SINGLE mum-of-three Chelsea Lealand admits she is not looking for work — as she would have less money than she gets on benefits.
The 28-year-old former hairdresser lives in a three-bed council house in Nottingham with her three children aged nine, six and 12 months.
Chelsea, on Universal Credit for two years, said: “It doesn’t make me workshy or lazy — it’s a simple maths equation.
“I know some people will label me lazy or a scrounger.
“I am not. If I work, I will be worse off.”
Chelsea said her hairdressing business struggled in the cost-of-living crisis.
She added: “Some days I was bringing home just £8 after taxes, National Insurance contributions and costs.”
She now receives £1,673.82 including housing benefit of £451.12, a standard allowance of £393.45, the child element of Universal Credit of £621.25 and child benefit of £208 a month.
She pays £480 a month for her home, with no council tax.
She explained: “There is no way I could make almost £1,700 net a month.
“The jobs are not there. I am not broken, the system is.”
Her comments come amid rumblings the welfare system could be shaken up in a bid to cut costs.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”FRASER ON BENEFITS – 1920 x 1080″ embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6365293088112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Keir Starmer has vowed to slash sickness benefits spending to stop the total bill spiralling to £70billion by the end of the decade.
The crackdown could see 2.4 million claimants required to prepare for work, with hundreds of thousands facing benefit cuts if they refuse.
Ministers had also been planning to tighten access to personal independence payments, aiming to save over £5billion.
However, the Prime Minister and his government were today understood to be ready to back down on this pledge.
The proposals have been met with harsh criticism, including from Cabinet members Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and Lucy Powell.
It is believed a bid to axe rising personal independence payments in line with inflation next year.
PIP are normally increased to match rising living costs.
Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in January revealed the number of benefits claimants was up by 182,000 in the 12 months to December 2024.
The ONS added 9.3million people aged 16-64 were “economically inactive”, while job vacancies remained “above pre-pandemic levels”.