'Why should we work? Our parents pay tax so we're entitled to benefits': Couple living off £17,000 handouts say working for the minimum wage is unfair
A young couple who receive more than £17,000 a year in benefits appeared on ITV's This Morning to defend their taxpayer-funded lifestyle.
Danny Creamer, 21, and Gina Allen, 18, who live in a comfortable two-bedroom flat in Portsmouth with their four month old daughter, Talulah Rose, say they are better off on £17k benefits and argue that unless they are able to find jobs that pay £18,000 a year or more, there's no point in working.
The couple also hit back at those who describe them as scroungers, arguing that because their hard-working parents have paid tax all their lives, they are entitled to claim some of the money back.
Gina, who has worked for Sainsburys in the past said: 'I don’t see that we’re living off the taxpayers, we’re entitled to the money our parents paid all their lives.'
She also claimed that because the pair have paid tax in the past, their daughter should also be entitled to claim benefits in future. 'We have paid into the system as well and you know, if our daughter wants to claim when she's older, she can. We're not going to claim benefits forever so we are going to pay into the system at some point.'
The pair receive £1,473 per month in benefits or £17,680 per year.
This works out at £340 per week, which includes £140 housing benefit, £60 child tax credit, £20 child benefit and £110 Jobseekers Allowance.
Weekly outgoings include £60 on food, £22.50 on TV, £3.50 on their TV licence plus utility bills, which the pair say they receive no help with.
According to Gina, their 47" flat screen TV is their only luxury, although Danny also admits to smoking roll-up cigarettes which are also paid for by tax payers.
Although neither have any qualifications, Danny, who has also worked as a shelf stacker in the past, says he is now looking for a job - although says he won't accept any old role.
'What is the point [of a minimum wage job]? You know, I'm not going to go to work to be worse off.' he argued.
Gina added: 'The main problem is is that the cost of living is going up so much but the wages are just the same. But people still expect you to live on the minimum wage - I don't think that's right.'
Although Danny says he does intend to get a job, the pair say they will carry on living on benefits until Danny gets a job that pays enough or 'the system changes'.
'We'll carry on until the system changes if Danny doesn't get a job,' says Gina.
Danny added: 'We can't be scroungers because the Government wouldn't give us the money or pay towards our living expenses if we didn't need it.'
Unfortunately for Danny and Gina, the change in the system they so dread isn't far away.
In a statement read out on This Morning, the Department for Work and Pensions said: 'We have to end the absurdity in the welfare system where people are better off claiming benefits than they are in work.
'Universal Credit will ensure that work will always pay and people who can work will no longer be able to count on the state to fund a life on benefits.'
Asked what they intend to do when the new system is introduced, Gina quickly replied: 'He'd have to get a job I suppose.'
LBC radio presenter and Sunday Express columnist, Nick Ferrari, who was present during the couple's appearance told them: 'What you two have done is a great shame. You've seen it as a lifestyle choice and it's something you choose to do. You shouldn't.'
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