"But on the DPB it's living off the bones of your arse. I get $300 a week plus $50 for accommodation. I have a loan for a car $80, rent $250 and on top of that I have to breastfeed, so I need to buy formula and petrol and other expenses."
Miss Williams said she wanted to return to the job she loved but also wanted to spend a bit more time with her baby.
"I don't want to stay on the DPB, I don't want to be a stat. I have never ever been on the benefit before," she said.
"I used to be so judgmental of young single mums until I became one. It's stressful and hard as it is, but being pregnant alone and doing it by yourself can be super lonely and there's no one but me who will be in her life. It scares me but it's my job to protect this innocent baby and do the best I can for her."
After applying for more than 40 jobs, another Rotorua mother, Kathleen Stevens, never thought it would be so hard to find employment in the city. At the beginning of this year she moved from Auckland and her $60,000 salary as a senior customs officer to be closer to family.
"I didn't think it would be too much of an issue finding a job. Before customs I worked for IRD, and prior to that I was an international flight attendant and had worked at a travel agent. I have a huge range of transferable skills, dealing with difficult people, administration work. I have a forklift licence from my four years at the international terminal, working in the cargo division. None of my friends could believe I didn't have a job," she said.
"A lot of jobs you applied for, no one ever got back to you. [One job] I didn't make it through to the last round and the indication they gave me was that I probably wouldn't know enough Maori - I grew up in Kaingaroa."
After two months looking, she signed up for the Sole Parent Payment. "I went into Work and Income, bit the bullet and applied. I had never been into Winz before, except for childcare supplement. I was thinking: Did I really need to be here?"
Last month she was offered and accepted a frontline role with the Ministry of Justice.
"I thought 'thank God'. I love it here. There is people contact and no two days are ever the same. It's all about showing my son great work ethic. Now that I have had that [benefit] experience, in my job I can give advice and understand what they're going through."
