REBECCA Evans AM has announced that she will be taking part in an experiment to see if she can live on benefits for a week.
The experiment is part of a wider campaign to look at the effects of changes to the welfare system.
The Labour AM for Mid and West Wales will live off the average job seekers allowance payment of £72.40 to raise awareness of the ongoing cost of living for welfare claimants.
From Sunday Mrs Evans will pay for priority payments and everyday items such as bills, transport and meals with her allowance. Based on the average weekly spend of somebody living off benefits, she will have under £2 a day to spend on food and essential items.
The exercise forms part of Community Housing Cymru’s ‘Your Benefits Are Changing (YBAC)’ campaign, set up to communicate the raft of changes to the welfare system as Wales moves towards the eventual introduction of Universal Credit.
Universal Credit, which has already been introduced in Shotton, Flintshire, will replace six existing benefits with a single monthly payment that claimants will financially manage themselves.
With plans set to be in place by 2016, there is a concern among housing associations that tenants may not be equipped to deal with the impact of Universal Credit and that this may intensify existing issues caused by policies such as the ‘Bedroom Tax’.
Mrs Evans said: “The stringent welfare cuts have significantly impacted communities across Wales, leading to an increase in rent arrears, empty houses and homelessness.
“Now, after priority payments and essential items, most job seekers have less than £14 a week to live off. This, combined with the rising cost of living, means thousands of people are living in poverty.
“Spending seven days living on the poverty line will enable me to support Community Housing Cymru in communicating the impact of welfare reform. It will give me the opportunity to meet with people who have to deal with these issues daily, from a food bank manager to a tenant facing homelessness as a result of the ‘Bedroom Tax’.
“Your Benefits Are Changing is playing a crucial role in helping tenants prepare for changes, including helping to reduce water billing by £50,000 and managing over £1.2 million of non-priority debt. Campaigns like this are essential, and I will continue to support it once my exercise is over.”
