Benefits family of 12 whose ?50k handouts

[super jumbe]

Shameless: Stephanie, 29, centre, pictured with partner Ian, 56, and their ten children - Bobbie, Cameron, Jack, Stephen, Sian, Charlie, Alex, Summer, Callum and Nicole - says she knows she is taking advantage of the benefits system - but blames the government for making it 'so easy'


'We've paid our way in the past': Benefits family of 12 whose ?50k handouts are 'too good' for them to go back to work appear on Daybreak to defend controversial lifestyle

A couple with ten children who said the ?50k they receive in benefits makes it pointless going back to work have appeared on Daybreak to defend their controversial lifestyle.

Stephanie Fennessy-Sharp, 28, partner Ian Sharp, 56 live with six of their children in a ?1,700-a-month five-bed house in Kent paid for by the State - and receive a further ?28,000 in separate benefits every year.

Astonishingly, Stephanie insists she cannot go back to work because she would not be able to earn enough to cover the cost of their current lifestyle. For his part, Ian says his debilitating migraines have prevented him from returning to work for the past two decades.

Since the story broke, the two have come under fire for saying claiming benefits is 'too easy' and that they are better off on handouts than they would be working for a living.

But this morning, the couple hit back at critics who have called them 'scroungers'.

In the interview, screened this morning on ITV, Kate Garraway asked Stephanie what she would say to those who have lashed out at her for claiming benefits she has admitted she does not need.

Her reply? That both she and Ian have 'had their time working'.

'I have worked full time,' Stephanie says. 'I've had my time working. When my eldest son was two weeks old. I went back to work, because I had a mortgage, I had a house. I couldn't afford not to. Ian has worked full time, Ian has paid lots of tax.
'But you're not working now,' Kate Garraway points out.

'We are not currently,' Stephanie agrees. 'I gave up work before I met Ian because I had three children under 5 and I couldn't work and afford childcare.'

"what people don't understand is that our housing benefit [the two receive ?1,700 a month, or ?20,400 a year] goes straight to the landlord. People think we are getting the money but we're not." Well that shows their level of intelligence, doesn't it?


Link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...lifestyle.html

[Shady]

they should burn their house down too

[tshirtman]

when will the daily mail get a new ~~~~ing trumpet to blow,
why don't they print a story about the city tossers hiding all there money off shore to avoid paying tax.

[Wolfpack]

What a bunch of losers. The sad thing is for every one of those family's you Brits have here in America we have 10 of those. They should do a follow up on the family in 10 years to see how far their children got in life. I'll bet not far.

[Lainie]

that money they get next year will half as will a lot of other peoples. not before time as well.

[bonus2010]

I'm sure the real scrounger here is the landlord who is charging ?1,700/ month rent for a property at public expense. It's clear to see how well the government is working with landlords in supporting their extortionate rents... this is not the fault of this family..

After housing costs we see the family receives ?28K. The parents will receive exactly the same as any other unemployed person like ?67/week or in the case of a couple roughly ?125. That's not a lot of money to live on....... Once I exclude the parents allowances there remains ?21,500 to be split among 10 children... that's ?2,150 each or ?41/week each child..

I don't think I could ever agree with any proposals that would lead to a child living on less than ?41 per week... in fact I feel kids should have substantially more regardless of their parent's circumstances.

There needs to be a cap on the housing benefit rent paid to private landlords... that's the real problem that's not being addressed by government, but then what Tory government would harm their own pals

[badapple]

I agree with the above post. ?50,000 might sound a lot of money but if you break it down and divide it between all the family, you end up living on peanuts.

Like the above poster says, its only about ?67.00 per week per adult & about ?47 per week per child to live on, that is peanuts these days.

And thats ?20,400 just for the rent, and dont forget thats 12 people.

I bet members on here will struggle to suvive on that money.
And they are NOT getting anything extra, they are getting the same as anyone else.

The other option would be to throw them out on the streets and let them rob & steal to survive.

So what would you do if you were in that situation, with 10 kids to look after?

[cgscott]

So what would you do if you were in that situation, with 10 kids to look after?

Buy a TV and stop having kids. Then find a job.

[Wolfpack]

So what would you do if you were in that situation, with 10 kids to look after?

Can't you cut his balls off?

[flyingpig]

that money they get next year will half as will a lot of other peoples. not before time as well.

Yeah we are doing lots of this in work now. The maximum they will receive will be about ?26,000 per year and they will have to pay their rent, school dinners, food and rates etc out of that as well. So they will have to shape up to the reality of having so many ~~~~ing kids...

I would love loads of kids but simply cannot afford to - so we don't.

[bobwill]

I'm sure the real scrounger here is the landlord who is charging ?1,700/ month rent for a property at public expense. It's clear to see how well the government is working with landlords in supporting their extortionate rents...

Its a matter of supply and demand and I dont think rents have gone up a lot since labour was in power. Labour had an open door policy and it has been estimated that millions of people came into the uk while labour where in goverment but labour refused local councils permission to build council houses with the money from the right to buy scheme ,to house the extra people and wanted the private secter to supply the homes to rent .If the public would allow council houses to be built on greenfield sites the rents would soon come down .I would also like to point out that the honest people who would rather work for a living than live of benifits have to pay the same rents and on a lot less than this family.

[tshirtman]

Its a matter of supply and demand and I dont think rents have gone up a lot since labour was in power. Labour had an open door policy and it has been estimated that millions of people came into the uk while labour where in goverment but labour refused local councils permission to build council houses with the money from the right to buy scheme ,to house the extra people and wanted the private secter to supply the homes to rent .If the public would allow council houses to be built on greenfield sites the rents would soon come down .I would also like to point out that the honest people who would rather work for a living than live of benifits have to pay the same rents and on a lot less than this family.

There was no money from council house sales, Thatcher spent that on tax cuts and benefit payments for the 4 million unemployed.
and rents wouldn't be so high if the tory's hadn't sold off half of the council houses,
this causes a shortage of homes, pushes prices up and leads to a housing boom, and the average age of a first time buyer is now 38.
and you can't blame labour for immigration, we've had immigration for centuy's, with our population constantly growing.

[the man]

any white brit on benefits are white trashhhhhh!
we should kick them out of our country ,
only non whites should get handouts imo .

[Meat-Head]

any white brit on benefits are white trashhhhhh!
we should kick them out of our country ,
only non whites should get handouts imo .

bugger can't find it right now

general chat thread "is this a racist comment"

[the man]

bugger can't find it right now

general chat thread "is this a racist comment"

you cant be racist againt white in the uk , its the law! (no joke)
now it there jews then im sory