Benefits Britain Breadline Scousers

in merseyside one in seven adults claim out of work benefits over 50 percent higher than the national average but what's life really like for the people who live here and are forced to rely on this state lot of the time it's tighten your belt and get on with it like because i actually know what we're doing i really don't know what i'm going to do in love you're in the middle of the road tonight meet the couple who are hoping to be rehoused after being unable to shower for three years i'd feel more independent because i'm able to wash myself on my own accord the single mum who is struggling to raise her three young sons by herself if my children need something and i haven't got any money one of these go and the gambler who says he can't work because of his religious views never ever get a job during the sabbath i'll never do it they're all out of work and struggling to get by on benefits the amount of times i've sat here and cried because i think to myself i'm not going to get to the end of the month [Music] it's reported that merseyside is home to six of the top ten areas with the highest benefits outlay in the country 57 year old jimmy has lived in the area nearly all his life put two quid on it five to two and ten to eleven so we'll get about 14 quid but which is like a survival morning after a period of homelessness he's just moved into a bedsit in new brighton on the wirral and is furnishing it with things he's found on the street half the stuff we've got like the telly i found it that coffee machine found that and i just found them lamps yesterday i can play once you but that's not in soon like so yeah jimmy hasn't worked since being laid off from his job in a cake factory four years ago i was like stood up in a factory 12-hour shifts like weird in a stupid internet and you know as soon as you get out of there you're spending all the money of me to get flipping off your kites like you know so that you can you know de-stress yourself i wasn't happy you know i wanted things to change and then i got the sack but it was a blessing in disguise getting the sack after being sacked from his factory job jimmy says that he was unfit to work due to depression but recently he says he was reassessed past fit for work and now has to look for a job again the types of work i am most likely to get cleaner like stockholm where what is it any good benefit to them for me to go around with a mop do you know what i mean but jimmy doesn't want any old job he'd like to make a career out of his art that one influence that's me mum and i painted it like that from a little tiny passport fake size 30 that one with the tiger i've never finished i was going to do like a mad background on it but like because of the homeless thing it ended up in somebody's outside shed jimmy has made money from selling some of his paintings before he's so proud of them that he keeps the pictures on his phone sold it for 250 quid that picture just like me life's been tame oil since then like he feels that having to look for a job is stifling his creativity it's the time thing you know like and the stress like knackers up the creativity like you know where i'm too busy worrying about like this bloody seventy quid a week and trying to jump through all the hoops that they do like you know you have to apply for so many jobs do this do that for jimmy getting out of the house is another way to de-stress this is a lisa sure get down here about every week but you need to do stuff like this to de-stress yourself whatever you call it like you do you know because they don't give me enough money for the thai massage parlor jimmy may have lived in merseyside for years but he spent his childhood growing up in norfolk my mum died when i was a kid of a thrombasis from taking the new contraceptive pill so i was like brought up going to visit a grave really you know i was 18 months when she died but like my gran and granddad sort of made sure we stayed together as a family you'd only be brothers and sisters and they properly taught us how to be decent people in that way despite his current situation jimmy hasn't given up hope of getting off benefits i think that they should at some point like go hang on a minute what he's saying is right his best chance of uh making a go of it is painting his pitches you know it's better than filling forms and painting a picture in it [Music] just down the mersey from new brighton is birkenhead home to 33 year old nicola and her three sons five-year-old cj two-year-old mason and six-year-old dayton who's man of the house me oh yeah yeah why because that's not him so i'm the man of the house nichola claims around 1500 pounds a month in benefits including child allowance she says that she's struggling with the cost of raising her children yesterday i spent 279 pounds this is the killer this this takes a lot of my money with the milk at 10 pounder tub nappies for two little ones yesterday came to 112 pounds before i'd even done the actual cupboard shop and i sat there and i was like my shopping's going to come today 300 quid with money tight nichola always makes sure to put the kids first the amount of times i've sat here and cried because i think to myself i'm not going to get to the end of the month if it's something like i would like and the shopping comes to a certain amount i take off the stuff to make it cheaper so the kids get what they want