Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole

⭐9.2(3 votes)

•2014

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Episodes

1. Benefits Brits by the Sea

Documentary examining the lives of people dependent on state welfare in the Norfolk seaside town of Great Yarmouth, where the majority of work is seasonal. Leona and Lee worry about their three-month-old daughter's future when their payments are cut because they failed to fill in the correct forms, while Jordan McDonald has his benefits halved after the job centre discovers he has not attended a government work programme.

2. Benefits House - Me and My 22 Kids

This edition of the programme focuses on large families who depend on the benefits system, including 64-year-old Peter Rolfe, whose children - by 15 different women - range in ages from three to 43, of which he is the sole carer for six. He has been fighting his council in the Isle of Wight for a much bigger house and is also at loggerheads with the benefits office for capping his weekly payment. West Midlands mother-of-eight Marie Buchanan has recently split from her partner and is looking for a larger home, while Ipswich couple the Fisks have been in dispute with their neighbours, who objected to two houses being knocked into one to accommodate them and their 13 children.

3. Benefits, Babies and Jail

The documentary examining the lives of unemployed people visits South Yorkshire, which has some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK and where benefits caps, sanctions and the bedroom tax are hitting those at the poorer end of society. Larry is a 60-year-old ex-steelworker and desperate for work, but says no one wants to hire him as he is considered too old, while father-of-three Kevin is long-term unemployed and back living with his parents in the bedroom he occupied as a teenager.

4. Episode 4

The documentary examining the lives of unemployed people visits Hull, which has one of the highest unemployment rates and lowest average weekly wages in the UK. Rebecca is 16 and expecting her first baby with 17-year-old boyfriend Sonny, who is adamant he will be in work by the time the child arrives, while her foster mother Anita is concerned she will be unable to afford her house when her children move out. Gordon has not worked in decades and has very strong political views as to why employment has eluded him and many others in the north of England.

5. Episode 5

The documentary examining the lives of individuals on the dole in the UK follows the stories of Roma people who moved to the UK and are now surviving on payments from the welfare state. Ion is from Romania and wants to make £40,000 from benefits to help him build a new house for his family back in his home village, while Katarina arrived from Slovakia seven years ago and has 11 children and 11 grandchildren living in and around an estate in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Nottingham resident Viorel is 25 and lost both legs in an accident in his native Romania when he was seven, and now wants to pursue a career in the movies.

6. Episode 6

The final episode of the series meets 38-year-old Heather, who has 11 children and whose family live in a knocked-through council house on the outskirts of Gloucester. Heather makes nearly £60,000 a year in benefits and many of her children also survive on welfare payments. Elsewhere, in Liverpool, Julie has six children, none of whom have jobs. She and her husband Vinnie earn roughly the minimum wage from benefits. Finally, in London, single mums Emma and Sophie support themselves in London's Zone 1 by claiming money from the state.