15 kids and counting

[AKissIsNotAContract]

Starting in 15minutes on channel 4. Anyone else going to watch this?

Re the food bill- I had commented to my teen daughter earlier that my last three children cost a lot less than the first three... No screens helps , they eat better food etc - just differing parenting styles can make a big difference to £££ ime

Attention is the one thing I think they lacked and despite having a few children our selves I found the house noisy and too chaotic! I Felt stressed watching it!!

am i right in thinking, the radfords, she's 36, oldest child is 22, was she 14 when she had the first?

Exactly soverylucky - and all the ideas I can come up with for cutting costs - charity shop clothes, cooking from scratch, no dishwasher, no tumble drier etc take more time -yet another thing you would surely be short of.

Not judging, but very curious.

I'm from a big family too and I think being able to share, get along with different ages, being frugal, being confident are all benefits. All my siblings are very good at managing their households - weirdly most of us are the main breadwinner and also do the brunt of the housework.
I could easily have learnt the same skills and been the same person if there had only been 4 of us. Environmentally I feel guilty and selfish for expecting my 3rd so will definitely stop there and make sure we consume as little as possible and the children are brought up to be frugal too. One pram for all my children and all hand me downs.

I wonder too sovery, 5 cost enough money I can't imagine what 15 costs.

Well the couple who run the bakery had a huge lovely house so they must be doing well-plus how much will they be raking in with child benefit and tax credits-I am crap at maths but it must be a fair whack a month!

I did feel sorry for the dad who clearly struggles with the adoption issue but I think they would both be better off having some counselling rather than more kids.

I know a family with 13 kids-was expecting them to pop up on this programme actually. They are a lovely family but I do think they do it for the attention-they have appeared on tv a few times and have been in national and local press loads. They are still trying to have another.....

Thought It was a lovely programme, especially the 15 family group. They seemed nice, organised and hard working. The other family, I do wonder about mum, and why she feels the need to have more, especially given the risks.

The second mum has come in for a lot of criticism despite having ( was it?) 5 less than the morecombe ones

I did think an awful lot was made of the mcs...

Morecambe far from salubrious Bellstar eg houses in morecambe

Bells tar not everyone gets tax credits

I, too, was wondering about the finances all the way through it. The large house requires:
heating,
water,
council tax,
the large mini van must be consuming at least £100 petrol every couple of weeks
food is relatively more expensive than it has been for many years
a holiday for 14 children in the school holidays to the canary islands?? I'm struggling to get one for under 2K for only 2 children!
and what about any extra curricular activities? They all come at a cost.

Either the bakery is a mini goldmine or we are not being given the true picture of what is going on.

I am the youngest of 9 kids and quite frankly I was raised by my brothers and sisters. I had hardly any parental time at all because I didn't need it because there were always older siblings on hand to do stuff for me. I didn't see the problem then but now I have my own children I realise that it's essential and I have a poor emotional connection with my parents as a result.

As for the burden on society...that's a whole other topic. Even if these families refused to claim any child benefit or other benefits they were entitled to, 15 children out a tremendous strain on the tax payer via the demands on education, housing, health to list a few. Even if both parents are high rate tax payers, it would not make up for the public needs of the kids. If everyone followed this route, the entire welfare and social structure would collapse. So....there is an element of taking advantage of a socialised system. If everyone was reponsible for their own health and schooling....very few people would have more than 2 children.

PS - I have 3!

Maybe they dont get tax credits. I really dont think kids cost that much. My teens buy their own clothes out of the child benefits plus money they earn. I never pay for bus fares/clothes/trips out.
Kids dont need masses of money spent on them.
Perhaps the bakery earns a fortune too. Who knows.

Enjoyed this and the children in both families seemed reallygreat. I would have been interested in an analysis of the finances - the Morecombe family had a great house and the holiday. I don't know how they manage - we're always broke with three!! Also admired how she got well balanced home cooked meals on the table andseemed so calm. Wanted to know if they had cleaning ladies, home help etc. I didn't think the home schooling was a great idea - I think I could manage primary but secondary - maths, science a foreign language - forget it. Was also worried about the 13 year old being lonely - she needs friends her own age although she seemed a lovely girl.
I did wonder if in these big families there is less need for individual parental attention as there is so much going on and the dynamics seem so totally different.

As for parental time. My mum only had 3 kids and she never made time. She was always working (she was a single parent) or out. It seemed to me that both the parents spent a lot of time with their kids. It looked wonderful

MyOhMyOh, tbh the more you have, the easier it gets as they start to look after each other. The worst number to have IMO is 1 or 2.

Fascinating programme. I have been extra patient with my 4 tonight as it must be a doddle compared to 15. I too couldn't help but wonder at how they afforded it. We have never had a holiday abroad with the children - have one self catering holiday a year in the uk ..usually about £500. How can they got to Lanzarote??

The other family made me feel sad. Felt like she was HE for the wrong reasons to me - that she wanted them to have no other information apart from the info that she supplied, as if they were being brainwashed.

"the more you have, the easier it gets.."

I wish :o

Some things maybe..but not everything.

I liked the Morecambe family. The children all seemed happy & loving. They were all as excited about the baby as Mum & Dad.

Not the washing and ironing that's for sure

I felt sorry for the husband of the pram-loving woman. He's working all those hours to support not just the family but pointless spending, like another pram when they've already got "3 or 4 unused ones at home".

I loved the Morecambe family but was concerned about the Kent one.
How on earth could she HE them all?
I thought the same about BFing!

I was reading about the morecambe family and they bought the house 12 years ago when they had a lot less children and when houses didn't cost as much. It used to be an old people's home that needed doing up and morecambe isn't as expensive as a lot of the country. They clearly work hard to make their business successful, perhaps the eldest son also contributes to the household? For 14 children (not including the eldest) child benefit would still be about £10k a year which must help. I very much doubt they get tax credits as the threshold isnt that high anymore. They are clearly comfortable if they can run that size of house and go on holiday.

Does anyone know what the 3 new babies were called?

Anna and Elizabeth