nicola is originally from the midlands but she moved to merseyside two years ago to live with her husband they separated a year ago but have joint custody of their children we both got three and a half days each and it works well for both of us still think sometimes he could help a little bit more he's got people to turn to i haven't nicola has two older children from a previous relationship when she was a teenager they're now living with her parents back in the midlands i'm coming i'm coming my mom and dad they've struggled and it makes me feel guilty because they took on my two other children and i felt guilty for years that they're bringing up my two kids and then i went on to have other children but i couldn't stop my ex-husband from having children nicola hasn't spoken to the children or her parents for months i'm open that my older two children that one day they'll forgive me i love them with all my heart i've i love all five of my children i just wish i'd have been a better mom i wish i'd put them first like i am doing now but i got a second chance at life and i said that i would never blow it [Music] in wallacy on the world 54 year old joe and his 44 year old partner angela have been together for the last 15 years and have been on benefits for most of them in love you're in the middle of the road joe's been married twice and he met angela in the local pub and their relationship quickly developed then a couple of weeks later i started to know joe's kids i said some i'm in a kid's show when he goes oh god ten and around ten kids what i'll put myself too you got a blue no most of joe's ten kids are also on benefits so there are always lots of people coming and going in their one bedroom housing association flat i've got six boys to be first wife three children to me second wife and when i was 17 i had a daughter which i've never ever seen it's a daily occurrence where people just come and we just socialize former security guard joe hasn't worked in over 15 years after a problem with his leg turned out to be a tumor on his spine i was walking out to work one day and my leg was dragging along the pavements and angela said to me that she didn't seem to think that was right even though the malignant tumor was removed joe now suffers from a long list of health problems i've got two full hip replacements i was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea i've got bad copd i have other tumor removed off my spine nine years ago and i had the recurrence of it about a year and a half ago two years and nothing's been right since then joe says his health problems means he's unable to work so he and angela claim around fourteen hundred pounds a month in benefits dla andrew gets there's all that one's for me but it doesn't go very far but you gas your lack of your water tv license but while angela has been claiming sickness benefits due to her learning difficulties they say recently the benefits office stop their payments after deciding that she is fit to work and it's one pound eight pence in that one one pound 36 on that one so we've got no chance on that one with their bank accounts empty angela has to break the news to joe hello none of them at all that's about invincible yeah i don't know fortunately joe's sister kaz is around to help with money for the essentials sister said yes you let me fight to get some cigarettes uh otherwise it'll probably not really gone out without until tomorrow [Music] coming up joe's health problems mean he can't stay awake just worries me he's family worry about him as well jimmy turns to god to keep his vices in check it's keeping her the sabbath shoes up where you fall down on the other like paving on other people's women and nicholas regretting being reckless with money i asked my mum for my savings account card and i just blew five grand on nothing in wallacey on the wirral joe and angela have been relying on state help for the past 15 years [Music] joe has a long list of serious health complaints and they're affecting his and angela's relationship i sleep in here because joe can't sleep in here because um it's full of damp me and joe haven't slept together for three years his lack of mobility means he can't use a bath or shower so every day the local authority provide him with a carer to give him a hand wash that's the hottest waterline i've ever had [Music] there's no shower in their one bedroom housing association flat so joe and angela are on the waiting list for a specially adapted property but the wait might soon be over i've been striving for the last couple years because of me disability to try and get a another place and we are now in the process of hopefully moving i think this this new place will bring out a lot and take a lot of distress a lot of the pressure off both of us i'd feel more independent because i'm able to wash myself of my own accord when and whenever i want because it's difficult for joe to leave the house if he wants to see his family they have to come to him all right kitty how you doing hi ange hi john love of my life today joe's 74 year old dad john is visiting awesome okay mate on top of all his other medical problems joe suffers from sleep apnea a disorder that causes sufferers to stop breathing while they're sleeping go ahead joe no i'm just resting fingers though is that just for you no for us joe is prone to dropping off mid-conversation third the february your appointment to support