I would have been absolutely fucked if that had been in when I was growing up. I had to move out of home, and I needed to move to other areas to look for work. Any work, and I took whatever I could. However, I would not have been able to survive a week in London without HB, I simply would never have gone. One month later I had a job, but it was a month after that that I had any money. I couldn't have done it without HB. I wouldn't have gotten my crappy job, then a better job then a better one. I wouldn't have gone to college, I wouldn't have been able to claim HB again when I left college that bought me about four months time to find a decent trainee job which led to a proper career and a decent life.
I think in total I have maybe spent seven months on HB in my life, all when I was under 25. Without it I suspect would be needing it a hell of a lot more over the age of 25.
I'm pretty sure my life would be fucked.