Did anybody catch this 3 part series where Benefit Claimants were given £26.000 cash in return for 'coming off benefits'. ?
There were 3 families and they were all long time benefit claimants and they struggled to think for themselves initially but by the end of the 'experiment' they had all found a sense of pride in themselves and were seemingly doing OK. They had a mentor to help keep focused and to turn to if they need reasurrence. Watching them gain self respect and actually finding they were not as they thought reliant totally on the state for their way of living was really interesting.
I particularly liked the older couple and when he finally passed his driving test I felt really chuffed for him. His wife was taking pride in her appearance and the home, got a little job and I really came to like her and her will to keep going. The couple with the bouncy castle /animal business were at the start doomed to fail in my eyes but they too were looking as though they could actually be going to make a go of it. Not sure how the other mum will do but she was canny with the money in the respect she had sufficient left and could pay her bills. She had lost belief and confidence in herself, I think they all had and regaining the strength of believing in yourself and provide for yourself was at the heart of the experiment.
I would like to see a follow up to see how they are all getting on as the 'novelty' of working for a living would have worn off but I really hope they all managed to succeed as I think they would be upset with themselves if they went back to how they were living and not feeling good about themselves.
Only 50% of middle age adult manage more than 1 brisk 10 min walk a month.
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