allowance will be i was looking 109 year old well i fall asleep but unexpectedly i just don't know what's happening i could be in mid conversation with someone uh watching the telly and all of a sudden i just fall asleep i don't know what i have done um if you're only wearing angela at the shouts jerry falls leave joey fall asleep or somebody else does to me i fell asleep before and there's been half a dozen people in the house and i haven't even known you've been there someone broke up until two hours later yeah i'm feeling a little bit cloggy a bit she said this could also be to do with me diabetes i've had anything to eat yet this morning what about six cups of tea you need to get something in here because she said well whatever with all joe's health problems angela is terrified what the future might hold i i i'm fighting kay to lose him because he's had um as you know he's had most of it he's had two tumors and he's had two hip replacements sorry it just worries me he's family worry about them as well and his friends cynthia joe down the road in new brighton from beyond the rivers of ethiopia my supplements 57 year old jimmy has been unemployed for four years since being sacked from his factory job he will rest in his love he will joy over the with singing see what i mean he'd be happy to see it i used to be a christian like you know but i i realized now that's the wrong thing they've got it wrong jimmy has always been a believer in god and four years ago he started following the teachings of a little-known religion called the way and so i say i was a follower of the way because if you read the book of acts they were called followers of the way when saul was persecuting them then this soul has gone if you can't beat him join them sort of attitude and but made of his own religion then departed barnabas to tarsus jimmy's religious beliefs means he can't work on fridays and saturdays but putting this on a job search form means that it's getting hard of him to find a job i wish to just restrict my availability due to religious reasons as i do not wish to work on the sabbath which is friday and saturday friday is your preparation for the sabbath where you you get everything you need so you don't have to go out shopping you don't have to make anyone else work because it says you even give your animals the best so i wasn't betting on the horses on the sabbath today he's off to see his brother richard who is also a follower of the way richard has been out of work and on benefits for the last five years don't consider me self-christian both of us are of the same minds we were saying to each other we like that we you know we both can't be going mad at the same time you know the brothers say they had a difficult upbringing well i've always believed in god right from when i was little we were brought up by my grandad and you know if it wasn't for him we wouldn't be able to we wouldn't still have each other they now follow the way for guidance keeping the ten commandments including keeping the sabbath helps you to find out and discover where your faults are if you don't do it you can't find the mouth it's keeping it the sabbath shows up we fall down on the other right paving on other people's women you do which is a hard one to stop it despite their religious convictions the brothers do allow themselves the occasional vice if their benefits will stretch to it like i can't afford to buy weed all the time like you know it's obviously a you know it's not even he wins on the horses a lot like and that gives us more say a bit of a leeway to celebrate you know a lot of the time it's tighten your belt and get on with it like while jimmy and richard are struggling to find employment because of their religious beliefs in birkenhead 33 year old nicola hasn't worked for six years while she raises her three young sons as a kid i worked at a cake factory and i piped chocolate on profiteroles and for a 17 year old to get 250 quid a week was a lot of money back then and i was putting 50 quid away each week and i think i i saved about five grand when we conceived him i asked my mum for my savings account card and i just blew five grand on nothing i feel really i think back now when i think to myself what you could have done with that five grand you could have set yourself up for life even though her youngest son is only six months old nicola is already thinking about the future and getting back to work i always said that i wanted to be a receptionist in a hotel i'm now panicking for when the kids start full-time school that i'm going to struggle to find a job but i do want to work i don't want to be on the dole and i don't want to be on benefits for the rest of my life in the meantime rather than putting money away in the bank nicholas found an alternative way of saving i wear a lot of jewelry my jewelry is to support my children if my children need something and i haven't got any money one of these go with money tight living on benefits nicola has become an expert on using the internet to bag a bargain [Music] these were one pound 89 off ebay brand new and then these ones were brand new with the tags on and i got them for 2.99 i bought these off a friend on facebook they were brand new they're for the summer so i've not actually had them on yet i bought myself a new account simple fact is my black one i've lived and died in it i feel a little bit like little red riding hood