'Our parents pay tax so we're entitled to benefits': Couple living off 17k handouts say working for the minimum wage is unfairDanny Creamer, 21, and Gina Allen, 18, receive 17,680 per yearThe money includes housing benefit, child benefit and Jobseekers AllowanceAccording to Gina, their only luxury is their 47″ flat screen TVCreamer says working for less than 18k just isn't worth it
PUBLISHED:
18:45 GMT, 29 January 2013
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UPDATED:
21:47 GMT, 29 January 2013
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.
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Entitlement: Gina Allen and Danny Creamer say they are entitled to benefits because the Government wouldn't provide them if they didn't need them
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.
Shocked: Hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby appeared shocked by the couples' comments
Angry: Radio presenter Nick Ferarri said he was angry with the system but felt some sympathy for the pair
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.'
Taxes: The duo say they are right to claim benefits because their parents have paid taxes all their lives
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.'
VIDEO We get more in benefits than we do working. Couple appear on ITV
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