A disabled mother whose three children are also disabled fears for their future as Rachel Reeves seals their fate with her welfare changes in today’s Spring Statement
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A disabled mother whose three children are also disabled fears there is no hope for the future of her family after today’s Spring Statement.
Emma Ford, 46, from Horsham, West Sussex, is autistic, profoundly deaf and uses a wheelchair as she has severe rheumatoid arthritis. She relies on her personal independent payment (PIP). Emma works for the NHS – she returned to work four years ago after 17 years out of work to be a carer to her children.
Martyn, 21, has autism, Rhys, 19, has autism, ADHD and learning disabilities, Caitlin, 16, has autism, chronic fatigue syndrome and is deaf. All three children are on PIP. Both her sons receive the daily living element of PIP so Rachel Reeves’ planned cuts in welfare payments
Rhys gets £800 a month in Universal Credit, and, as he is not 22, under the new rules his payment will be reduced to £300 a month.
Emma was previously a Labour voter but felt she had no choice but to resign her membership after learning of Department for Work and Pensions DWP changes to eligibility for PIP (Personal Independence Payments).
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Emma is so frightened about what will happen if her family lose their benefits that she is depressed, unable to sleep, and is having panic attacks. Reacting to today’s statement, she told the Mirror: “I was physically ill due to anxiety waiting for the announcement and afterwards I couldn’t process it – my head is a mess due to anxiety.
“I heard Rachel Reeves say that ‘if you can work you should, if you can’t, you will be supported ‘ but how do you live on what will essentially be around £500 a month? You’re essentially incapacitated so you can’t work to improve things.
“There wasn’t much clarity so I am still unsure whether or not Rhys will lose his incapacity element altogether as he’s under 22. So the uncertainty of that and if I’ll be affected by PIP reform has my anxiety at an all time high.’
For too long, Emma says she has been made to feel like a ‘parasite’ by the government and trolls. “I voted Keir Starmer for leadership, and boy, am I regretting doing that now. Attacking disabled people is the lowest of the low,” she said.
“The Government have made me feel like a parasite and an absolute waste of space. I’ve even received hateful abuse online. I don’t know how we are going to get by.”
The changes mean those with certain health conditions could see their payments drop significantly. Although eldest son Martyn is able to work in retail, he requires Emma’s support with communication. Caitlin, who is still at school, uses a wheelchair. Rhys left his specialist school last year and is now enrolled in an independent life skills course at college. Emma tells how “he has just learned to cross the road safely.”
Emma shared: “When Rhys left his specialist school and went to college I lost Universal Credit. Now Rhys has started on Universal Credit himself and has incapacity for work he gets roughly what I got for the disabled element of Universal Credit. That money is his living expenses. If he needs glasses, clothes, transport, phone, haircuts it pays for it.
“Rhys gets Universal Credit, which is £800; I keep the PIP, which I use to pay the mileage rates of his personal assistants and any transport he needs out of the mobility element and increased electricity and water charges. The universal credit is for daily living expenses, things he needs for college, lunches, clothes, glasses, dentist, haircuts and his social clubs and sports groups.
“When Rhys left school, I lost the disabled child element of my Universal Credit. His incapacity is a similar amount so he uses it for the same things I did and also as a way of learning to budget as a life skill. He needs support with this.”
She continued: “They have already said in the green paper that they are abolishing the incapacity benefit for Universal Credit for under 22s. If it goes through I am really going to struggle to support him on what I earn. He is going to college and working towards then getting out to work if he can. His needs aren’t going to go away between the ages of 18-22, just because he’s left school.
“There was very little support anyway for school leavers aged 19 but what little there was will now been taken away, leaving a black hole between the ages of 18-22. Rhys is on the incapacity benefit of Universal Credit trying to study and progress to work. They will stop this happening by cutting the money.”
In order to keep her PIP, Emma needs to score four points for any one incapacity. She has 13 points, but only twos or threes for any one activity. Even though she needs help showering, getting dressed and at mealtimes, Emma doesn’t have four points for any single one of her needs.
Emma said: “The process of applying for PIP is dehumanising. It’s embarrassing and humiliating to admit that you can’t get off the loo by yourself, that you can’t get dressed by yourself.
“I have an existing PIP award – I got the points I needed to get for enhanced daily living. I scored 2s and 3s in the categories, but I didn’t score 4 in any category, which means I could lose PIP. I feel like I’ve been undermarked because I almost always have help getting showered, I almost always have to have dinner cooked for me – I don’t understand how I scored 2s. I have an existing award but will there now be a review? Will I have to apply again and go through the humiliating process again?”
To make matters worse, Emma has had to deal with cruel online comments from strangers mocking her plight. Emma told us: “I’ve had hateful messages telling me to ‘stop being ‘scrounging scum’ ‘ stop being a snowflake.’ They laugh about me possibly losing the Motability car, even though I use a wheelchair. How is taunting disabled people ok?
“I only got back to work four years ago. Before that, I was out of work for 17 years. But even when I was at home, I was a worker because I was caring for all three disabled children. The only reason I manage to work at all is behind I am behind a desk at a computer I have an amazing boss and work has made adaptations. I couldn’t do any other job. If I lose pip I can’t go to work.
“In order to get PIP, you have to fill out a humiliating and invasive 40-page document and provide lots of evidence – it’s a robust system that is difficult to navigate, and the fraud rate of Pip is 0 per cent. So why are they doing this to us? How can MPs be getting a 2.5 pay rise yet attacking disabled families this way?”
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