DWP penalising women who accepted compensation

Women who survived Ireland’s mother and baby homes are now having their benefits cut by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in Britain. Appallingly, the cuts are happening because these women accepted compensation from the Irish government for the horrific abuse and trauma they experienced.

DWP: Ireland’s historic abuse of unwed mothers

Mother and Baby Homes spread through Ireland in the 1900s, right up until 1990. They were seen as a “refuge” for unwed mothers and their babies. But they were actually church ran instutions that trapped women who were often sent there by their families, who had disowned them for getting pregnant. These included women who’d been abused or exploited. There were more than a dozen of them in Ireland. Three of them were “Magdalene laundries”, which were essentially workhouses.

The women in the ‘homes’ were forced into labour and experienced horrific abuse from the nuns. There was also a horrifically high death rate of babies in some institutions. In 2012, a mass grave was discovered on the site of a former home in Tuam. 796 children’s remains were found. Many children who survived were trafficked across the Irish border for adoption (from ROI to Northern Ireland), and documents were falsified to make it harder to reunite mother and baby.

Finally, after mass campaigning, the Irish government launched an inquiry. It detailed the horrendous experiences of 56,000 women and 57,000 children between 1922 and 1998. After this, the government set up the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, which began awarding compensation in 2024.

DWP causing survivors even more harm

However, because the DWP is a completely barbaric institution, survivors are now suffering in a different way.

The Guardian reports that up to 13,000 survivors who now live in Britain could risk losing their means-tested benefits, such as Universal Credit, if they accept. This is because the compensation goes towards the amount of savings the claimant has.

Compensation ranges from €5,000 to €125,000 (£4,230 to £105,000) depending on the length of time someone spent there. Universal Credit claimants are only allowed a maximum of £6,000 in their bank accounts; after that, every £250 extra sees £4.35 reduced from the payment. There is no upper limit on Pension Credit; however, past £10,000 every £500 you have sees £1 reduced from your payment.

If a claimant has over £16,000 in the bank, they automatically lose their benefit. Not only that, but they will lose associated benefits such as Housing benefit. So a woman who went through the most horrific experience of her life, who now struggles to work, or is on pension credit, could see her benefits lost because she accepted compensation.

As this news has spread, some have been forced to turn down their compensation offers for fear they will lose their benefits. After six months, the Irish government counts this as a rejection.

Support Philomena’s Law

Labour MP Liam Conlon has introduced a bill to parliament calling for the government to introduce an ‘indefinite capital disregard’ for mother and baby payments. The bill is named Philomena’s Law, after Philomena Lee, a survivor who was portrayed by Judi Dench.

Conlon said:

What Whitehall often misses is the human-sized picture. In this case, that is thousands and thousands of survivors of these cruel institutions living in Britain today, who are being denied the compensation they’re entitled to

The campaign is backed from prominment Irish figures such as Siobhán McSweeney. However, due to the restraints of parliament, the bill is in danger of running out of time.

It’s absolutely cruel that the DWP is once again punishing these women who survived unimaginable abuse. You can write to your MP to ask them to support the campaign here

These women have already suffered so much; it’s absolutely horrific that the DWP won’t even allow them to accept compensation without the threat of losing their state support.

Featured image via the Canary