JENNIFER, from Fife, is a parent of three boys, aged 13, nine and five years old, one of whom is disabled.

She claims benefits, although she is keenly sensitive to the stigma of living on welfare.

She said: "The people that make the decisions haven't got a clue … (they've) never experienced hardship in their life.

"They've never went without food. There have been times when I've run out of gas, and there's no hot water … and you don't want to tell X (her eldest son), because you don't want him thinking 'oh my God, my mum hasn't got any money'… I'll say, 'I can't get that pilot light to light, I'm going to have to phone (the housing association) in the morning'.

"So he thinks I have a problem with my gas but it's because I don't have any money to put in my card, because I've none, so I'm having to boil kettles to give them their bath for school the next day."

Jennifer also struggles to pay for school costs, including her son's daily £1.60 bus fare. The location of her home means she just misses out on a free bus pass for him.

She finds it difficult when school trips come up for her children - for example one of her sons was going to the Science Centre which cost £12 and another son was going to a different trip which cost £7. On top of this she has to provide a packed lunch on these days too.

She says it's difficult when "it all comes at once" and that "it totally stresses me out".

George, who has five children, aged eight to 21, works in a school in Edinburgh and earns around £15,000 a year. His wife does not work. He said the struggle to live on a low income did bring additional stresses and strains.

"The kids, like at high school, they need extra money for home economics for cooking and things like that," he said.

"So ... because they're twins they both come in and say 'I need six pounds for cooking', so suddenly there's £12, which doesn't sound a lot but I mean, that's a couple days worth of electricity."

He said there was also a problem trying to afford school trips. "For example, the twins I've got, when they were leaving primary seven, and there's a P7 camp, and there was no discount for the fact that we've got two children.

"So for both of them to go it would have cost us about four hundred and odd pounds ... we basically just couldn't afford to send two of them. So they missed out on that."

LAWRENCE, a lone father, cares for his disabled child and receives Employment and Support Allowance as a result of his own long-term health conditions. He said a school clothing grant of £45 each year helps with buying a uniform but paying for other costs can be a struggle,

He said: "I mean, the school is always coming up with wee trips and things like that and then you're caught out.

"You know ... maybe it's only two or three pounds and they don't really see that two and three pounds is a big issue, but when you're struggling, it is.

"If you've got to put aside that extra couple of pounds from here and there, you're robbing Peter to pay Paul, you know, it can be an issue."