There are times when somebody becomes well-known for all the right reasons. At other times, it is because they do something so unusual that it shocks people into looking in that direction.
A 49-year-old British woman who is a single mother of 10 children with five different men has taken that stage. Mandy Cowie, a self-proclaimed ‘welfare queen’ lives off of the government, and she doesn’t have any plans to stop.
Mandy is now the mother of the biggest benefits family in Great Britain and has been living on welfare for more than 30 years. She wants her children to follow in her footsteps, and she wants to have 50 grandchildren so she can continue to take in those benefits.
At this time, she is making more than $34,000 in benefits every year. Some $3000 of the benefit money has gone toward covering her body with tattoos.
When speaking of herself, Mandy says: “Ten kids and full of tattoos, mate.
“So what if I’m on the effing dole, mate. Don’t like it, eff off. I had my first one at 18 and my last one at 36, and I’ve told them I want 50 grandkids before I die.”
She is well on her way to reaching her goal, as she already has 16 grandchildren. She will also be featured on a reality TV show, ‘Britain’s Biggest Benefits Family.’ That show profiles families who live on benefits and are proud of it.
Some other things that Mandy has done that get her attention include purchasing cigarettes for her 13-year-old daughters when she behaved well. She also admits that her children can drink alcohol at home.
She said: “People may be shocked that I’ve been on benefits for so long, but I don’t care. I can’t work because of the kids, and while the pregnancies weren’t planned, I love having a big family.
“I probably wouldn’t get a job that would pay as much as I get now anyway. People might judge, but if it’s there on offer, who wouldn’t take it?”
Seven of her children have moved out already and three continue to live with her. She is now collecting disability benefits for her son, child benefit, child tax credits, and a jobseeker’s allowance.
Cristal, her 24-year-old daughter has also gone on to maximize her welfare income as well. She said: “I’m still with the baby’s dad, but he doesn’t live at my house. People say he lives there, but he doesn’t … If we were to live together, our benefits would get stopped, so we might as well be together and live in different houses.”
This is just a small amount of the $201 million in welfare benefits paid by the British government to 27,000 large families.