[Jamesy]

I actually know someone (my cousin, in her 40s) that is quite explicit about how they have never wanted to work and that they have had kids just to stay out of work. Most of my family hate her but I find it quite interesting the lengths she (and probably many other 'scroungers') go to just to live a stress-free life and better lifestyle.

Recently the local jobcentre was catching on to her to get into work so she started looking roughed up and persuaded them that she was depressed and struggling, cue being 'ill' for a few weeks. After that she went through some process to say that she was suffering because she had to take care of her disabled daughter 24/7 (her daughter has a speech impairment and is perfectly dependable, she's now 13 and in high school and doesn't need any help). She needed a signature from someone in a professional medical role to confirm she does need to be on hand 24/7 to take care of her daughter, tried to get a signature from my mum (who works in the NHS), my mum refused but my cousin found someone else to write a signature and ta da, she now doesn't have to go to the jobcentre and gets more benefits for 3 or 4 years until there's a reassessment. She has gloated about this loads, how she 'tricked' the jobcentre and how she's so relieved she doesn't have to work and can relax for 3 or 4 years.

My cousin baffles the rest of us (in my family). Her mum and dad worked all their lives, her brother is now in his late 30s and owns a massive cake business with his wife that works with UK brands like Krispy Kreme and Sainsburys. Yet my cousin hasn't lifted a finger her entire life. Pregnant at 16, now has 3 kids, a very big house on a pretty nice estate (usually council areas are rough but she lives in quite a nice area), and all the money she could dream of.

It's quite infuriating when I look at my parents, who have worked their entire lives and gone through a hell of a lot to provide me and my brother with a decent lifestyle, and then I look at my cousin who lives in a similar (if not better) lifestyle and all she did for that was sleep with two different guys and have three kids over 20 years.

The UK system really needs a massive shake-up. When I went to Catalonia (Spain) and spoke to some locals there they told me of the system there which sounds pretty good. If you have a child you get financial support for a certain amount of time (I think it was something like 2 years), then after that the support stops and you're expected to have a job. If you have more children you get support for a less amount of time, so if with the first kid you get 2 years support, the second child you get 1 year, the third child 6 months etc. The locals I spoke to said it works very well there, more people work, less people have children for the sake of it and generally it's managed very well. It's a shame the UK doesn't have harsher systems in place similar to that.