costs but now the children are back at school he has taken on part-time work building kitchen units for a small company.
But taking away £20 a week in a few weeks will hit his family hard.
He said: “I hate taking benefits. I feel ashamed not being able to provide properly for my kids at my age and I’m determined to give them a good life. Why can’t the Government keep giving this money to the people that need it?”