right now for nicola the search for bargains can become addictive and the house is starting to fill up i'm always having a look on ebay well i've got five minutes if it's like 99p and there's no bids on it i'll stick a bid on i put loads of stuff on a watch list and then it notifies me that this item is ending soon and if there's no bids on it then i stick a bit on no times out of ten i win it i do sometimes get a little bit carried away nicola is not so sure about her latest bargain purchases i actually don't know whether i like them or not because they look dirty what do you reckon to these mace oh mates look at these wow look at them [Music] hey joe really leaves the house due to his ongoing health problems but today niece paisley and son johnny are taking him to their local park we've got a little separated area there they'll be scattered me mamas any brothers ashes when they've passed away uh recently and we go up a couple times a year normally on their anniversaries or their birthdays uh we don't pay our respects sit in the park for about 10 minutes and say a couple little prayers the park has become a special place for joe and his family isabella paisley's father's ashes have spread me brother and we spread them here and we mums around all the trees all the apple trees and there's a plaque on the wall for me brother and we always like these little tree lights if we can when we come off joe's mum and brother both died of cancer his mum passed away a year ago and joe's brother died when he was just 40. that was an emotional time every time we come up here i always think about me what would be brother every time we come on when you lose your brother who's like 10 years younger than you you don't expect it um me mum remembers never ever though mum being as mums are the best person in the family she was leveling all of a sudden she just got cancelled and passed away it makes me worry about my own health all the time that's why i want to try and stop just smoking and drinking because i want to see my grandkids come up like all parents do you want to see your kids and your grandkids go up losing his family has made joe consider his own harmful habits it might not change his lifestyle i'll die the doctor said which i know i've already been told that we've never functioned that shadow would be hard to tell behind you shouldn't be anywhere near that shouldn't smoke anywhere near 20. it's all been going for 35 years unless i can get some situation where i can stop that i'll just stay cutting on and carrying on coming up joe's getting supplies in before the sabbath get what we can beers weed food in after years on the waiting list a move is finally on the cards for joe and angela so now bottom heart sits off because we've got the keys to move in but and single mom nicola is at a wit's end i just want to think my life gets easier and then it gets bloody harder liverpool home to the beatles the cavern club and the iconic royal liver building across the mersey in new brighton it's friday and jimmy is preparing for the sabbath only i've paid off here is the other we've got 40 quid left so we're i'm just gonna like take a tenner for the sabbath jimmy is a devotee of a religion called the way but this means he can't work a full week if i was supposed to get a job i'd have to be off on friday and saturday that'd be my weekend you see because uh i've got to prepare for the sabbath and then do the sabbath and then i put it down on me job seekers agreements in their world just unrendered myself unemployable but like not to me you know i can paint me pictures you know what i'm saying the sabbath officially starts at sundown on friday but jimmy says he can't work during the day as he needs to get supplies in get what we can beers rather than uh weed food in everything so we don't have to go out again you don't have a loud house on a sabbath you can go for the a two mile walk i think and there are other strict rules that jimmy has to stick to can't have sex on the sabbath but you can have sex on a saturday night i've had my landlord come round on the sabbath ask him from events and i said just said to him i'd take deep business on the sabbath jimmy's brother richard shares his religious beliefs i've done all my shopping don't need to get anything everything's all sorted all we need to do is just like relax relax and as the sun sets over the mersey the sabbath begins exodus 20 verse 8 remember the sabbath day to keep it holy he shall put on the holy linen coats and they led jesus away with the high priest as the night wears on jimmy and richard makes sure to obey the rules why he is shocking stuff is because you're not making anyone work like if i bet on a horse before the sabbath to run on the sabbath i reckon that better go title you know because you've got to let your animals rest as well as your man's servants and your maids it did save the animals as well i always let my servants rest on the sabbath back in wallacy and angela have received some good news after a three-year wait the housing association have finally found them a specially adapted bungalow that the keys are now there to pick up what confirmation we can pick them up and come over and sign the agreements and sanders your date starts and next monday a week today so now boston art sits off because we've got the keys to move in but oh yeah joe's excited about the prospect of having his first shower at home in