The Chawner family haven’t done a stroke of work in over eleven years

A family in the United Kingdom has been subjected to media scrutiny after it was revealed that they were claiming over £22,000 in benefits because they were all too obese to get a job. Since they don’t pay tax on the benefits it is the equivalent of earning a £30,000 salary. Mr. Philip Chawner and his wife Audrey both weigh 24st, while their daughters weigh 17st and 18st. respectively.

The Chawner family haven’t done a stroke of work in over eleven years and claim that the reason that they are so overweight is due to their hereditary obesity condition. Philip Chawner said that the money that the government gave them was not enough to live on and barely covered their bills. He said it was not their fault that they we could not work and they deserved more.

Other reasons for their excess weight were given such as that healthy food items like fruit and vegetables were too expensive and that they were genetically fat. However they also admitted that they consumed 3,000 calories daily which is more than they should and which would make them put on weight even if they were not “genetically obese”.

The whole family receives stipends and government handouts for range of different reasons such as suffering from Type Two Diabetes or as unemployment benefits.  The only person who seems to be doing something positive is the youngest daughter, Emma who is training to be a hairdresser. However she said that her work meant that she did not have time to exercise.  She also confessed that she would like to lose weight because of the abuse that she got in the street but she didn’t know how.

The story of this family is tragic. It will make many people angry and resentful that their taxes are being used to subsidise them. This family needs professional counselling and proper nutritional advice to get healthy and government handouts could be exacerbating the problem.