'We went days without eating properly': how universal credit brought misery to Inverness

People who were never in debt before have been catapulted into crisis in trial of benefit whose rollout continues despite concerns

For many of Inverness’s universal credit guinea pigs, the past year has been exceptionally stressful. The many glitches of a malfunctioning scheme have already caused widespread misery in this city, which has been trialling various forms of universal credit since 2013. The problems unfolding here offer a taste of what is to come when the system goes nationwide.

The escalating difficulties experienced by Mhairi Thomson, a 35-year-old care worker who faced eviction from her home of 16 years, are typical. She claimed universal credit last September just before she got married; her fiance was moving into the house she shared with her 15-year-old daughter – forcing a reassessment of her benefit eligibility and shifting her on to the new system.

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from The Guardian http://ift.tt/2ysQEUk