To be thinking about starting adult webcam work?

[StaringAtMyWalls]

I'm in a really bad financial situation.

Due to physical and mental health I cannot work full time, I struggle to even work a part time schedule (good and bad days), but part time isn't nearly enough to pay my basic bills.

I've honestly tried all avenues already - applied for LCWRA and PIP numerous times and keep getting declined even though my issues are genuine, I already live in a cheap area rent wise, cut down all bills.

I'm considering doing webcam work as I could completely choose my own hours around medical appointments, insomnia, and bad days I could take time off. It would reduce my social anxiety as it's behind a screen and if I freaked out I could just shut down the screen.

I am a shy person though and I have a LOT of stretch marks. I'm not sure I have the balls for it tbh.

I don't care if anyone finds out or records me etc, so long as it doesn't massively impact my chances of a 'regular' job - I'm happy to accept that if found out I won't be able to be a politician (!!) or work with children or say as a lawyer (!!), but would it stop me doing care home, retail or cleaning work?

Does anyone have any experience of webcam work?

If you are fit and healthy and can paint go on grafternow and see if you can get some work painting. It pays at least £80 a day (zero skills) but more likely around £100.

Hi OP, I danced a lot to support myself through my degree and I knew a lot of girls who did webcam work, I give it some thought and decided it’s not for me. It’s not easy work and I know a lot of girls who sat there on their computer all night just to make £20.

If you struggle with your mental health already they sex work is not the path you want to take. It’s gruelling at the best of times and I saw some people’s mental health crumble in a really scary way.

OP who helped you appeal this decisions? You have to be able to complete a task reliably, repeatedly and safely for the majority of the time. Doesn't sound like you can so you should qualify. Who has helped with your appeal?

I am really sorry that you are struggling like this though. Have you had help from your local citizens advice when it comes to filling in the forms for PIP and your work capability assessment? It’s really in the wording of what you say and having a professional help fill them in can help so your words aren’t twisted out of context.

Thank you everyone for all the advice.

I'll try to answer some of the questions, I may miss some.

There's no way I can reduce my expenses any further. I already live in a cheap area of the country, and I don't buy anything other than absolute neccessities. Honestly.

Yes I do receive universal credit at the moment. But it's already not enough to live on (was even worse before the pandemic increase), and they take away 30% of my U.C payment to give to my debts.

I used to do cleaning (both employed and self employed), retail, and care home work but with my mental and physical health I really could only do part time. It's difficult to explain but I have gyna e and bladder issues so I cannot do much lifting at all or even be on my feet all day full time, and I have treatments regularly. I need a lot of breaks and I don't sleep well due to pain and also mental health. Regarding the mental health aspects I have flashbacks and days where I'm so down I can barely function for sadness and anxiety. For example - Monday was a good day I did housework, cooked a proper meal, went to post office, looked for online work, spoke to a neighbour, felt a bit positive. Yesterday was a write off - couldn't do much of anything. Ate some cheese on toast, was sad and panic attacks all day. Today - inbetween. I was supposed to shower but managed half a shower. Panic attacks already.

I feel like I could manage long hours if it were online customer service work, not sure why mentally but I feel I could. I'll be applying for all these so thanks for the suggestions I must have been searching wrong before cause I couldn't find many.

I know webcams aren't easy or good money. I've a good friend who does it so I do know a bit but only have her experience which is why I was asking. She has to put in about 20 hours a week to make a full time minimum wage equivalent. Also with my gyna e and bladder issues I couldn't do much more than a few 'shows' a day involving penetration. So probably not a full time solution but maybe if I work part time elsewhere then harness a few hours a week (10??) where I feel ok and webcam.

Do you think it would affect my chances of getting some care work though? I was thinking of trying to get part time support worker role where there's not as much lifting and moving, like taking service users on days out, assisting with cooking and shopping that sort of thing.

It sounds like you really do want to help yourself op. Well done, I imagine days can be very difficult by the sounds of it.

The only problem with becoming a 'helper' (is that the correct term, like an assistant?) is that they will want someone reliable I imagine, and if you're struggling to care for yourself it may not be the best way to go right now.

