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A YOUNG woman has revealed that she signed up for benefits on her eighteenth birthday.
In a bid to share all on the “benefit trap,” Demima Marie, a community worker from Northern Ireland, explained how she lived in “the self-limiting beliefs” of her community.
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But desperate to break the cycle, Demima is now opening up on her past, so others don’t follow in her footsteps.
Posting on social media, Demima said: “Have you ever heard of the benefit trap? I was one of these people and at the time, benefits was the only thing I ever knew.”
Following this, the content creator acknowledged that growing up, both her mother and her granny didn’t work.
As a result, she claimed: “I lived in the self-limiting beliefs of my community, so on my 18th birthday, that’s the first thing I done, was turn up at the door – that’s how generational cycles of poverty happen.”
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The brunette beauty got candid on her negative self beliefs as a young woman, as she added: “I never thought I would amount to anything, never thought I would get an education, never thought I would have a good paying job because no one around me had it.”
But Demima then recalled the moment where things changed for her forever.
She explained: “My parents didn’t have any goals because their parents didn’t have any goals and if it wasn’t for a youth worker one day saying to me, ‘get up, you can do this,’ I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Not only did Demima’s life change for the better, but she was able to prove herself wrong too.
As a result of this, Demima is now eager to “spread as much information” as she can.
As well as this, she also wants to “teach people that your circumstances do not dictate your capabilities.”
Keen to motivate others to succeed and not rely on Universal Credit, Demima stressed: “You can come back from addiction, you can come back from poverty, you can come back from homelessness, you can come back from unemployment because you deserve a good quality of life, contrary to what the world tries to tell you.”
Demima’s TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @demima.marie, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as at the time of writing, it had quickly racked up 66,900 views, 3,496 likes and 258 comments in just 24 hours.
Am I entitled to Universal Credit?
According to the GOV website, if you’re on a low income or need help with your living costs, then you could be entitled to Universal Credit.
To claim, you must live in the UK, be aged 18 or over (with some exceptions if you’re 15 to 17), be under State Pension age, and have £16,000 or less in money, savings and investments.
Other circumstances are if you are out of work, or unable to work, for example because of a health condition.
Social media users were thankful for Demima’s honesty and praised her for sharing the “important” message.
One person said: “You hear a lot of talk about nepotism on the internet but not this, this is important!”
I never thought I would amount to anything, never thought I would get an education, never thought I would have a good paying job because no one around me had it
Demima Marie
Another added: “I’m actually so ignorant to this. Blows my mind that people actually go straight to the dole office on their 18th.”
A third commented: “Exactly! I have noticed so many parents like this & their kids are convinced they don’t need to do anything!”
Meanwhile, someone else shared: “This is it! People don’t realise that it’s ingrained throughout generations, such a difficult cycle to break.”
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