Mum mourning death of child slams DWP - 'they're telling me to just get a job'

A grieving mother has allegedly been told to "just get a job" by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after caring for her daughter for 33 years. Tracy Hailwood became a single mum at 19 to Stacey, who suffered a devastating cardiac arrest and brain damage at just a few months old.

The 54-year-old said she was a "perfectly healthy baby before" being admitted to hospital to treat croup, a virus that makes airways swell, but she developed spastic quadriplegia, suffered epilepsy and was blind as a result of the brain damage. Tracy was then caught in a legal battle for years over medical negligence, which she said she received a settlement for.

Stacey needed constant surgery and ended up with a gastrostomy and a tracheostomy, and Tracy has gone back and forth with the DWP, highlighting that after doing "everything for Stacey for 33 years", she has no qualifications or work history.

Stacey’s health started deteriorating around five years ago before she tragically died in 2023,.

Tracy now also has severe back and hip problems from carrying her daughter up and down the stairs, and it has left her unable to leave the house, unless for hospital appointments.

"When a spouse passes away you get bereavement payments, with a child you don’t. It’s just 'sign on, look for a job'," she told the Manchester Evening News.

"But another problem with being told to just 'get a job' is that before she was born, I didn’t have any qualifications anyway.

"I was only 19-years-old at the time, she was my first-born, it was a hard struggle coming to terms with everything and trying to cope the best I could. I basically had to start from scratch again and learn how to deal with her needs.

"I was a single parent, I didn’t even have the back up of a partner. I eventually managed to put myself through college and got an NVQ, but even that was 2005 – that’s 20 years ago. How am I meant to get a job with no qualifications?"

Sustaining herself with some ESA, PIP, universal credit and jobseeker’s allowance, Tracy said she now cannot afford the costs and bills for her family home, and has been forced to sell the bungalow that the medical negligence money enabled her to buy.

The mother of three said she may now have to "sofa surf" between her daughter, son or sister as she figures out what to do.

The DWP said: "Our sincerest condolences are with Ms Hailwood. Our aim is always to provide the best possible support to those who need it, which is why we pay Carer’s Allowance for several weeks after someone’s caring role ends."