Living on £50 a week

By Fiona Graham
BBC News, Tonbridge

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Suada Hamidi who is unemployed, explains how she survives on £50.95 a week

"People out there have got to give us a chance, got to see what we can do. Fair enough some of us don't have that sort of qualification in that job. But if you taught us I'm sure we could do it."

Suada Hamidi is 19 years old, and lives in Sevenoaks, Kent. She left home at 15 and has lived independently since. Five months ago she lost her job.

After trying to manage on savings and borrowing money from friends and family, she signed on, and is now in receipt of jobseeker's allowance (JSA).

Because she is under 25 she gets just £50.95 - the lowest rate.

One of many

In the UK, 438,200 people aged between 18 and 24 in the UK are currently claiming JSA.

And those that are single and without dependents receive the bottom rate - paid fortnightly usually by direct debit.

On top of this they will receive housing benefit and council tax benefit, but this will not cover any arrears they may have,

This is also the age group in which unemployment is rising fastest - running at 631,000 in the three months to February 2009, up 17,000 on previous figures.

For Suada this makes life very difficult. She has both rent and council tax arrears and has borrowed money from friends and family - debts which grew even larger during the month she says it took to process her claim for JSA. The government target is 11 days.

Young people, when they've got a job, they do work. Suada Hamidi

Each week she must budget stringently.

She sets aside money for gas and electricity, her television licence and her arrears, as well as her £30 monthly mobile phone bill.

Without the phone, job-hunting would be impossible, she says. Now that she is unemployed, she no longer has a landline as she cannot afford it.

After paying bills, arrears and setting aside £6 to travel to the nearest job centre in Tonbridge to sign on, she is left with around £5 for the week, to feed and clothe herself and to find work.

Jobseeker's Allowance The maximum weekly rates are: Single people aged 16 - 24: £50.95 Single people aged 25 or over: £64.30 Couples and civil partnerships (both aged 18 or over): £100.95 Lone parents (aged under 18): £50.95 Lone parents (aged 18 or over): £64.30

Looking for work

This lack of funds makes job hunting difficult, Suada says.

"I've been to a few shops - some shops don't have application forms any more and if you can't go online, you can't apply for the job.

"I haven't got a computer any more so that means I either go to the library or a friend's house and use the computer, but if you go to the library you only get 60 minutes on it."

And she says that when there is the possibility of work, it could mean having to survive on even less - because rates of pay are low and the hours offered are not equivalent to full-time employment.

In the video diary she made for the BBC News website Suada talks about a job interview for a waitressing position.

She was offered the job - but only 30 hours a month, at the minimum wage for under-21s, £4.77.

This would have meant losing her council tax benefit and some, if not all of her housing benefit, leaving her considerably out of pocket.

Given that the margins on JSA are tight, this made it a very hard decision to make.

She asked for time to think about it but when she called back to take the job the manager had given it to someone else.

Help is out there

Suada agreed to keep the diary to show what her life was like.

"I decided to make the video diary to let young people know that they're not by themselves, just to let them know that there is help out there," she said.

"I know there is no money and no jobs, but there are people here to help you."

These include Connexions and YWCA - which runs a wide range of services for young women in Suada's situation, including a wealth of online resources .

The West Kent centre that she attends in Tonbridge offers advice and support, as well as computers and internet access, information on local training opportunities, and a range of courses, including an Entry to Employment programme.

Toral Pattini of YWCA says that they're seeing more girls like Suada coming through their doors.

"So many young women come to us at YWCA and say we want to work, we'll start at the bottom, just give us the chance to work our way up.

"This whole negativity surrounding young people working is unfounded.

"Suada has a goal in mind, she has a job that she wants to do. There should be more support to get her into that job. It could be in the form of training and skill-building that doesn't leave her out of pocket."

The chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced in the Budget that under-25s who are long-term unemployed will be offered either a job or training from January.

How this will work is not yet clear. And it will only be available to those who have been out of work for more than a year.

Looking to the future

Suada wants desperately to be a hairdresser. She had a position as a junior in a salon - but the hourly rate was just £1.50 an hour, as it is classed as training.

Living independently without family support, she was forced to give it up.

"I'd love to have my qualification done and dusted, get my diploma, that's in hairdressing, and maybe when I'm 35 or 40 have my own salon.

"And also be able to afford working, but also afford... to pay all your bills, and be up to date with everything and maybe, maybe even getting a mortgage on a house or a flat."

Despite the difficulty of her situation, Suada refuses to give up, and has little time for current perceptions that young people just don't want to work.

"Young people, when they've got a job, they do work. Yeah, you get some that mess about, but why can't you have a laugh in your job, that's what it's all about - to enjoy your job working as a team and to earn the money you need for your life."