years it's gonna change a lot for us isn't it liking a bit more more of my own independence because i'll be able to get a shower i don't know what would be a novelty i'll be at the show every day for about a month joe and angela take a taxi to the housing office to collect the keys to the bungalow got the keys however the moon we are i'm excited then bringing everybody off and saying about it we're going to go down and view the property and check what needs doing i'm so looking forward to it watching other people do wear quite i'm just supervising it keys in hand they take sons johnny and sean to check out their new home i hope it's like this weather on moving in and it's raining getting to see their new housing association bungalow with the all-important walk-in shower is a big moment for the whole family [Music] gonna be the lovely kitchen [Music] pitching myself doing all the cooking and doing all the cleaning absolutely amazing i can make it new get nice furniture for the house and nice furniture for the bedroom everything we've been waiting on the list the housing list for about three years to get a move because there was nowhere appropriate for us i've had a walk-in shower or a wet room um that was all we wanted was just somewhere with a wet room as opposed to a bath oh fantastic one's really fantastic do you want me to give you the shower i'm looking forward to you so much so so much i don't think i've ever been so happy and as the sun goes things will only get better can't be things can only get better he was a big kiss then [Music] back in birkenhead no mate i've got time to mess the bag single mom nicola is struggling to get by on her 1500 pounds a month benefits and tries to save money by hunting for bargains [Music] she has recently bought a second-hand tumble dryer oh dear but after just a month it's already stopped working oh you've got to be joking me you slamming it is not gonna help the tumble dryer is tripping the electric i don't understand why but i bought it second hand i didn't need this today just when i think my life gets easier and then it gets bloody harder because i actually know what i'm gonna do now i really don't know what i'm gonna do this time nicholas bargain hunting has backfired you know i paid 80 quid for that i paid 80 pounds for a chamber dryer that's now tripping me electric yeah cheers dude please answer the phone nicola decides to call the person she bought the driver from [Music] hello it's nick who bought the black tumble dryer off him can you hear me oh this really helps this this is my lifeline this tumbled right it's my lifeline i can't keep up with clothes the weather's crap the i can't dry clothes i've got three boys to keep in clothes i'm bothered about myself i walk around looking like a i don't care so how do i do that no idea let's definitely trip the electric because that one's not on as a last resort nichola calls a friend for help hello i am sorry for ringing you while you're at work but i have a problem and you might be able to help me my tumblr drive keeps tripping me electric good point batman see this is why we're friends i like you it's my tumblr i don't need this today she was straight in her air while we're here although the electric socket appears to be working nicola's going to have to manage without the tumble dry for the time being i just feel really sick now knowing that it's broke or it's not working properly come on babe i know darling back in new brighton with the sabbath over jimmy is able to get out and about and on with his daily life i can do this i can go better on the horses again i'm just gonna do whatever i'm doing i haven't made any body or any animal work during the sabbath but now i can make them work again jimmy dreams of making a living as an artist working days that suit him and he thinks he might have found somewhere to do his art i was talking to this lady about a studio 20 quid a week she says she doesn't do it for profit she's doing it because she likes to help artists however at the moment jimmy's religious beliefs means he could be facing a life on benefits never ever get a job on during the sabbath i'll never do it ever again in my life and that's like four years i've been doing that it's never gonna change and that is my belief and they have to accept that by law [Music] coming up joe and angela are moving and the family lend a hand in the amount of time that are tough to gather and move at all i'd already moved the couch by myself jimmy fights the benefits office over cash it's only 300 quid but like it's my money you know so i'll probably get a little bit off the airway and nicola is doing her best to be a mum second time round didn't do a very good job when i was 18 and i had my other two promised myself that i'd make sure that i did a bloody good job this time [Music] back in wallacy after being on the waiting list for a new home for the last three years angela and joe are finally moving out of their flat and into a specially adapted housing association bungalow i will miss this place but with joe can't get in and out the bath we've got a walk-in shower now and that's what i'm going to do a bit later on and everything sorted getting a nice shower and getting me new pajamas see you soon darling love ya joe's son sean is helping them move their belongings the 500 meters up the street to their new home to save cash he's using his push bike i'll do tonight i'll just