This Christmas, Deirdre Mí Chaislain is celebrating a bitter anniversary. It’s two years since she was put on to Universal Credit as one of the first guinea pigs in Northern Ireland, after a traumatic family break up.
In the chaos as the new flagship benefit was rolled out, she waited nine weeks for any help, plunging her deep into debt and struggling to support her two children.
A qualified teacher, Deirdre told me she used to be a social butterfly. “After Universal Credit, I stopped leaving the house.
My curtains were always closed. They nearly broke me. “My fridge broke last summer, and I asked the DWP robot if there was an emergency fund I could apply to.
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