Obese Family “Too Fat To Work”, Demands More Benefits

[DBloke]

This makes my dyslexia as a disability idea good

A family which is so obese that they cannot work has convinced the government to pay them the equivalent of a substantial salary in benefits; not satisfied, they demand even more, saying “We deserve more”, and claiming that “All that healthy food is too expensive.”
The Chawner family claims £22,500 ($33,000, or $45,000 prior to the UK’s recent economic collapse) annually in benefits, having lived off state handouts without working for 11 years.
Still, even this is not enough and they demand more:

“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.”

​

From left to right, daughter Emma (19) weighs 107kg, mother Audrey (57) and father Philip (53) each weigh 157kg, and eldest daughter Samantha (21) weighs in at 114kg.
In total, the family comes in at some 525kg.
The gargantuan clan claim economic hardship forces them to eat vast quantities of unhealthy food, whilst advancing the contradictory claim that they are suffering a genetic condition:

“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.”

Their diet, coming to 3,000 calories a day each, much more than the usual recommended maximums, leaves little doubt as to how they attained their exaggerated girth

“We have cereal for breakfast, bacon butties for lunch and microwave pies with mashed potato or chips for dinner.”

Their benefits come in the form of “Jobseeker’s Allowance” (unemployment benefit), income support and “incapacity benefit”, as well as a disability allowance for Mrs Chawner’s asthma and epilepsy, a result of her weight. Additional money for conditions such as heart disease and diabetes top off the largesse.
Emma excuses herself with the claim that she is too busy training to be a hairdresser to exercise, and then pleas ignorance:

“I’m a student and don’t have time to exercise; we all want to lose weight to stop the abuse we get in the street, but we don’t know how.”

Heres a job for them
Garbage cans
As thats what there talking

 

[Napalmbrain]

“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.”

Their diet, coming to 3,000 calories a day each, much more than the usual recommended maximums, leaves little doubt as to how they attained their exaggerated girth

When you intake 3000 calories per day, I can assure you it's your own damn fault if you're fat.

 

[Chewy]

Wow...

If they were so poor that they couldn't put enough food on the table then they wouldn't be so fat.

The amount they are earning is an extremely generous salary for the job of... doing nothing.

 

[captainff]

We could throw them out onto the streets? Lets face it, [video=youtube;T1j73o8lric]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1j73o8lric&feature=related"]with talent like this[/video] I'm sure they'll survive without the handouts?

 

[DBloke]

We could throw them out onto the streets? Lets face it, with talent like this I'm sure they'll survive without the handouts?

I have seen fatter people working at my local Asda

 

[Squall7]

I'm not against fat people. I'm also not against people on benefits, and especially disability benefits. I'm not even bothered about the amount of money they get.

What I am against is people resigning themselves to a specific fate, simply because they see themselves as unchangable. Genetics are only a single factor. Environment is also a factor.

And in actual fact, it's a psychological misinterpretation about the price of veg being high while the price of junk food being low. I find that if you're not after all the 'organic' stuff, it's not too bad. Certainly enough to live on with JSA as well as Disability benefits and such.

What I dislike is the emphasis supermarkets have on bulk buying. While I see the need for deals on bulk food, I do feel that it's actually economically disadvantagous for couples or single people. Also, I've noticed the general price of food slowly rise, but even so, fast food prices have also risen.

I don't think anger towards this family would really help, nor would any other knee-jerk response. What this family needs is education; to be able to see how much they should be eating, and of what kind of things, how to budget and generally have positive reinforcements into healthy behaviour.

Pity they'll only recieve things like hate mail. As a nation, we're very bitter about the way our taxes are spent (sometimes rightfully, but often wrongfully).

 

[DBloke]

If they leave the supermarket and go to a market they will find cheap fruit
(I know this as I now have to buy stuff for my parrot but I also eat it)

Certainly enough to live on with JSA as well as Disability benefits and such.

Its about £120 a fortnight for me and I always have money left over

But theres always the option of making them walk every where

 

[ROB64]

****. That. ****.

"We're fat because it's in our genes"
I understand that hereditary issues such as low metabolism and thyroid problems may contribute to a person's weight gain, but that should only make them work harder to eat healthy and exercise and all that jazz.

Asking the government for disability checks with the excuse "we're too fat to work" is plain bullshit. If you want money, you should earn it. If you want to be able to work, stop eating mashed potatoes, crisps, bacon, and microwave dinners every day.
If you don't stop shovelling **** into your body, maybe you deserve to be thrown out on the street and survive on garbage scraps.


What is the world coming to when a government pays a family £22,500 a year to be extremely obese?!
Honestly, WTF!?? ("what the ****"", not "where's the food?")

 

[Chewy]

I don't get how being fat makes you unable to work an office job.

