Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think this universal credit story is bullshit

28 replies

uer587392 · 09/12/2018 22:13

She lost me at "she plans on using a clothes iron to heat up saucepans ..."

Surely there is more to this, some catastrophic lack of money management skills. Come on.

www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/universal-credit-mum-saving-free-15528823

OP posts:
BetterEatCheese · 09/12/2018 22:19

She lost me at hoping to find a branch to use as a Christmas tree. Very badly written article

InspectorIkmen · 09/12/2018 22:20

I mean - gosh - I don't know. We've all read on here about the very real hardship UC can cause but that does seem overdone doesn't it?

RedPanda2 · 09/12/2018 22:23

The stock photos are fantastic 'a mother and daughter huddle around a fire' it's a heater. I can't imagine any friend would look the other way while she boiled water with candles

Original poster
uer587392 · 09/12/2018 22:23

Lol I missed the "hoping to find a branch" bit. It's the addition of "hoping" that gives it comedy value.

"the woman has also been forced to recycle rubbish to make Christmas decorations" Forced!

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 09/12/2018 22:23

She could get a slow cooker for £10 ( I appreciate that may be difficult) and cook everything in that. I'm not sure what has gone wrong with her claim but she would get extra elements if her child is disabled and she is a carer.

allthingsred · 09/12/2018 22:24

Universal credit is a shockingly bad. & it does leave people without.

I think reading this woman's story though, there will be more to it.
If her daughter disabled she will be getting carer's allowence & her daughter some form of disability benefit.
If a person is in emergency accommodation & not working they will be getting some form of housing benefit (even if paid through uc system )
Sounds awful I know but there are food banks & charities that can help put food in her cupboard until her next payment.
It doesn't say she is working so if she on uc after the initial wait to kick in & as long as she's not been sanctioned she would have been paid last month.
Id be surprised if it was as bad as she's making it out. ( a twig for a Christmas tree?)

Jenala · 09/12/2018 22:28

It's ridiculous and annoying as it makes a mockery of the real hardship UC is causing for some people. You don't have to be boiling water with bloody candles to be having a really shit time.

It mentions moving and taking nothing with her which is obviously the real problem. I couldn't afford to set up a home from scratch and I earn a pretty decent salary. It's a silly thing to do in her circumstances. It doesn't say she was fleeing DV or something which would have meant more support anyway. If she moved to another local authority when she didn't need to they'd like find her intentionally homeless hence the private rent costs.

The whole story is overblown and unbelievable. Glad I'm not the only one who thought so.

GingerbreadTeapot · 09/12/2018 22:28

I saw that on FB and wanted to say exactly the same thing. When I saw this thread I knew it would be this story! Overblown or what? And I speak as a fierce opponent of universal credit btw.

WhoTookTheChristmasCookie · 09/12/2018 22:32

People are suffering hugely because of Universal Credit (there's no denying that at all) but it's just so far-fetched.
Hoping to borrow a saucepan to heat over an iron? Sugar packets in a stocking? Candles to boil water for hot drinks?

It's making a mockery of the people who are actually starving/freezing to death.

DancingintheSpoonlight · 09/12/2018 22:37

"...began in proper..." wtf wrote this?

DuploRelatedInjury · 09/12/2018 22:39

Well, I've no doubt it's really hard for them (as it is for a lot of people) but that article's a bit OTT. It states her daughter goes to school without breakfast and is unlikely to have anything for lunch - surely she'd be eligible for free school meals?

SilverDoe · 09/12/2018 22:43

This is really awful :(

Everyone is picking up on the Christmas stuff but further down it’s saying that the daughter is going to school without breakfast, having barely anything to eat at lunch and then having “reduced sandwiches” for dinner. What the fuck? This can’t be real and if it is then the mother is neglectful, whether intentionally or not. It can’t be real but if it’s fiction why the hell is it a news article?!

Kitsandkids · 09/12/2018 22:43

I saw this on FB earlier and didn’t really believe it but didn’t want to call bullshit in case it got people up in arms! She said her daughter has no breakfast then doesn’t have lunch at school. What? Surely she would be entitled to free school meals?