like i just don't mess about in life i just sort of needs to when i got on with it that's it well there's other people that rather hired a van pay like 40 50 pound dog to move a couple of bits when i can just throw it on my arm on me back and carrier and the amount of time that i took to get a van and move at all i'd already moved the coach by myself you want to and save some money not for me for my parents with their family going all out to help angela wants to show she appreciates their efforts shawn's big and strong abby does it no idea but he's been a help and the two girls have so i'm gonna get two a couple of thank you cards and two bunches of flowers for the girls and just get short and sickies we've got all family and friends give us and move all stuff around it is smaller than the last place four there's any meaningful there so it's big enough for us with the hard work out of the way angela and joe can start to make their new house a home it's gonna be wonderful um i'm quite happy yeah i'm more than happy when it started yeah better thing cause we would be chilling in the pools other than that yeah i couldn't imagine us moving from here we'll be staying here for about as long as long as i can imagine and there's just one final thing to do raise a toast to their new home well anyway cheers everybody happy house happy holidays a few miles away nicola is on her way back from the school pickup we're in birkenhead park i thought i'd treat the kids to i run around as tired as a mob not like mason needs anymore because he's not had of sleep all day so he's going to be out for the counts at about five after years on benefits she looks for free ways to entertain the kids i like the fact that their faces light up because it's somewhat different nine times out of ten when we come out of school it's straight home but the weather's been so cold but i did say to cj that if he's a good boy at school what mommy will take to the park one day after school he's come out with two stickers today for helping this is really helpful little boy i think sometimes i i feel like i live with a 15 year old [Music] nicholas determined to give her three youngest kids the opportunities her eldest children never had you know i'd sell the shirt off me back if it meant that my children could eat didn't do a very good job when i was 18 and i had my other two but i promised myself that i'd make sure that i did a bloody good job this time and i don't think i'm doing a bad job to be fair they're happy they're clean they're clothed they're loved and they are well fed thank you very kindly in new brighton got the jamie oliver beans have you asked you jimmy hasn't worked for four years and he's in debt to the benefits office for crisis loans he's taken out he says his benefits have been reduced whilst he pays them back they've just automatically been taking it out of me money i can't i've got no control over it like plus now i've got to spend money on flipping getting to sign on every week which is another flipping eight quid you know so there's not much left at the end of all last eight pounds for jimmy the debts are mounting and he's struggling with the repayments we have decided that you should now start paying back the 40 pound 53 euros that one's 76 quid that you owe us that one's 48 pounds 23 that you owe us that one's one pound 91 that you owe us 60 quid that you owe us no i can't remember borrowing anything i found that phone right that they said uh if you've got any queries about it found this number and i found the number and i said can you send me out some kind of breakdown of what these debts are and they said certainly you can do that they sent me an empty envelope jimmy says that because he hasn't had the clarification he wants he's given the benefits office an ultimatum they say i am writing in regards of a series of debts reference numbers [Music] i am formally requesting details and proof of these debts if i do not receive this information within 14 days of this letter i will be compelled to take this matter to the independent case examiner your sincerely blah blah jimmy thinks he's out of pocket and he has a plan if he gets any money back it's only 300 quid but like it's my money you know so i'll probably get a little bit off me head like and then use some of it to try and advance myself even further it's hard i risk a few quid when i get paid on the gambling sometimes it works sometimes i'm like quite well off wouldn't advise other people to the thing that's like i've studied the horses for years like you know even i've been lose [Music] sometimes but his debts haven't put jimmy off having a flutter just go in the buckets take a bet on and get on with the rest of the day and then check it later if it's one or not best odds guaranteed [Music] go back get something to eat and go up to the uh write this nasty letter to the dough all jimmy can do now is to wait and see if his horse comes in [Music] new next on channel 5 one family discover that an englishman's home really can be a castle but will it be surrounded by a moat of happiness after rich house poorhouse the scary side of online dating murder on the internet investigates the unsavory motivations of some supposed daters that's brand new at 10. [Music]

Channel: Galactic Defender

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Length: 45min 10sec (2710 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 26 2022