Channel 4 2009 1 season 3 eps Ended

Benefit Busters

2009 1 season 3 eps

Season 1

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Season 1

All episodes

50 min

S1 · E1 · Aug 20, 2009

Episode 1 Episode 1

Hayley Taylor's job is to persuade single mothers on benefits to go back to work. The company she works for, A4E, which is helping to tackle the Government's target of getting 70 per cent of lone parents into paid work by 2010, is the largest welfare reform company in the world. A4E is run by multimillionaire entrepreneur Emma Harrison, who believes her business is 'improving people's lives by getting them into work.' Until recently, the 700,000 lone parents receiving benefit didn't have to look for work until their youngest child was 16. Soon, they must either work, or be looking for work, once their youngest child is seven. At Doncaster A4E, Hayley runs a course called Elevate that aims to give lone parents the skills and confidence to enter the workplace and convince them they'll be better off doing so. Cameras follow her group of ten single mothers during their intensive six-week course to prepare them for work

50 min

S1 · E2 · Aug 27, 2009

Episode 2 Episode 2

Unemployment is rife in Hull, but for one company business is booming: A4E has won the lucrative contract to help get the long-term unemployed back to work. Mark Pilkington is an ex-soldier who hasn't worked for 10 years. He welcomes help and within a fortnight he finds a job. But the joy of receiving his first pay cheque is short-lived; after just four weeks a business downturn results in Mark being laid off. Facing a return to A4E and potentially a four-week wait to restart his benefit payments, Mark begins to wonder if there is more security in a life on benefits. It appears to be a shockingly common perception amongst the clients at A4E, who are at the mercy of an increasingly casual labour market.

50 min

S1 · E3 · Sep 3, 2009

Episode 3 Episode 3

One of the government's targets is to shift one million people off long-term sickness benefits and get them back to work. In Oldham, the charity Shaw Trust has won the contract to implement this policy. Sherrie Jepson, a former car saleswoman, has the job of selling the idea of employment to people who were previously considered too sick to work. Kieron Tandy fell from a third-floor balcony while celebrating his 18th birthday in Turkey. He has metal pins in his back and has restricted mobility. His family doctor had confirmed him as 'unfit for work' but under the new system he's examined by an independent medical examiner employed by a private health care company, which will determine whether he is fit enough to return to work. Meanwhile, Sherrie starts to try to convince Kieron that he could work if a suitable job that allowed for his condition could be found.

3 episodes in Season 1

Some details come from TheTVDB.

Benefit Busters is a British documentary series, broadcast on Channel 4 during August and September 2009.

Documentary Reality

Where to watch

Not streaming anywhere

Not on any streaming service in United States, and not available to rent.

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Total runtime 3h 0m · Episode length 60 min · Country United Kingdom

Show info

Premiered

August 20, 2009

Final episode

September 3, 2009

Status

Ended

Network

Channel 4

Country

United Kingdom

Type

Scripted

Episode length

60 min

Total runtime

3h 0m

Original language

English

Languages

Spoken on screen

English

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Some details come from TheTVDB.

Benefit Busters