Living the lifestyle(shameless.)

[Gob]

A mother-of-twelve who pockets tens of thousands of pounds in benefits spent £1,300 on birthday presents for her son's sixth birthday but says those with an opinion can 'get stuffed'.



Cheryl Prudham, 33, who lives in Lancashire, uses taxpayers' money to lavish nearly £12,000 of expensive gifts on her children per year because she wants them to feel 'truly special'.

For her son Leon's sixth birthday, she and her 31-year-old husband Robert - who receive around £40,000 in state handouts - bought him a 50cc petrol quad bike with a personalised number plate which cost £500.

On top of that, the couple also bought him a bouncy castle for £650, before spending £150 on other items, including a new school backpack.

But, despite admitting frittering away nearly £12,000 per year on her children's gifts, the mother - who says she is a 'reluctant celebrity' - says she does not care if people criticise her
spending habits.

She even suggests taxpayers could give her money via direct debit to 'cut out the middle man'.

Mrs Prudham said: 'I'm just taking what the government gives me: if you find a tenner in the street you're going to pick it up, aren't you?

'Anyone that's got an opinion can get stuffed. I think f*** you, this is my beautiful family - I have chosen to have a big family because I want one, not because of money, or because I'm greedy or because I'm a sponger.

'If you think that I'm taking your tax and hard-earned money, you can set up a direct debit and you can transfer directly to me... cut out the middle man if you want.'

Almost half the parents in the UK say they cannot afford birthday parties for their children. But the Prudhams, who are seen uprooting to a five-bedroom property in Skelmersdale, Lancashire during the documentary, admit spending £500 on each of their children for both birthdays and Christmas.

During the documentary, birthday boy Leon is seen riding around on his new quad bike - which can go at 18mph - and crashing it in a field without wearing a helmet, as his parents watch on.
'This year we've gone a bit over the top with the amount of money we've spent on the kids. They've had around £500 each for their birthdays,' she said.

'But they want the latest gadgets and I don't think they should miss out because there's a lot of them. I just try and make it special for them and give them what I didn't have.'

Mrs Prudham - who at one point even compares herself to Princess Diana - also admits some of the money comes from her child benefit and child tax credits entitlements.

'Child benefit gets used towards birthdays and I don't see anything wrong with that because that's benefitting the child anyway. If a child didn't get anything then they'd be pretty p***** off,' she said.

Mrs Prudham made the admission on Channel 5 documentary Benefits: Britain’s Most Shameless Mum, which followed the family as she geared up to give birth to her twelfth child.

The couple have previously admitted claiming £800 per week in benefits - the equivalent of £56,000 a year salary before tax - which is topped up with Mr Prudham's £250 a week pizza delivery wage

They managed to avoid the Government's £26,000-a-year cap on state handouts because Mr Prudham works enough hours to claim working tax credit.

But, after moving from their Kent council house earlier this year to a larger house in Lancashire, they began claiming a £200 extra in housing benefit, because it was privately-rented.

'That's what the Government says we're entitled to live on and if they're saying that's what we can have we're not going to say no, are we?' she tells the programme.

'Apparently we get so much in benefits and I get called benefit scrounger, baby machine. But it's my body and I'll have as many children as I like.

'I'll have 20 if I want I won't have anyone dictate to me what's right and what's wrong.'

k

[dales]

If she is that good at gaming the system.......perhaps there's something wrong with the system?

[wesw]

I thought that gob was gonna say...."I d do 'er..."

[BoSoxGal]

With 12 kids her life is no picnic, I'm sure. One really can't blame her for taking what's offered; does the UK not have any disincentives built in to discourage having litters of kiddos?

[MajGenl.Meade]

No, just the incentive to do the opposite. The point is not "taking what's offered" but not actually needing what's offered. Profligate spending on luxuries is distasteful, to say the least.

I just mailed off my UK pension claim yesterday. Looks like I might get as much as $70/week. That's going to keep me in Chardonnay all right.

[Big RR]

By her comments, I'm wondering if this woman is a shill paid by the opposition to tick people off and get them to reduce the benefits that many legitimately need. It seems just too convenient.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Looks like I might get as much as $70/week. That's going to keep me in Chardonnay all right.

You are not a "real" alcoholic.

[Gob]

I just mailed off my UK pension claim yesterday. Looks like I might get as much as $70/week. That's going to keep me in Chardonnay all right.

UK pension shouldn't be paid to foreigners.

You reach State Pension age before 6 April 2016
The basic State Pension is a regular payment from the government that you can get when you reach State Pension age.

To get it you must have paid or been credited with National Insurance contributions.

The most you can currently get is £115.95 per week.

The basic State Pension increases every year by whichever is the highest:

earnings - the average percentage growth in wages (in Great Britain)
prices - the percentage growth in prices in the UK as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
2.5%

116.00 GBP = 179.476 USD

[dales]

My social security check is way larger than that.

I took my retirement at 62 years of age which accounts for a 25% reduction from full social security benefits.

Looks to me that the old age payouts in the UK are rather chintzy.

[Gob]

Wow, I'm surprised at that Dales.

[MajGenl.Meade]

My SS payment is $1300/month. My wife's is $1800. You can see which of us was the big earner back in the evil days of working

[Gob]

And that is a government pension? Not a private one?

[MajGenl.Meade]

That is Social Security - what we've been making contributions to all these years and every government pretends is part of the budget to make themselves look better. Not.

[Gob]

Bloody socialism, do away with it!

[MajGenl.Meade]

You'll have to pry it from my cold dead bank account!

[oldr_n_wsr]

I'm ready to retire, too bad my bank account isn't.

[rubato]

You don't punish poor people enough. That's your problem.

You need to keep them deep enough in poverty that their children die at much higher rates (like ours do) and they have bad dental care (like ours do, everyone knows that initiative and hard work will overcome missing incisors and cuspids everyone wants to hire people with missing teeth!). You need to keep your foot on their necks all through their school years by providing worthless education, high crime neighborhoods, and poor nutrition because we know that hardship, neglect, and suffering are good for children and improve their moral character.


yrs,
rubato