Life on the UK’s dole is anything but glamorous — but it’s still much better than a single mother’s plight in Bermuda, according to one woman who spoke to The Royal Gazette yesterday.The mother said she has grown so frustrated in Bermuda she is considering giving up her professional job and starting afresh with her seven-year-old son in Britain.She said the son’s father has played almost no part in the youngster’s life, and she has lost hope he will ever pay up the thousands of dollars he owes in maintenance.And even though she has previously lived on unemployment benefit in the UK, and found it an unpleasant experience, she would be prepared to go through it again to create a better future for her son.She contacted this newspaper in response to lawyer Kai Musson’s comments that fathers are losing access to their children because their mothers are taking them to the UK in search of benefits.“We seriously need to look at how people are being treated here as to why they are leaving. It is not simply due to benefits being better in the UK,” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.“I am seriously contemplating this course of action for myself and my son.“I have lived on the dole before in the UK and it is not glamorous by any means. However, at least it is a fresh start away from the bias that we face in Bermuda.”She said the authorities have repeatedly allowed the boy’s father to not pay maintenance, even when she was out of work for five months and penniless.“There is something seriously wrong with a society that condones and enables deadbeat dads to remain deadbeats,” she said.“My son hasn’t seen his father in well over a year — his choice — and he refuses to pay child support and nothing gets done.“It is so frustrating I feel like throwing in the towel and leaving.”In yesterday’s Royal Gazette, Mr Musson spoke of a “national phenomenon” of women heading to the UK to take advantage of free council housing and state financial assistance.Many fathers have been left behind against their wishes, he said, causing a potentially devastating effect on the child’s upbringing.The woman we spoke to said she was on unemployment benefit in the UK about 20 years ago. She lived in a one-bedroom studio, sharing a bathroom and frequently having her electricity switched off.“It was very simple. I got an allowance for housing, electricity and food. But I would be prepared to do that again, because now I have a better resume, much more experience and could get a better paid job in the UK.“I just want to make sure my son has a good life.”Meanwhile, Eddie Tavares, co-founder of child advocacy group ChildWatch, described the situation outlined by Mr Musson as “parental alienation at its best.”Mr Tavares said: “The further the parent can keep the children away from the other parent, mostly fathers, the better. They can control and manipulate the children and the system, while collecting child support from the father and welfare at the same time, in some cases.”He said such in addition to the UK, children are being taken to the United States, Europe and Australia.“We have had some fathers who vigorously fought to bring their children back to Bermuda, and had to provide for professional counselling to assist with the traumas that were inflicted on the children,” he said.“We need to stamp this out as it is becoming a major problem. A few months ago, Illinios passed a law to prevent 'visitation interference' called the Steve Watkins Memorial Bill. Brazil passed an act to stop ‘Parental Alienation’ in 2010 for these reasons.”