With children to feed as the money runs out every month, mums say they are selling their bodies to ­survive the Tories’ benefit changes.

MPs are today set to launch an inquiry following warnings that the Government’s controversial Universal Credit is pushing people into sex work.

A mum who has turned to selling sex said: “I’ve got a claim in for benefits but haven’t had a penny.

"They tell me to be patient, but being patient isn’t going to feed my child or pay my mortgage.

“A few months ago I’d only ever slept with seven men, now I’m seeing perverts every night.

"I hate it but I’ve got to pay my bills and save my home.”

The woman, 30, added: “I’ve got no criminal record and I don’t take drugs. I’ve never stolen anything. But three months ago I lost my job of 10 years and I’ve got nothing to live on.”

A mum-of-two, aged 29, also claimed benefit cuts resulted in her becoming a sex worker. She said: “They took £72 a week off me. My kids are nine and one and I need to get school uniform for the eldest.” The Mirror spoke to the women last year in a red light district in Leeds.

Experts have warned that increasing numbers of people have ended up selling sex as a result of welfare policy changes.

As well as cash, payment in “survival sex” situations can include food.

UN special rapporteur Professor Philip Alston said in his damning report on extreme poverty in Britain that he had met people who “don’t have a safe place for their children to sleep, who have sold sex for money or shelter”.

The Commons Work and Pensions Committee will now investigate.

Frank Field, who chairs the committee, said if warnings were true then ministers “cannot fail to act”.

His committee will look at whether benefit sanctions and delays in people receiving their first Universal Credit payment have left them so desperate for money they have turned to prostitution.

Mr Field, the independent MP for Birkenhead, added: “We have heard sufficient evidence, and are sufficiently worried, to launch this inquiry to begin to establish what lies behind the shocking reports of people being forced to exchange sex to meet survival needs.”

Laura Seebohm, at the Changing Lives charity, welcomed the investigation.

She said: “Over the last five years our services have seen a worrying increase in the numbers of women reporting they have turned to selling sex as a result of the Government’s welfare reform policy.”

UC rolls six benefits into one. The Government’s website says it usually takes around five weeks for claimants to get their first payment – but that people can apply for an advance if they need help with living costs.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “On Universal Credit, no one has to wait five weeks to be paid.

“Your first payment – an advance – is available on day one, meaning people are paid 13 times in a 12-month cycle. Less than 3% of those subject to requirements for their benefits are under sanction, and only when they have not met them without good reason.”

Claimants and charities say waits for payments are widespread.

Last June a National Audit Office report said that 21% of new claimants received their full first payment late.

MPs yesterday heard heartbreaking stories about UC claimants during ­five-week waits for their first payment.

Labour MP Lilian Greenwood told the Commons: “Some of my constituents are having up to £100 deducted from their monthly Universal Credit payments, forcing them to dip into rent money and use foodbanks just to get by.”

Labour colleague Vicky Foxcroft said a constituent with a severe brain injury lost £1,500 after his disability premiums were axed when he applied for UC, which is being rolled out across Britain.

Labour MP Helen Hayes urged Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd “to deal with the incompetence and cruelty in her department, which are causing such misery for far too many people”.

The terrible truth about survival sex, by Laura Seedham, director at Changing Lives 

The brutal truth is that the women coming to use services offered by Changing Lives are suffering greater levels of poverty than we’ve ever seen.

A massive part of that is because of Universal Credit, welfare changes and austerity.

Women in poverty have been driven to selling sex throughout history but it is on the rise and the consequences can be heartbreaking.

They are often incredibly vulnerable. They might be have been made homeless, dealing with mental illness or be victims of domestic abuse.

And it isn’t just happening in red light districts – it can happen in situations where people don’t notice. One day last year I found four adverts offering sex for rent.

Austerity means groups of who women who might never have found themselves in this situation now find it a reality.

Reversing delays in receiving Universal Credit and the lack of support for those in hardship will not end the problem – but they could reduce the suffering for so many people.

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