How to keep afloat?

[thelistener]

My family and I live very much pay day to pay day.
Allowing for the fact that SSP will be paid to all if sick and that it is nothing short of a measly sum.

How will we keep a roof over our heads?

We both work full time. Just don't see how its possible

Rent or mortgage?

Honestly I dont know. Dp got made redundant and is awaiting an operation for a disability.

We are ok just about.

My kids went to italy with their dad. They are a week through self isolation. I havent seen them in almost 3 weeks.

If I could afford it, I would have taken 2 weeks off and had them here. As it is, I cant afford it

Thos has been distressing enough. I cant imagine if people are ill and know they wont be able to pay their bills.

Just wanted to say you arent alone. But I dont know the answer.

If people are only receiving SSP they will need to claim Universal credit. It is a 5 week wait for payment but you can get an advance once ID checks done. The DWP are going to have to make alternative arrangements for people to verify their ID rather than have masses of new claimants descending on Job centres. I imagine the government may announce some kind of emergency measures on this soon.

The government are purely riding off of our goodwill at the moment saying things like stay at home for a week if you have a cough, self isolate for 2 weeks if you have corona virus etc to stop the spread and protect the vulnerable. Yes it's good in theory and people can't be selfish but probably half of the working population cannot afford to take a week off on SSP, never mind 2 weeks off! If they even get SSP because you need a doctors note for that and we are being told to stay away from GP surgeries with coughs.

They need to do something. They can't expect people to willingly take the hit. This is when it's obvious that we have a conservative government where they think we all work in offices so can work at home or have middle class jobs where we get paid to be off sick. It's not reality at all. I can't afford a week off and certainly not two weeks off. There's a mortgage and bills to pay and we do not qualify for UC or anything. People on UC won't see the hit as they will just get more UC for earning less, people that are seriously ill/elderly won't see the hit as they will still get benefits and their pensions. It's just the same pish as usual, the working class/some middle class take the hit and just have to get on with it. The 'forgotten' part of society. You'll get the middle class/rich on here saying but what is a week or twos wages to stop someone losing their life? They have no grasp of the reality of living pay day to pay day because none of this affects them and putting the food shopping and a few bills onto a credit card is their solution. Then you spend a year skint trying to pay that back. Then what if we are forced to self isolate at some point or need to many times over the next year or so? People just won't follow it then that will be where the shit really hits the fan. Some businesses barely break even, they can't afford to close for weeks/months. The government really have zero clue

Do you own your home? If so speak to your bank about whether you could take a payment holiday. Many will allow this, especially if you are usually a good payer.

If you rent, speak to your landlord - don’t wait until you are struggling to make payment. Ask if you can pay less if you have to take time off work, and offer a repayment plan to make up for the debt over the next year if they will.

Do you have access to any form of credit? It might be worth asking around credit unions etc as they usually accept people with poorer credit scores, if that’s an issue for you.

We are in this position. My DH is on minimum wage and I can't work at the moment due to my health (immune condition) but am getting huge delays with claiming ESA. DH would only get SSP and that doesn't even cover our rent, which is vastly out of line with the LHA rates. We have used savings while waiting for my claim to be sorted out. It is a serious worry that we might end up homeless