Do you enjoy working with children? Perhaps a part time position in a nursery, you could volunteer to see if you enjoyed it and to gain some experience, maybe for a couple of days a week for a few weeks

With cam work, you will be expected to show your face, and unfortunately, there is a chance someone will record you and then you have no control over where it ends up.

There's a thread on Saafe about showing your face/will cam work affect your chances of getting 'regular' work. The general consensus was to avoid doing cam work, particularly showing your face if at all possible.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

Selling your used knickers might be better.

Or look for admin work, and then when offered the job ask for flexible working. Unless it's customer facing you can probably work flexible hours. Speak to an agency as well as you can work around your circumstances.

Trust me, a lot of the men using those services won't want normal stuff and will want you to talk about all kinds of out there shit, stuff they can't find easily. A woman once did an interview and had loads of men wanting to talk about breastfeeding them, bestiality, making animal noises, all sorts of really disturbing stuff.

@RileyG73

It sounds like you really do want to help yourself op. Well done, I imagine days can be very difficult by the sounds of it.

The only problem with becoming a 'helper' (is that the correct term, like an assistant?) is that they will want someone reliable I imagine, and if you're struggling to care for yourself it may not be the best way to go right now.

Do you enjoy working with children? Perhaps a part time position in a nursery, you could volunteer to see if you enjoyed it and to gain some experience, maybe for a couple of days a week for a few weeks

Thanks. Yes I see what you mean about reliability. I think the position I'm in just now is that physically I could work part time not full time, mentally I couldn't work just now at all unless possibly from home. If I can get my mental health better then I could at least work part time. Even if financially I'm forced to do some sex work on top. it's long standing though the mental health. I do counselling and medication and still have more bad days than good.

If I can get the LCWRA element and PIP as well as uc I could live on that I think. I've been through appeals and had help but I'll keep trying because I do fit the criteria, I just keep getting denied.

Longer term, i would love to get qualified in something stable I could do full time from home or hopefully manage full time office type work (for my physical issues).

I can visualise it behind a wall but can't grasp it if that makes sense.

@CoraPearl Yeah I've read saafe my friend pointed me towards it. I don't really care about showing my face or who finds out if it's cam work. Only thing would be if it prevented me doing other work. If it were in person sex work I would care if people found out though, and I don't mean that at all disrespecfully to in person sex workers, it would just bother me if family sex knew.

Anonon , I have tried but cannot get admin work so far as I've zero admin exerience, only GCSES, and I've not been able to work for 3 years so have no references from other work I've done. I never even get a reply or interview. I will keep trying though if I can get myself mentally stable.

There are many places you can get proper qualifications online atm, fully funded. You could do your Business Admin level 2 and an IT course to prove to employers that you are serious. Google Free courses, or look on Reed.
Could you get a Lodger? Or are you currently getting HB as part of UC?

Webcam work isn't as easy as you'd think. It's a business with a HELL of a lot of competition. It's not an easy way out to make easy money, you'd need to think about a marketing strategy to stand out from the millions of other girls doing the same thing. Plus with your current mental health state I wouldn't recommend it. Whatever pictures or videos that you put out there will stay on the internet forever and you won't be able to turn it back once you click the post button. If you're in such a financial situation where you've got no choice but to do adult work I'd recommend something more private like escorting, you don't even need to engage in intercourse with them you can spend your time however you want and however you feel comfortable. At least in that case you wouldn't have to worry with pictures and videos of you on the internet 10 years from now when you could be in a completely different state of mind and reality. Good luck

Do you have family support? Can you move home?

[quote StaringAtMyWalls]@CoraPearl Yeah I've read saafe my friend pointed me towards it. I don't really care about showing my face or who finds out if it's cam work. Only thing would be if it prevented me doing other work. If it were in person sex work I would care if people found out though, and I don't mean that at all disrespecfully to in person sex workers, it would just bother me if family sex knew.[/quote]
Great you've been pointed to Saafe, it's a valuable resource.

The problem is that while you might not see cam work as sex work, many do, so you would still be 'tarnished' for wont of a better word. If you do so this route, be sure to keep everything separate, so separate email addresses, separate social media (if you opt to use it), paying for anything using a different account and also consider using a VPN. The reason why I am flagging this is that you do not want your cam profile linked to your personal profile on any social media as that is. sure fire way to expose what you're doing/your family to find out.

