14 kids and one on the way..but crazy benefits system means it's Xmas every day for Cain family
MEET the mum and dad with an incredible FOURTEEN kids who prove Britain's benefits system has gone bonkers - showering them with a whopping tax-free ?36,847 a year in handouts.
Pregnant Dawn and Sean Cain's huge family - aged from 21 down to 19 months - have just enjoyed a very merry Christmas, with every mouthful of their turkey dinner, and every present stuffed under their tree, paid for by YOU the taxpayer.
Gift
To match their breathtaking haul from the public purse Sean (pictured above with family) would have to clinch a job paying a gross salary of ?51,500 - a near impossibility in this recession.
Our list of jobs below shows how Britain's crazy system values courage, dedication and hard graft - paying front-line soldiers in Afghanistan just ?22,000 and junior NHS doctors ?33,285.
And although Mr Cain is able, he's definitely not willing. He and wife Dawn admit their New Year's resolution is never to find work, because no job they'd get in Britain's recession-hit economy will come close to paying the same. They're sticking with the gift that just keeps on giving - benefits.
And unlike most of Britain's workforce they're in for a PAYRISE - as Dawn expects child No 15 in April.
One-time landscape gardener Sean admitted: "With the social giving us ?700 a week why should I work for anything less? There's no point me even trying to look for a job. I've got a family of 15 to support.
"I'm better off staying at home and helping Dawn with the kids.
"People could call us scroungers but what would they do in the same situation?" The Cains' situation just spotlights the country's barmy benefits bonanza.
First the family get the RENT paid on their home in Wythenshawe, Manchester. They don't pay their ?1,023-a-year COUNCIL TAX bill either.
They get CHILD TAX CREDITS of ?439 a week, CHILD BENEFIT of ?138 a week and eight of the kids enjoy FREE SCHOOL DINNERS worth ?48 a week.
Despite vowing not to work, 41-year-old Sean gets JOBSEEKER'S ALLOWANCE of ?150 every fortnight.
It all adds up to that ?36,847 grand total which dwarfs the take-home pay of millions of hardworking families. Britain's average salary is ?21,320 before tax and national insurance.
Dawn, 39, has never worked since she became a mum at the age of 18. And Sean hasn't lifted a finger since 2003 when he took time off to help Dawn handle a problem with the kids. He soon realised he was better off on benefits and has stayed home ever since.
Research director of the Taxpayers' Alliance Matthew Sinclair blamed the scandal on the system. He said: "All those complicated benefits often add up to so much it's not worth working. It's absolutely shocking."
Dawn says she only planned for six kids but then felt obliged to carry on in a state-funded bid to become the perfect mum.
She said: "Whenever I have a baby I always think, 'I'm not having any more!' But then I get this urge to have another because I want to do it better."
Dawn, who smokes 20 cigarettes a day, added: "I'm a good mum. I breastfed them all and with each one I learn a bit more, so I think, 'Well why not have another one?'
"People expect us to be scruffy and dirty because we're such a big family, but we're not. I look after my kids well and make sure we get by. And every Christmas I make sure they get everything they want."
With a bit of help from the taxpayer.
Bikes
This year we funded a huge ?2,000 gift list including mobile phones, bikes, scooters, a camcorder, hair straighteners and a Wii games console for Dawn's brood.
She insisted: "I don't want them to miss out on what other kids have got. If they ask for a mobile, I'll get them one."
And the money-spinning family tradition looks all set to continue - for her 19-year-old daughter Katie has already made Dawn a grandma by giving birth to a son 18 months ago.
Katie said: "I love being a mum but I don't want as many kids as my mum. I've said I'll stop at three."
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HANDOUT BRITAIN The Cain family's benfits bonanza:
SCHOOL DINNERS Free for 8 kids: ?1,920 a year
FREE COUNCIL TAX ?1,023 a year
CHILD TAX CREDITS ?22,828 a year
CHILD BENEFIT ?7,176 a year
JOBSEEKER'S ALLOWANCE ?3,900 a year
GRAND TOTAL ?36,847 a year or ?708 a week
GROSS SALARY YOU WOULD NEED TO MATCH IT ?51,500 a year
________
JOBS THAT PAY LESS SOLDIER SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN ?22,000
NEWLY QUALIFIED TEACHER ?21,102
JUNIOR DOCTOR ?33,285
QUALIFIED NURSE ?19,683
SOCIAL WORKER ?19,600
POLICE CONSTABLE ?24,039
FIREMAN ?27,851
CARE ASSISTANT ?10,000
PRISON OFFICER ?17,744
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