‘If I got my hair cut I would have no money at all for food – for me or Bella.’

Political animal: the pandemic has affected household wealth as well as health, says Adrienne Frazer

Bella is my beautiful three-legged cat. I love her dearly but, because of my finances on Job Seekers Allowance, I may need to let her go. I nursed Bella back to health after she lost her leg and was put in a refuge. We would both be devastated if she has to have a new home.

With that in mind, I wanted to bring to your attention the reality of a situation that so many people are in at the moment, using my own experience.

I’ve been a Quaker for about ten years and am pretty typical of our demographic: middle class, well educated, white, formerly earning a good living, owning my own home, with no debts, and in my fifties. Safe and secure and contributing to our society, one would think.

Through an all-too-long story, in April I found myself unemployed. I had contingencies set up for this scenario, with three types of temporary work in place. They all fell through because of Covid-19. Still relaxed, I began applying for jobs in my profession, locally. I live in the south east because that is where the work is. The process of application, sitting at my computer filling in online forms, tailoring each one to meet the criteria required, took one or two days per application. The response was much slower than usual, with three weeks before I heard anything being common. After many applications, and six weeks without a salary passing by very quickly, it became clear that finding an income was going to be much more difficult than it was before the pandemic. I started to worry about money.

I contacted the national temping agencies. One told me, ‘Yes, do send in your CV, though I do have employers asking why they would use us when they get fifty applications each day for a job advertised.’ Another response told me that they had had ninety applications, some of whom had previously done the exact job advertised.

With still no income, no sign of a job, and news of the economy worsening daily, I got very worried and began to wonder if I would be unemployed for months, if not years. Much as age discrimination is illegal, it’s still out there. The prospect of the next ten years (before I reach my state pension age) being unemployed was on my mind.

I applied for Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) and council tax reduction. I worked out my budgets and began to shop frugally.

This next section is the shock.

For JSA I was given £322 per month. For council tax I was given a full rebate, which was a relief.

I could perhaps have claimed a little bit of Universal Credit as well, but since they take savings into account and the maximum is £409 per month, it didn’t seem worth it.

My essential bills are £126 per month excluding council tax. I am not expensive to keep. That leaves me with £45.23 per week for everything else – this includes food, car tax and insurance, cat food, grooming, the dentist, optician, birthday presents and any socialising or entertainment and so on.

I made myself a budget to see if it was at all possible to live on this. I then shocked my dear and generous friends by telling them that, in all honesty, and very worried, if I got my hair cut (it hadn’t been cut for six months) I would have no money at all for food that week. That included food for Bella, though she is a good mouser.

I do have my savings. But they won’t last me the ten years until my state pension kicks in. They might last three years if I’m very careful.

I am thinking of putting the car into storage. But then I wouldn’t be able to get to the large supermarkets where food is cheaper, or perhaps to an interview. If I don’t take it off the road, however, then the MOT, tax and insurance will fall due and I will have to spend at least £230 on it. That is five weeks’ money. Five weeks’ food. I have told the dentist that I will not come for a check up this year. Luckily my teeth are great.

Can you imagine a family member or friend saying to you: ‘I will have no money for food this week’? Please be even more generous than usual, and give to the food banks and to your friends and family. Please don’t wait to be asked. It’s embarrassing and humbling.

I also hope, knowing Quakers are an activist bunch, that you will campaign to get a liveable income for people who need the state’s support, particularly in these extraordinary times. Or, alternatively, to get the pension age reduced so that some of us can leave the jobs that are out there to the younger people who need them even more than me.

I also looked at the amount of the state pension. Currently it is £134.25 per week (£582 per month) for those who reached state pension age before April 2016. This is a lot more than JSA or Universal Credit. I wonder what it is that retired people need that younger people don’t, to justify this discrepancy. But more importantly, with council tax benefit on top, this is also only just a liveable amount.

Without council tax benefit it’s also an unrealistic amount to live on. With pension credit topping this up to £173.75 per week (£753 per month) it does just provide an amount that is survivable according to my own budgets, which include the cat. Pension credit, of course, is not available to people of working age. That’s me.

This is not a cry for help. I have friends and Friends offering help, and I am very grateful to find these people around me. It is a cry for understanding, compassion and particularly for you to do something about it. I don’t ask for help for me or Bella but for the thousands of others in this horrible boat. Of course the world, poorer countries and the environment need your help. But so do ordinary people living among you and whom you know.

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Comments

Thank you so much for your honesty and openness, Adrienne.
There must be so many people whose non-human companions are what has helped them get through lockdown with their sanity intact. To be forced to choose between their pet and their home Is a choice no-one should have to make.
If this can happen to you, an intelligent, capable woman not afraid of hard work, it can happen to anyone.
I hope we will hear from Friends already campaigning for a living wage and also for liveable benefits - I feel confident there must be Friends already out there and active?

By SallyReynolds on 24th September 2020 - 8:58

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