A mother-of-eight has shared the harsh reality of her life as she struggles to get by on benefits. Pam Booth is currently a student teaching assistant and receives just £274 a month in Universal Credit payments.
And she says until she began to get help from a foodbank her family was living on beans on toast - or whatever they had in - for their tea as it was all they could afford.
Pam, from Seacroft, Leeds, has eight children aged between 13 and 29. Four of them, aged 13,15,17 and 21, live at home along with her pet chihuahua and her daughter’s Staffordshire bull terrier, reports Leeds Live.
They have been visiting the foodbank at St Richard’s Crypt on Ramshead Hill for about four months which she says has transformed their diets as they have healthy food. She has also been able to pick up fruit there rather than just being able to afford it once a month.
But she is calling for a change in they system which means that as a student she has money reduced from her benefits. She said: “It’s healthy good food that they [the food bank] give you. Before we had this option it would be like beans on toast on a night time.
"Since we’ve been up here, going to the pantry, being able to have dinner has really helped on a night time. We don’t have takeaways because we can’t afford takeaways.
"We were having to live on whatever we had in before we came up here. Coming up here, we’re able to have whatever we want.
"The kids get fresh fruit from here. Before we started coming here, we were going out and buying fruit once a month.”
Pam is currently receiving Universal Credit while studying to become a special educational needs (SEN) teaching assistant. This makes it even more of struggle, however, as she claims she gets a significant chunk of her benefits knocked off due to being a student.
The 51-year-old says other people she knows who are currently unemployed receive more than £300 a month, whereas she says she receives as little as £274 because she’s a student. She thinks the system is broken.
She said: “I’m a student and I get money knocked off for being a student, without coming here then I wouldn’t be able to eat. Not a chance.
" I’ve got to pay rent at £270 a month and the rest of my bills and that lot. Without coming here and the food pantry, I wouldn’t be able to eat. It’s been well and truly [challenging] because when you get bills coming in, you’re thinking ‘how on earth are you going to pay that?’
“Because when you’re a student, you get money deducted [from Universal Credit] for being a student. They knock your money off. And it’s like ‘Hold on a minute! They should be giving us more money because of the fact we’re getting off us backsides and going out and doing something!’
“Why can’t students be given more money? Get them out there, get them doing more.”
Pam says there are a lot of people visiting the foodbank who are “really truly struggling”. She’s really bonded with other members of the Seacroft community who are also using the foodbank’s services.
The student teaching assistant is currently training at the Bishop Young Church of England Academy. SEN teaching is “close” to her heart as she has two children with special needs. One of her daughters has cerebral palsy and another has Williams syndrome, a developmental disorder which affects many parts of the body.
Pam has said her current situation is “worth the struggle to improve other children’s lives” which she will be able to do once she is fully qualified.
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