The lump sum financial leg-up concept is very interesting and bold concept to alleviate the despair and hopelessness of poverty and living on government handouts.
In the US, there is a lot of talk how a "guaranteed income" may help pull people out of poverty. However, this series shows how most living on low-income/survival benefits is actually so crippling to one's self-esteem and mental well-being that it stunts all upward mobility.
The idea of a lump sum payout is revolutionary as many of the participants opened small businesses that became successful or just had enough of a little self-esteem push to go out job hunting.
It is a complicated problem and one with few tangible solutions.
Was not expecting to like this show at all. As an American, the entire concept of single people living "on the dole" who don't have children is very foreign, indeed. We have nothing like that here, and all of the people in the UK who are childless and living entirely on benefits would be homeless in the United States, which is obviously not any better. Also seeing nearly all of these people on the show with expensive smoking habits while simultaneously complaing they have "nothing extra," was fairly reprehensible. How can anyone complain of not having enough while spending a couple thousand pounds a year on their cancer sticks...that also give secondhand smoke to all of their children and loved ones. Despite those disheartening details and a bit of "reality tv editing," this was still a very enjoyable series.
In was enlightening to see that nearly every participant stated that the depressed mental state they were in from being completely dependent on govermnet benefits (that were just enough to keep them alive), had held them back from enacting changes that would make them more upwardly mobile. Proof positive that a guaranteed (low) income/survival benefits is not an answer to anything besides abject poverty or houselessness.
Instead, the lump sum payment provided a tangible leg-up for participants to start a new business or better their lives enough to light a fire under their feet to enact real changes.
Very happy for the people who changed the entire trajectory of their lives and futures for the better, and especially the ones who become completely independent from government benefits. Good for them!!