Yes I do receive universal credit at the moment. But it's already not enough to live on (was even worse before the pandemic increase), and they take away 30% of my U.C payment to give to my debts.

You can ask for this to be reviewed if it leaves you with not enough to live on. In fact you would probably benefit from full debt advice through CAB or Stepchange.

www.stepchange.org/

Most creditors are being more accommodating than usual because of coronavirus so you may be able to negotiate payment holidays, interest freezes or even get some debts written off. You might also be able to get a grant to pay off e.g. fuel or water debts.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/03/uk-coronavirus-help-and-your-rights/

You should also get a full benefit check to ensure you are getting the right amount of UC and whether there might be other things you can claim - e.g. if UC doesn't cover the whole of your rent you might be able to get a discretionary housing payment to cover the difference.

As others have said, definitely keep trying to challenge the PIP decision and LCWRA. As well as the forms themselves, it's good to gather as much medical evidence as you can, also statements from anyone who helps you with day to day tasks or emotional support.

This site has some good guides:

www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/

Do some volunteer work and then you’ll at least have references and show that you are eager to work?

Adult cam work sounds like a seriously bad idea, for so many reasons. You'd be better off getting all your old stuff and starting an Ebay selling business.

Why not look at apprenticeships? You can do one in admin or customer services or even care. You woll be protected by employment rights, sick pay etc. You might be eligible for in work benefits such as housing benefit top-up. Register with Reed and other agencies and ask them specifically for apprenticeships. You don't have to be young to apply.

I wouldn't do webcam work. Like others said it's degrading and there's a lot of men on there who are quite abusive and disrespectful to women.

Bare minimum spend isn't typically £1500 a month. Do you have a car? Children? Pets? Partner? You say you already live in a cheap area, so what's your rent/mortgage? Have you exhausted all money saving options? Matched betting can bring in a bit of money. For the love of god, don't do any cam work. You're already suffering from trauma. You'll make it so much worse.

Sorry to hear you're in this position op. I did phone sex line work for 6 months and despite being very open minded, still cringe amd feel grossed out by what I heard...and that was totally anonymous.
Keep fighting the pip etc appeal decisions. In my unfortunately extensive experience of dealing with them, they are utter bastards, but I have always eventually won when it reached tribunal.

@Popsy321

Bare minimum spend isn't typically £1500 a month. Do you have a car? Children? Pets? Partner? You say you already live in a cheap area, so what's your rent/mortgage? Have you exhausted all money saving options? Matched betting can bring in a bit of money. For the love of god, don't do any cam work. You're already suffering from trauma. You'll make it so much worse.

I'll try to explain why my very basic outgoings are £1400/500 per month without being too outing. I don't buy anything unnecessary. I haven't bought new clothes or anything in a very long time and my house is shabby. My rent is nearly £600 per month. Then there's food, council tax which would be higher if I had a job, all utilities, travel if I had a job, and prescriptions. I get a treatment privately for my health issue too but that's only £50 a month, technically not absolutely essential but it helps massively.

I do have an old, ill pet and the costs are quite high. Sadly that expense won't be long term.

I don't have a partner but I have two older children. One lives with me but suffers really bad anxiety too (as did my own mother and aunts uncles grandparents) I'm really proud that she's at uni but it's all she can manage she can't work on top. My other older DC lives mostly with his asshole father since teen, but still comes here so I have to feed him etc. I don't get child money for either of them.

My universal credit is reduced by 30% every month to pay for debts as well and that's a big problem.

@SummerWhisper

Why not look at apprenticeships? You can do one in admin or customer services or even care. You woll be protected by employment rights, sick pay etc. You might be eligible for in work benefits such as housing benefit top-up. Register with Reed and other agencies and ask them specifically for apprenticeships. You don't have to be young to apply.

I would love to do an apprenticeship but when I looked into it it doesn't work if you are on the universal credit system.

@FlamedToACrisp

Adult cam work sounds like a seriously bad idea, for so many reasons. You'd be better off getting all your old stuff and starting an Ebay selling business.

I've already sold on eBay everything I had of value.

My situation isn't a short term blip unfortunately.