The ever-changing and digitally enhanced world that we live in really is the stuff that sci-fi movies used to be made of. For example, I saw on a program about “smart houses” that you can have Alexa built into your house and you can say things like “Alexa dim the lights” and, low and behold, your lights magically dim. Having said this, I’ll admit that this is the extreme sort of “look at us, we’ve got the money to do this” end of the scale which really isn’t relevant to everyday society.
Let’s skip over to the other end of the scale then. Let’s take the ‘homeless’ guy sleeping in the shop doorway.
Ok so to claim benefits these days it’s imperative that you have a mobile phone or some other device. Universal credit (UC) is very internet based and driven. A prime example of this is my own personal experiences. I need proof of address to open a bank account other than my Monzo online account and I left a message for my Work Coach at the Job Centre requesting a letter of benefits entitlement so I could use this for my new bank. The reply I got was shocking. They said, and I quote, “we do not offer this service as you are in control of your own claim.” I am lost for words on how much this response has held me back. The poor fella in the shop doorway now doesn’t stand a chance.
I met a fella in the doorways called, let’s say, John. For confidentiality reasons I can’t give his actual name, but John, bless him, was a bit of an exception to the rule because John really knew the streets. He had been doorway surfing for 20+ years after leaving the military in the late 90’s. John was still on old style ESA (Employment Support Allowance) so he automatically got paid every two weeks from the . He was also very good at begging. There seems to be a lot of solidarity between people who have served in the forces, one chap used to drop John an amount of money that amounted to more than some people’s UC was every month.
John was able to buy himself a tablet. This tablet was his life – he guarded it as it was anyway. A shop, used to let John charge his tablet. Had it not been for this shop then, as John said to me, “TJ I’d be stumped on how to charge my tablet.”
John was in prison for a few months due to offences that arise from surviving living on the streets – I don’t condone any crime, but we say that sometimes you have to do things to survive that aren’t fully accepted by society. Upon release John was forced to go on UC. He had no internet so couldn’t meet his ‘things to do’ list. The DWP expected him to spend so long looking for work and doing things to get a job. I could be wrong, but I believe it was 25 hours a week looking for employment.
Apparently, the fact that he lived in a shop doorway was not sufficient excuse to not look for work. He was told there’s enough Wi-Fi portals in the city centre to always have the internet.
The digital revolution, in my opinion, needs to be a lot more controlled in the sense of equal rights surrounding access to internet and devices. It could be a really good way of benefitting mankind as a whole, but we need the government to realise and remember those less fortunate and those that are financially struggling.
The whole benefits system needs an overhaul and rethink. There’s a saying that goes ‘why fix something that’s not broken’. The benefits system wasn’t broken before UC now it’s becoming more and more unstable.