And I'm sure they have plenty of time to exercise; they don't have jobs.
I'm sure that the daughter isn't spending endless hours doing homework for hairdressing school.

The fact that they are complaining about getting a better salary than a hard working factory worker makes me angry.

 

[ROB64]

The fact that they are complaining about getting a better salary than a hard working factory worker makes me angry.

Ah, but how would they pay for the bacon butties, microwave pies, and (I'm sure) the numerous couches, beds and chairs that the family goes through? Not to mention reinforcing the floor joists...

 

[Napalmbrain]

I'm not against fat people. I'm also not against people on benefits, and especially disability benefits. I'm not even bothered about the amount of money they get.

What I am against is people resigning themselves to a specific fate, simply because they see themselves as unchangable. Genetics are only a single factor. Environment is also a factor.

And in actual fact, it's a psychological misinterpretation about the price of veg being high while the price of junk food being low. I find that if you're not after all the 'organic' stuff, it's not too bad. Certainly enough to live on with JSA as well as Disability benefits and such.

What I dislike is the emphasis supermarkets have on bulk buying. While I see the need for deals on bulk food, I do feel that it's actually economically disadvantagous for couples or single people. Also, I've noticed the general price of food slowly rise, but even so, fast food prices have also risen.

I don't think anger towards this family would really help, nor would any other knee-jerk response. What this family needs is education; to be able to see how much they should be eating, and of what kind of things, how to budget and generally have positive reinforcements into healthy behaviour.

Pity they'll only recieve things like hate mail. As a nation, we're very bitter about the way our taxes are spent (sometimes rightfully, but often wrongfully).

Well they don't get much sympathy for me. While I do think there's too much discrimination against fat people, this family has been claiming off the state for 11 years. The Jobseeker's Allowance states that those claiming should be seeking a job (like it says on the tin), something they're evidently not doing if they've been on benefits that long. And since they don't have jobs, surely they have plenty of time to exercise and lose weight?

 

[Bodine]

I agree with Rob. This just pisses me off. They demand more than what people with ACTUAL problems get. That's just ****ing stupid.

 

[DBloke]

Ah, but how would they pay for the bacon butties, microwave pies, and (I'm sure) the numerous couches, beds and chairs that the family goes through? Not to mention reinforcing the floor joists...

I have yet to taste a nice microwave pie

 

[Dal]

I have yet to taste a nice microwave pie

I don't believe they exist. Good ones, anyway.

Now, this family is effed up. They get money... for being obese... The government should give the really poor, skinny people who need food money instead.

 

[Squall7]

Well they don't get much sympathy for me. While I do think there's too much discrimination against fat people, this family has been claiming off the state for 11 years. The Jobseeker's Allowance states that those claiming should be seeking a job (like it says on the tin), something they're evidently not doing if they've been on benefits that long. And since they don't have jobs, surely they have plenty of time to exercise and lose weight?

To be fair though, the article isn't exactly neutral.

For a start, it lumps the family in together. They're racking up benefits, because each one of them is having one of the benefits, rather than a few having multiple. It's four people, all adults, claiming four benefits. Not exactly news worthy for a 4:4 ratio. The fact that they had to say "“Jobseeker’s Allowance” (unemployment benefit)" kinda makes me wonder about the intended audience for this article, with the need to use brackets.

Besides, chances are that the family members that can work, are probably from the underclass, regardless of the current economy. They're likely to be unqualified, undesirable (in terms of age or experience) and have simply fallen through the gaps in the system. Not to mention that nowadays, with so much unemployment, we cannot be seriously saying "get a job, lazy", when there are people being laid off left, right and centre. If they couldn't get a job (for whatever reason - the Jobcentre isn't exactly easy going on people not actively looking for work (and lets face it, I don't truely think that living on £120 a fortnight and having nothing to really contribute to the world is an ideal way of living, and I don't think those people in that situation would disagree with me), and they must have been searching for a job and provide evidence for it, or else they wouldn't still be claiming).

As for time to lose weight, I think it's also a case of whether they have the facilities to do so. Walking works only certain muscles, and those usually aren't the ones around the midrift. They're the legs and lungs. And that's not talking about the two members of the family that are at least temporarily disabled.

While I see many reasons for them behaving in the way they do, I also see why they're flawed in their reasoning. Everybody has to take responsibility for their own lives. Sometimes it isn't a case of having enough cash. But then the combined benefits are misleading in this regard as well, claiming £22,500 per year for the family, rather than an individual. Between four of them, it is £5625 per year. Per month it is £468.75 each. Per week it is £108 each. Not exactly livin' it up. Considering the national average salary is (in 2008 at least) £23,700. So they're 4 adults living on a budget just below the national average for one person.

EDIT:

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.

At least they're actually searching for ways out of the problem, even if it's not in the right way.