I have just read the post from another participant saying how a couple of Easter eggs is now a luxury for many families. It is so true and not just Easter, but all celebrations or occasions are beyond the financial limits for those living on a low income. Since the pandemic which was followed by the cost of living crisis that many people seem to think is over prices of everyday goods and essentials have risen to a point that is now not possible for those living on a low income, this includes basic foods, toiletries and cleaning items before you even think about clothes and utility bills that is is not possible to live without. On top of this we now have a government that has made a decision to cut benefits and support for millions of people including the sick and disabled leaving even more low income families in the face of destitution. I myself have struggled for years as a single parent living in poverty, struggling to meet the daily needs of my family. I am now at a point where I am frightened and cautious about spending a single penny on anything that we could possibly do without due to fear of what is ahead if I lose any of the income I currently receive. Any cut or reduction in my disability payments will have a serious and lasting effect on the ability and the prospect of me being able to survive in a meaningful way. How has it been allowed to happen that in a modern world we are all encouraged to believe that we are equal, have free speech and human rights, but when it comes to those claiming benefits or those who are unable to work due to disability or ill health these rules do not count ?.

I got my wages yesterday from my main job to discover they were £200 down.

I queried with payroll and they said my tax code had been changed and I now had to pay more tax.

I felt devastated at first as I do two jobs in order to pay everything and also to prepare for house move I have to do in 2 years time.

It appears now if you have a second job and earn over amount the tax is increased. I now need to actually look into if working all these hours is even beneficial or I am just lining the taxman's pocket.

I have reduced my spending considerably and even given up the few hobbies I did have that cost money.

What does good employment support look like?

I personally have not received any help from the job centre with finding a job.

I believe good employment support should focus on being a positive experience, rather than being mandatory as part of a jobseekers commitment. Looking for a job can be mentally draining, especially when you are unsuccessful in interviews. So I think a holistic and practical approach would help job seekers.

A practical approach: Training opportunities, that are delivered face to face rather than online as being out of work can be quite isolating, incentives for completing training courses and upskilling in the form of vouchers for participants. This will provide a motivation for participants.

Partnerships and tax incentives for businesses to take on candidates referred from the job centre.

Holistic support groups to boost job seekers mental health and confidence, a local charity near where I live runs an amazing service. [Location] provides coffee, lunch and dinner events, walking groups and various practical training courses and support groups for people all of these are free.

I think job seekers should be allowed to stay on their benefits until they receive their first pay packet.

Sanctions of unemployment benefits should not be allowed, if an individual fails to keep their job commitments it usually means they are struggling, punishing them with loss of benefits will make it less likely they will be able to enter employment.

I think job seekers should be able to claim expenses for attending job interviews. This should be an easy and swift process.

Childcare grants should be made easily available, currently the process and administration of this is quite time consuming.

Childcare should be available for 100% of costs and not capped at £1040 and paid at 85 %.

Parents who have children with disabilities should not be pressurised by the job centre, certain groups of unemployed claimants have huge caring responsibilities and concessions should be made, as otherwise this will be detrimental to their mental health, which means they will struggle to gain employment.

DWP staff and employment coaches, should not work to targets as they currently do. Making this service target driven, will mean that claimants are not supported properly according to their individual needs.

In my experience till today job centres not trained or I must say trained to not to support .

Just a slogan you are breathing so you can work.

My mental and physical affected at work.

I am a keyworker and I want to and need to work but with tailor made support needs DWP support to fund the courses to help me open options for me to get a good job not any job .

Sign posting is not enough.

Treating me and many as a human not a tick box .

Hey

It was a cold day today, we went out but we enjoyed the 🥶 in town

Is very good if u have help at work is so Wonderful stress free 😊

I am feeling proud of the challenges my son has overcome, he is almost 11 and is autistic. He was diagnosed with a fatal rare blood and immune condition called Wiskott Aldrich when he was a baby, he underwent two bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy over a four year period. We are very blessed that he is cured now. My son has also had to deal with his Dad dying when he was 9. As a single parent, who works full time with a child with SEND I experience a lot of challenges, I do not find anything difficult about being a parent to my son he is an absolute dream and I love being his mum. What I find challenging is navigating the complex, one size fits all, arbitrary rules enforced by the SEND departments at the council. The approach adopted by SEND departments at councils, does not take into account the parent’s views or the views of the child’s primary school, instead they wholly rely on paid professionals who never meet the child or briefly meet the child to have the ultimate decision about a SEND child’s education. I think this incessant approach of adopting a managerial approach is a waste of resources, why are they not including the parent’s views and the child’s teacher's views. I quite frankly am fed up with the amount of reports the SEND department requests for my son, it is unnecessary my son has a formal diagnosis of autism, yet in order for him to be offered a place at an autism base in a mainstream high school the SEND at the council have requested all this to be completed. I have found the SEND department to be unsympathetic, my son’s primary school have recommended he goes to an autism base at the feeder high school where all his friends from primary school are going . A placement manager at the council have told me they can send my son anywhere they deem fit, this is absolute discrimination to children with SEND and just an example of how the current SEND approach is not flexible and does not use an individual holistic approach.

On a plus note I am looking forward to the Easter bank holidays and spending more time with my son, we have our Easter tree up at home now. Whatever challenges I face from outside things, I refuse to let it disturb my peace and happiness.

Good day everyone hope everyone is keeping well yesterday was very freezing in Glasgow but today the weather seems to be okay hope everyone is enjoying the day.

Good day everyone, Good employment support means caring for your employees and listen to their needs and support them in any way possible.

For me I’m currently looking after my mother in law as well as having 3 young children. And now having to be on stand by for my own mum.

I’ve looked into working, looking at different jobs, expanding the distance of work and so on.

But I can’t find anything! Nothing to fit around me. I do want to work as I want to give my family the best I can. The only way is first thing in morning or last thing at night. And even that’s a struggle due to start times of school and I have no one that can look after my children if needed. My husband works Monday-Friday and I do feel I have to work around so many different things and yet it feels as though I’m penalised because of it. Wish more jobs could be from home then at least I could work on my own time. But right now I’m trying to focus on the health of my mum and mother in law. When the time comes where I need to fully step back into work, do I feel I’ll have the help? Short answer is no. I know I’ll struggle

I think is super important because in all the process for work they say they inclusive but the reality they not inclusive and they not particularly open. For people like me is very difficult find a job.

I don't believe the job centre really knows how to provide good support. They only seem to know how to meet targets. For if they did know how to provide good employment support they wouldn't be sanctioning as many people as they are and for the reasons they do. They wouldn't be complicit in making people suffer stress or experience worse debt.

For a start they need to address the overall appearance and aesthetics of the place. Whenever I've suffered the misfortune of attending the job centre, there's always an air of misery about them. There's generally a security guard pacing about near the door, which is a concern, as it makes me feel uneasy and they are generally not very inviting places to be, full stop.

In fact they feel intimidating and humiliating places to be.

Then they patronise people. I myself am more than capable of applying for jobs and seeking work and I am sure many other people are too, yet they send people on CV writing courses or to job fairs and job training programmes which are pointless and a waste of time and money. Just a tick box exercise for them.

Good employment support needs to recognise the working world is evolving at a fast pace. Good employment support would seek to recognise which jobs would suit a person's reality and match this with work in that sector rather than letting them fall foul of unrealistic expectations.

Good employment support builds trust and demonstrates that everyone able to work, will be able to find appropriate jobs with flexible employers, in order for people to be willing to engage.

Both of these involve putting the right support in place rather than cutting costs so I can't see any of this happening any time soon, because there's already a shortage of work coaches as it stands.