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AIBU?

To feel a little sorry for the 7 children benefits Mum.

999 replies

MilgramsLittleHelper · 12/06/2013 11:19

www.itv.com/daybreak/hottopics/benefits-mum/

Is just seems like another bit of benefit bashing to me.

I know she shouldn't have had children she couldn't afford, but what hope of improving her lot???

OP posts:
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propertyNIGHTmareBEFOREXMAS · 12/06/2013 11:30

It is very sad for the children and I feel sorry for them.
I don't feel sorry for the mother and the father/s.

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tungthai · 12/06/2013 11:40

I fail to see how living on £2k per month is impossible.

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ghayes · 12/06/2013 11:40

She shouldn't have had them. It really isn't benefit bashing, it's totally irresponsible behaviour bashing.

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Abra1d · 12/06/2013 11:43

I don't feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for other people who made less reckless life choices and are being affected by the cuts.

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cantspel · 12/06/2013 11:45

Feel sorry for the children but she is just an irresponsible drain on society

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youmeatsix · 12/06/2013 11:46

you know she shouldnt have had them but what? we would have loved more children, we knew we could raise, educate and pay for 3 children, so we had 3 children. now all 3 are at university, its a good job we didnt have more, but then we didnt have the "let taxpayers pay for our children" mentality

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moogy1a · 12/06/2013 11:51

£2K a mon th is impossible to live on? Really? self entitled scrounger

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ChunkyPickle · 12/06/2013 11:51

The children are here, and shouldn't be punished for their parents' thoughtlessness (and both parents are at fault here - why is it the mother that's getting it in the neck?).

However 2k a month really is enough - apart from singletons, every single kid I knew growing up shared a bedroom, she could save a couple of hundred a month just by downsizing the house she's living in (along with the associated reductions in bills etc.).

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ilovechips · 12/06/2013 11:51

Daybreak certainly does its fair share of goading on this topic!

I have sympathy for her kids, what kind of work ethic are they learning? But no sympathy for her or the children's father. The rest of us have to drag ourselves out of bed, and lots of people go to a job they hate, often for considerably less than 2k a month take home money. Over the past few years a benefits/tax credits culture has developed, and to many benefits are now seen as a lifestyle choice, not a safety net to see people through hard times.

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QuintessentialOldDear · 12/06/2013 11:52

We cannot afford more than 2 children, so we dont have more than 2.

I agree it is not benefit bashing, it is bashing irresponsible behavior.

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eminemmerdale · 12/06/2013 11:53

She spent a lot of time talking about how it was the 'fathers' (plural fault for not paying her, not hers.

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frissonpink · 12/06/2013 11:53

I also fail to see how she can't live on £2000 a month, given I'm guessing her rent gets paid, and she doesn't pay council tax...

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AKissIsNotAContract · 12/06/2013 11:58

The last 'benefits mum' on day time tv turned out to be an actress. I wouldn't believe the details of this story after that one.

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eminemmerdale · 12/06/2013 11:59

I think the rent is part of the £2000, but it equates as £76 per person per week in that house, which I think is probably fairly reasonable.

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BaconKetchup · 12/06/2013 11:59

7 children Shock

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ItsallFeegle · 12/06/2013 12:00

Another benefit bashing thread Hmm

I struggle to make ends meet with both my DP and I in FT jobs but I'd much rather see a refreshing break from this continual bashing of the most vulnerable in society and focus on the bankers and tax avoiders instead.

Meh!

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SingingSilver · 12/06/2013 12:02

To be fair eminemmerdale he was also bringing all those kids into the world, and he wasn't carrying them, birthing them and feeding them. She is pretty much stuck for the time being, she can't go to work, having seven children must be the equivalent of two full time jobs at least, and childcare for the younger ones means it wouldn't be worth her giving their care to other people.

But the father isn't tied to the house and kids, clearly, because he walked away. He should be doing a lot better than contributing 'the occasional fiver'. He was sensible enough to keep himself out of the firing line though. I don't know how they persuade these women to turn themselves into national hate figures.

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BaconKetchup · 12/06/2013 12:03

ItsallFeegle is it not possible to address two things at the same time?

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ophelia275 · 12/06/2013 12:03

I feel sorry for all the taxpayers that have stopped at 1 or 2 kids because that is all they could afford on their wage, yet their tax is going to support a woman with 7 kids who doesn't work. We have a ridiculous system in the UK which encourages people to have children without the means to afford them.

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Lonelybunny · 12/06/2013 12:04

i dont feel sorry for her ,she should be responsible and its been too easy the past for people to reproduce vast number of children so they can continue to sit at home . However £2000 per month I don't think is a lot these days? we are struggling on just over that and we both work , it doesn't stretch far.

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propertyNIGHTmareBEFOREXMAS · 12/06/2013 12:04

The father/s is/are to blame, as much as she is. Seven is a huge number of children. It is obvious that it is a stupid, reckless and irresponsible idea to have that many unless you are very financially secure for the longterm. If we all behaved like this then the UK would be bankrupt and children would be lying starving in the street. It is right to condemn and bash such socially destructive behaviour.

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ItsallFeegle · 12/06/2013 12:05

Bacon It surely is, however, this is the type of thread I see regularly not the other Hmm

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ShadeofViolet · 12/06/2013 12:07

The saddest thing is that the children seem so aware of the situation.

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HeySoulSister · 12/06/2013 12:08

£2000 a month? She will be getting a bit more than that

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catgirl1976 · 12/06/2013 12:10

YANBU

I feel sorry for her.

We don't know what drove her to have 7 children. Perhaps she has emotional issues, perhaps she had an abusive DH who wouldn't allow contraception / termination. Perhaps she didn't have the cognitive or emotional capacity to make a decision not to have any more children.

We don't know. So why we think it's fine to judge the poor woman is beyond me.

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