
Contents
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The out-of-work benefit claimants interviewed The out-of-work benefit claimants interviewed
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Triggers for current benefits receipt Triggers for current benefits receipt
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Applying for and claiming benefits Applying for and claiming benefits
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Benefits and poverty Benefits and poverty
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A note on agency A note on agency
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‘Getting by’ on benefits ‘Getting by’ on benefits
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The work involved in ‘getting by’ The work involved in ‘getting by’
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Debt and financial exclusion Debt and financial exclusion
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Informal chains of borrowing and lending Informal chains of borrowing and lending
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Resilience Resilience
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Not working but still contributing Not working but still contributing
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Political (dis)engagement Political (dis)engagement
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Aspirations and imagined futures Aspirations and imagined futures
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The future: a resource or something to fear? The future: a resource or something to fear?
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Conclusion Conclusion
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Note Note
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Three The everyday realities of out-of-work benefits receipt
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Published:April 2017
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Abstract
This chapter introduces those interviewed for the book, and details their past and present lives, as well as their aspirations and hopes for the future. It describes the ‘work’ that ‘getting by’ on benefits entails, which includes tight budgeting, making hard choices, going without, and sometimes having to shoplift for basic necessities. This chapter also highlights the forms of socially valuable contribution in which many of the participants were engaged, a counter to David Cameron’s depiction of claimants ‘sitting on the sofa waiting for their benefit cheques to arrive’. Further, this chapter discusses the aspirations of individuals, and how individuals often hoped for a future in paid work, and where they could feel ordinary and secure. Overall, this chapter begins the work of detailing lived experiences – citizenship from below – and in so doing challenges the dominant citizenship narrative from above.
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