I know things are bad for a lot of people but, and perhaps we’re just lucky, in my town there are several ways to get free meals every week.

dirtystinkyrats · 09/12/2018 22:53

I think in this case it probably says more about the quality of local journalism than it does about UC.
You dont need to exaggerate sad stories about UC, there are so many out there.
Really really bad journalism.

Oliversmumsarmy · 09/12/2018 22:57

People on UC are struggling.

This woman just makes herself out to be stupid.

How do you heat things up using an iron and boil water with candles.

Becca19962014 · 09/12/2018 23:04

Shitty journalism.
I see it was co-authored by the "head of trends".. Hmm

Jimdandy · 09/12/2018 23:06

This is a stupid article.

Her daughter would get free school meals.

She could get a job or at least attempt to whilst her daughter is at school.

She could use a food bank. She could turn to a charity, or go to the Salvation Army for Christmas.

ReanimatedSGB · 09/12/2018 23:09

I thought it was dodgy as well - either absolutely atrocious journalism or a scammer, or both. The kid should be on free school meals; if their rented home has no cooker then the landlord should be dealing with it and, if the argument is they have no money for fuel, then what are they going to plug that iron into? And there are not just food banks, but local charities who give out gifts to vulnerable children etc.

Yes, there are a lot of people suffering terribly under either UC or benefit sanctions, but this sort of bizarre nonsense is very unhelpful.

WilburforceRaven · 09/12/2018 23:10

It seems very far-fetched. I once made a cheese toastie on an iron once, though, at uni. But it's a PITA because you have to find a way to balance the iron so it remains plate up and very carefully wrap the toastie in foil or you'll end up with burnt cheese on your iron, like I did.

katseyes7 · 09/12/2018 23:14

l don't know if this is fabricated or not. But when l was volunteering at the local foodbank, we had a lady come in with a young daughter, and she asked for things that didn't need cooking, as she only had a kettle, and no other cooking facilities. l'm not sure (we didn't ask, of course)about her personal circumstances, but l can't imagine anyone not wanting to take tinned veg/pasta/beans etc if they had any means of cooking them. lt drastically limited what we were able to give her.

Parisbun · 09/12/2018 23:16

This article makes me so cross. There are so many real UC stories out there that to give this one credence is to deny those people their suffering.
Its all a big laugh innit!
Tel that to the single Dad who had had last months wages counted against this months money. That means no wages- spent on last months rent naturally. And no UC -because hes got 'enough to live on'.

Tell that to the MUm who has paid out for her child care costs but because she didnt upload the right document at the right time she has to wait until god knows when for a decision maker to say if she can have her £300 refunded. If she doesn't get the money she cant repay her friend who loaned her half and she didnt pay all of her rent last month. She needs to pay the nursery again next week and if she doesnt will lose her place. So no nursery,no job.And possibly no home.

Yeah .Its all a big laugh

cathcath2 · 09/12/2018 23:18

If this is true, she needs to approach the school as she would be a prime candidate for Early Help.
The story just seems ridiculous. A branch for a Christmas tree? A clothes iron to heat up pans? (so they are ok for electricity???)

TheDarkPassenger · 09/12/2018 23:18

That read like a parody.

Becca19962014 · 09/12/2018 23:22

It's true some people cannot afford to cook food and need to rely on food that can be made from a kettle. I've seen that myself.

I wonder if it's been blown up by the paper from someone who is genuinely struggling, trying to make ends meet who mentioned things which were then taken to taking the piss.

We had something similar happen here and the journalist went for sensationalism, trying to get their article trending (hence me noticing the head of trending being involved) and ended up getting handed their p45 for doing so. Caused a huge amount of distress - it won't about UC but something else.

I know someone who was a journalist before becoming disabled who wrote an article about disability benefits which by the time it was published was totally unrecognisable as was he. The only reason he didn't pursue it was because he would be linked with it - it was that bad.

dirtystinkyrats · 09/12/2018 23:29

Emergency accommodation doesn't necessarily have cooking facilities, they might well be in a room in a B&B. But child should get FSM, and a lot of the rest of it sounds dodgy too.

Swipe left for the next trending thread