Mari-Claire says, “My partner got sanctioned a few weeks ago. His grandmother passed away during the night and he was with his family during the day. I telephoned the job centre and explained the situation. They said that was fine and to come in the next day to sign instead. Next thing we know, he gets a letter saying he failed to sign and would be sanctioned for six weeks. He applies for jobs every single day and also works with a third party company once a week to help him build up skills for employment, but never hears anything back from the companies he applies to. He applies for everything, from cleaning jobs to admin work. I called the job centre myself, as it’s a joint claim, and asked them how were we supposed to live for six weeks on just £80 per week, which goes towards the care of our little one. I got told ‘No idea, ask someone for a loan?’ and got disconnected.”