Nicola's reality
Nicola from Port Talbot
My name is Nicola. I have three children, a girl and twin boys. I’ve been receiving Universal Credit for about 5 years, and I’ve just applied for PIP.
At first, I found UC quite helpful. I had an advanced payment when I moved into a new home and that helped. But I have found it hard since then. I managed to find a part-time job in a local school, but I’m still on UC because I don’t earn enough money. If I worked full-time, I would be worse-off and I would have even less time to spend with my children. I am in debt because my day-to-day costs are too high.
I applied for PIP because I am hard of hearing and it impacts my work - I can’t hear when people are calling me or asking me for things. However, I’ve been told I am not entitled to the amount I need so I am appealing that. I had help from my housing association to apply, but it was hard and I struggle to keep on top of it all.
I’ve been sanctioned before, when my daughter was little. My daughter was struggling with her emotions so I took her for a drive to calm her down. Because I was driving and supporting my daughter, I missed a call and this meant that my payment was reduced for a month. Unfortunately, this meant I had to take out a credit card to afford my bills that month - and I am still paying that card off now.
If I could change anything it would be the way they chase people - like when I’m working, they chase me to come in for meetings every couple of weeks. It is so stressful because I finish work, then go to the job centre and then have to rush home to the kids.
There isn’t enough support from Universal Credit and so now I’m in debt and I won’t be able to pay it off for years, but honestly, I am one of the lucky ones because I have family and friends helping me. Without that, I don’t know how I would put food on the table for the kids.
This month, I can’t pay anything because I need to buy the summer uniforms for my children - so I have applied for help so I can pay off what I can but it isn’t enough. I hope when the kids are older, I can get more hours or a better job.