A single mum claims she has been forced to skip meals to care for her new born baby.
Charlene Young, who lives in Scotstoun, is struggling to get by during the cost-of-living crisis and waited more than seven weeks to see vital benefits come through.
The 37-year-old could not afford basic necessities like a pram or cot for four-month-old Priya Young without her Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Grant.
The full-time mum told the Glasgow Times waiting for money while on the breadline left her suffering “a breakdown”.
Charlene said: “I am really struggling with the cost-of-living crisis so having to wait weeks and weeks for my benefits is a complete nightmare.
“There are times I don’t even eat because as a mother I need to put my child first.
“I feel like I am having a breakdown here and getting no help or support.
“There is so much stuff you need to buy for a baby and I just can’t right now, I don’t even have a pram.
“Other mums must be feeling this strain and struggling as well, it just isn’t right.
“I feel so sorry for my baby girl because I can’t get her things like a cot or anything, I need to just wait until the money comes through.”
She then contacted the Glasgow Times but since being interviewed Charlene has received a payment from Social Security Scotland (SSS).
It comes after the mum claims she was told on the phone by SSS that there were no issues, and that she would receive the benefits very soon.
However, she claims a week later she received a letter saying her payments would not be sent because they could not prove she was the main person looking after the baby.
She then contacted the Glasgow Times who asked the SSS to investigate her case - and were then told things had finally been cleared up.
An SSS spokesperson said: “While we don’t comment on individual cases, our staff work hard to process applications as quickly as possible to make sure eligible people get the money they are entitled to.
“Our most recent statistics on both Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Grant have shown that we are making progress in reducing the time that eligible clients have to wait from making an application to receiving their payment.
“Checking client eligibility can require confirmation of qualifying benefits from UK Government departments.
“Successful applications for Scottish Child Payment are always backdated to the day when a client first applied.”
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