So….Where’s The Money Gone?

A couple say they are on the breadline after they received just a penny in benefits for the month of February.

Emma Young and her partner Christian Boyce say they have had to go to a food bank for the first time and face eviction from their Bolton At Home house in Halliwell as their finances reach crisis point.

Gosh! A penny? IDS is doing better at this welfare capping that I thought…

Emma, who works part-time in Asda in Horwich, said the problem started in January, when she received a bumper wage packet for working extra hours over Christmas.

Her February pay check came four weeks later — but within a month of when calculations for universal credit are made — meaning that she was logged as having received two months wages in a month.

The government then slashed the amount of benefit she received in February.

Ah. I see. So…where’d all that Christmas and February money go?

Ms Young, aged 31, said she supports the household as her boyfriend Christian cannot work because of mental health issues, and the couple have spiralling debt from existing rent arrears and payday loans repayments.

Right.

So, even if they’d got their benefit money, they’d still be 'on the breadline' thanks to their profligacy, right?

Nor is even that the whole story:

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions accepted the payment into her account was ‘very little’ because Ms Young received two wages in one monthly period.

She had also received an advance, and a repayment of that Universal Credit payment meant the benefits she was given was reduced, the government spokeman added.

Ms Young was also in arrears with her rent with Bolton At Home before she began claiming Universal Credit in September.

The spokesman said: “For some people monthly benefit payments can mean a significant change to their financial routine, which is why our work coaches are on hand to provide budgeting advice.”

Waste of time. Some people you just can’t help.