Struggling mum forced to choose between feeding kids and keeping the heating on

16 August 2023 , 07:37

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Angela Gilmour with children Kirsty Fitzpatrick, seven, Leela Fitzpatrick, five, and 18-month old Angelina Fitzpatrick (Image: Andrew Neil)

A mother faces heartbreaking decisions - including choosing between feeding kids and keeping the heating on - as it looks unlikely the two-child benefit cap will be axed.

Angela Gilmour, a single mother of five, misses out on around £200 of additional support every month as a result of the policy. Introduced by the Tories, it has plunged households across the UK into poverty.

It prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for any third or subsequent child born after April 2017. No support is offered for any subsequent children.

Hope of it being axed is bleak as UK Labour party has confirmed it will not reverse the limit should it win the next UK General Election. Keir Starmer has faced criticism for this ruling.

Angela and her family face tough decisions each day (Andrew Neil)

How does the two-child benefit cap affect you? Contact [email protected]

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Speaking to Daily Record, Angela said: "It’s definitely really hard having to balance everything and meet the needs of the three girls, especially with things like nappies and baby essentials. I am constantly watching what I buy. I am on all the free sites online because I can’t afford to get what I need for them. There are times when I have to choose between feeding the kids and putting leccy in the meter. Everything is for the kids – food and clothes, I don’t buy myself anything, I do without but even at that – with the cost-of-living crisis, what I have just doesn’t go far enough."

Official statistics last month found one in 10 children - around 1.5 million kids - live in households affected by the curbs. Parents can lose out on up to £3,235 a year per child in 2023/24 under the rules. And it's affected Angela, of Paisley, Renfrewshire, mentally as well as financially. She added: "Whenever I get my benefit I’m already at a deficit. As soon as it comes in it goes back out again on bills and expenses. It’s the constant worry that’s hard.

"My mental health has taken a real hit. I did have a break down four to five months ago because everything was just getting on top of me. I have had counselling and I am getting back on my feet but it’s the invisible strain that people don’t see or appreciate. I am the sort of person who will always paint a face on and act as if everything is fine, I don’t really like to show my feelings."

Angela has been empowered to speak out about her experiences as a member of RenFAIRshire. A group of people with lived experience of poverty – either currently or in the past – the panel has been charged with helping Renfrewshire Council make its policies fairer and more inclusive.

Angela, who has already helped bring about change as part of the panel locally, said: "The middle classes are starting to see the strain with the cost-of-living crisis, but it’s only when the higher classes start to feel the strain that things will change. I would love someone in that position to live on reduced benefits to see how they would cope. Things have always been hard but over the past few years it has become a lot worse."

Explaining the Labour party’s confirmation that it will not reverse the two-child cap was a "devastating blow", Angela added: “It’s a not a fair system. It is devastating because you would think they would push to reverse it and get kids out of poverty. As a party, it’s not something they ever had before. It started in 2017 and they have seen since the impact it is having; child poverty is getting worse."

Edel Kenealy