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£53 per week? I know how tough I'd find it to get by

Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 09:23, Fri 5 April 2013:

Parliament is on its Easter break, and I’ve had more time to get out on the doorstep in the constituency.

I love the chance to get out to meet and talk to constituents. It’s always a reality check for MPs to hear what is of most concern in people’s lives.

This week, I’ve been talking to people right across the constituency. I’ve been calling on people in Partington, Woodsend, Old Trafford and Flixton. On Saturday, I’ll be outside Sainsbury’s in Urmston to talk to shoppers and passersby.

Everywhere I’ve been so far, people have raised their worries about the changes that are hitting this week to benefits, tax credits and tax.

Some families are particularly drastically affected as a whole series of changes all come in at once. They’re seeing reductions in the housing benefit that helps them with the rent. Their council tax support has gone. They can’t access the emergency social fund – that has been abolished. The new personal independence payment that’s replacing disability living allowance is being introduced for new claimants, and they will have to be assessed by Atos to determine whether or not they’re entitled to the benefit.

It’s not just those who are unemployed who’re feeling the pain: the average family on £20000 a year with one earner and two children will be £361 worse off this year. The increase in the personal tax threshold isn’t enough to compensate those families who are seeing prices rising faster than their working and child tax credits and child benefit.

I’m not surprised there’s been such anger at Iain Duncan Smith’s claim that he could manage on an income of £53 a week. As I write, more than 400,000 people have signed a petition challenging him to prove it. He says it’s a stunt.

But it’s one thing to live on £53 when you know you it’s only for a limited time, when you own your own home and can pay your bills in future, and you’d be able to cope if something unexpected comes along.

You try finding the money for a new pair of shoes, or an extra high gas bill because you’ve been sick and had to be indoors with the heating on high, or the shower floods and you need to call a plumber out, when you’ve got only £53 to manage on - week in, week out.

Of course it would be better for people not to have to rely on benefits, but the reason the bill has been increasing is because more people have to claim benefits when the economy’s struggling. In fact, that’s exactly what the system’s designed to do in times of austerity, as George Osborne himself has acknowledged.

But it’s simply not the case that unemployment benefit is out of control – jobseekers allowance accounts for only 3% of the total benefits bill. Under Labour, working age benefits (working tax credit and JSA) actually decreased from 3.9% of GDP to 3.2% between 1997/8 and 2007/8. Two thirds of those who are hit by the current round of benefits cuts are working, often in low-paid jobs. More than half of the social security budget is spent on pensioners.

So I’m absolutely disgusted at the vilification that’s gone on in the past few weeks of people who would love to be working, or working more hours, but are forced to rely on benefits to make ends meet.

I know how easily that could be me, if I was ill or had an accident and wasn’t able to work. But, unlike Iain Duncan Smith, I know how tough I’d find it to get by.

Kate

Kate Green

Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston

Shadow Spokesperson for Equalities