Benefits.3 parents, 3 different stories:

Do Child benefits differ between a professional young parent, a working mum and benefits 30 years ago?

I have been investigating and interviewing people to find out about ordinary people about their child benefits and cost of living.

Working Mum:

Miss F Bell aged 50 gets a benefit of £134 a month with two children aged 12 and 10 coming up 11. She said her benefit helps her .She quoted ‘its £134 I wouldn’t have otherwise.’ She also quoted ’I’m grateful that they give help to people on a low income because without that I wouldn’t survive’.

She says that her benefit value went up this year but only about 1 or 2 pounds.

‘I would find it wrong if someone was cheating the system to get more money for their own gain its selfish.’ Stated Miss Bell.

Young mum working as a teacher:

Mrs M Borman aged 32 gets a benefit of £20 a week or worked out at £180 a month with a child aged 1 and a half. She quoted’ It doesn’t really help her because a pack of nappies cost her about £7 and they don’t last very long £20 doesn’t cover a lot.’

She says that people should get an amount of money based on the amount of income they get and richer people shouldn’t get a low benefit they should get a fair amount.

She quoted ‘I think the government needs to come up with a system that’s fair and supports mums if they want to work. They need to also help mums with childcare costs. ‘

1980,s benefits:

Mrs R Dalvi only got about £10 a week for her 12 year old daughter with her other daughter ineligible for benefits in the late 80’s.

She used the £10 to buy the food shopping for her daughters.

By Chloe Lennon