What the HELL?

Alternate title: Government Epic FAIL!

I am so not making this up and it's totally TWIGI.  Totally.

Family "too fat to work" seek more benefits.

OK, no.  I'll adress the food issue on my Diet Blog, but just generally ... NO.

"Philip Chawner, 53, and his 57-year-old wife Audrey weigh 24st. Their daughter Emma, 19, weighs 17st, while her older sister Samantha, 21, weighs 18st.



The family from Blackburn claim £22,508 a year in benefits, equivalent to the take-home pay from a £30,000 salary.


The Chawners, haven't worked in 11 years, claim their weight is a hereditary condition and the money they receive is insufficient to live on.


Mr Chawner said: "What we get barely covers the bills and puts food on the table. It's not our fault we can't work. We deserve more."


The family claim to spend £50 a week on food and consume 3,000 calories each a day. The recommended maximum intake is 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men.


"We have cereal for breakfast, bacon butties for lunch and microwave pies with mashed potato or chips for dinner," Mrs Chawner told Closer magazine.


"All that healthy food, like fruit and veg, is too expensive. We're fat because it's in our genes. Our whole family is overweight," she added.


Each week, Mr and Mrs Chawner, who have been married for 23 years, receive £177 in income support and incapacity benefit. Mrs Chawner is paid an extra £330-a-month disability allowance for epilepsy and asthma, both a result of being overweight.


Mr Chawner gets £71 a month after developing Type 2 diabetes because of his size. He was on a waiting list for a gastric band last year, but a heart condition made the operation unsuitable. Their daughter Samantha receives £84 in Jobseekers' Allowance each fortnight while Emma, who is training to be a hairdresser, gets £58 every two weeks under a hardship fund for low-income students.


Emma, said: "I'm a student and don't have time to exercise" she said "We all want to lose weight to stop the abuse we get in the street, but we don't know how." "

That's over $31,300 per year, people. This is OUR income.  I feed my husband, myself, 5 children, 6 dogs, 4 cats, and a farm full of animals on this!  $69 per week for groceries?  Outrageous.

That's less than $4000/year. What are they spending the rest of that dosh on?

Did I say: What the HELL?

Now, leaving the thrift part alone, what's up with the British government? I know it's a welfare state and all, but this is insane. You get paid if you have diabetes?  Bodog has Type 1 diabetes and is not only regular sized and in shape, but goes to work 5 days a week. Paid for epilepsy and asthma?  I have a seizure disorder and asthma. I managed to lose 140+ lbs and spend each day busy working and taking care of my farm and family!

My favourite jaw-dropping quote: "What we get barely covers the bills and puts food on the table. It's not our fault we can't work. We deserve more."


I say take away about 10k of income. I'll bet you'd be shocked at how quickly their "hereditary" fat melted off.

(Here's the accompanying post on the subject on the Thrifty Dieter's Blog if you need a bit more snark, lol.)