My name is Maria*. I am an asylum-seeker single-mother who escaped to the UK because I felt unsafe in my home country.
My life in the United Kingdom before the pandemic
I arrived in the United Kingdom two years ago. It was hard for me because I am a single mother. I am alone with my two small kids. Initially, the accommodation and support I received as an asylum-seeker were horrible. I had to share a house with strangers who liked to drink alcohol and smoke. It was depressing. It was horrible. My living conditions are better now, but my children and I have faced many new difficult challenges.
Financial Insecurity
The UK Government gives me £35 a week to buy food for myself and my two children. The Home Office has only considered giving money for food, but refugees and asylum seekers need other things too like hygienic products, especially for the kids. Also, I have to pay for my phone because I need my phone. My kids are growing up and they need more things. They are eating more, and the prices of food have increased. During the lockdown, my kids do not receive free school meals.
