I’m a disabled person claiming benefits – and I’ve lost all hope in the Labour government

I am a single parent, to an eight-year-old boy, who has special educational needs and disabilities. I am disabled too, and receive adult disability payments – the Scottish government’s equivalent of personal independence payments (PIP) – and I am in the limited capability for work and work-related activity group for universal credit.

It’s been strange hearing people talk on the news about disability benefits being too easy to claim for too many. My own experience was of a long process to receive help, with lots of checks, which were very incredibly thorough. I think the idea that anyone can get disability benefits is simply a myth: my experience was that I had to work very hard to prove that I needed that help. 

The other things we’ve been hearing a lot about in the media is that disabled people need to be supported, but perhaps also made, to go back to work. But this ignores what life is really like for so many of us. I’m my son’s sole carer, and also have to work hard to manage my own physical and mental health conditions. I can’t work full-time because of this, and this reality is made harder by the fact that I have no family nearby who I can turn to for help. 

Read more of Big Issue’s analysis of Labour’s benefit reforms:

• Cuts, universal credit and PIP: Everything you need to know about Labour’s benefits overhaul
• Benefit cuts are a ‘violation of human rights’ which will harm ill and disabled people, Labour warned
• DWP’s new unemployment benefit and changes to work capability assessments, explained

Trying to build and make networks and friendships locally has been made much harder for me and my son as we’ve lived in insecure, temporary housing, and been homeless at times. And had to move around on multiple occasions. This means that I’ve only had myself to rely on. No one else. 

The past few weeks in the build up to these announcements has been awful. I’ve experienced nightmares and sleepless nights; waiting to hear what the government would set out. The reality is that the cost of living is so high, and there are incredibly long waits for help with our health through the NHS. There are so many barriers that we face day in, day out. When will the government act to help with this rather than judge us for what we are not doing? Many who struggle with disabilities like mine end up going private in order to reach the services they need. That option simply isn’t open to me and my son. 

Listening to reports of these cuts is terrifying. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, I don’t know how to manage the needs of myself and my son. I am afraid. I face a constant backdrop of worry. I am worried because everything costs so much, even just to have a normal standard of living. My son’s disabilities also add to the costs we face – he needs to eat gluten-free food, which costs more.

I ask myself how will people like me and my son survive? While wellbeing and health are considered to be important, they take a backseat to the worries about just basic survival. And these worries are there for us all of the time. 

I had hoped that the Labour party would act in a more ‘human-centred’ and compassionate way, that they would understand the plight of vulnerable people – including those on a low income, single parents, people with disabilities, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This hope will be part of the reasons and understandings in place when many people voted for them last year. 

But this hope is now lost. These disability benefits are a lifeline for people who are only able to get by because of this support – and there is no other support available. I’m scared for what the future will bring. 

Arjan is an alias. Arjan is a participant in Changing Realities, a collaboration between almost 200 parents and carers on a low-income, researchers at the University of York and Child Poverty Action Group.

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