← Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole

Season 2

12 episodes · 2014

  1. 1Episode 1

    26 Nov 2014 · 45 min

    Episode 1

  2. 2Episode 2

    03 Dec 2014 · 45 min

    In Blackpool, a mother-of-six is banned from the job centre.

  3. 3Episode 3

    10 Dec 2014 · 45 min

    We meet the immigrants who are claiming UK welfare to send back home.

  4. 4Episode 4 Cashing in for Christmas

    17 Dec 2014 · 45 min

    Single mum Marie Buchan has been battling the system for years to get a bigger home as she currently has to share a three-bedroomed house with eight kids, all aged under 13. The family has now expanded further with the acquisition of a new dog called Patches. It looks as if Marie and the kids might have one of the best Christmases ever, as they have just received some good news – the family will finally move to a bigger housing association home in Birmingham. Until the move, however, life on benefits goes on. Marie is annoyed that her benefits are capped at £26,000 a year, but she says that nothing is going to spoil Christmas for the Buchans. “No matter what, claiming benefits or working, everybody deserves a Christmas Day."

  5. 5Episode 5

    09 Feb 2015 · 45 min

    Tony ʻScrapʼ Taylor is a well-known figure in the community doing odd jobs and collecting scrap. He claims just £51.40 a week but does odd jobs for food, enabling his benefits money to go a bit further. If you need something in Jaywick then Tony is the man who can sort it out!

  6. 6Episode 6

    16 Feb 2015 · 45 min

    Dean, an 18-year-old from Harlow in Essex, made sure that he signed on as soon as he was old enough, regarding benefits as “free money”. He still lives at home with his mum, has zero ambition, spends his days in bed until 2pm and plays on his phone the rest of the time. His mum does everything for him and his benefits are spent on booze and fags. A brief stint in a reality show gave him a taste of fame and left him with no intention of getting a normal job – until he is sanctioned.

  7. 7Episode 7

    23 Feb 2015 · 45 min

    Life on the dole north of the border with a pair of wannabe pop stars, a globetrotter who has invented her own new age Chakra swing, and a woman who is convinced that her weight is stopping her from getting a job.

  8. 8Episode 8

    02 Mar 2015 · 45 min

    This time we're at the seaside. Debbie suffers from numerous disabilities, while single mum Stacie is living in a small flat with a three-month-old baby. We also meet Dave, a firearms fanatic who hasn't worked for two years and lives in a two-bedroom home with his mother.

  9. 9Episode 9

    09 Mar 2015 · 45 min

    A man whose partner earned too much on a zero hour contract.

  10. 10Episode 10 Big Families Special

    16 Mar 2015 · 45 min

  11. 11Episode 11 Me & My 14 Kids

    23 Mar 2015 · 45 min

    Tom and Stacey have 14 children and claim £70,000 a year.

  12. 12Episode 12 Jailbird Boys Going Straightfinale

    15 Aug 2015 · 45 min

    Ex-prisoners trying to go straight on the welfare state.