As a single mother, 49-year-old Mandy Cowie has only one goal for the rest of her life. With ten different children from five different men, she has learned how to benefit from the British welfare system, securing a regular paycheck at the expense of the country’s taxpayers. Although most people would want to get a job to provide for their family, Cowie has a grand plan to amass fifty grandchildren, so she can continue to receive welfare checks for the rest of her life, all while becoming the biggest family in the country of Great Britain.
“I probably wouldn’t get a job that would pay as much as I get now anyway,” she said, regarding her decision to never get off government benefits. “People might judge, but if it’s there on offer, who wouldn’t take it?”
For the last three decades, Cowie has been receiving assistance from the government. Her welfare checks have covered all of her expenses and have been quite generous, thanks to the taxpayers. Now, she wants her ten children to follow her path in life and work to get welfare checks from the government. Currently, Cowie receives $34,000 in government handouts every year. Although Cowie does spend the bulk of her dole payment on necessary items, she did spend at least $3,000 on getting much of her body covered with tattoos.
“Ten kids and full of tattoos, mate,” Cowie said of herself. “So what if I’m on the effing dole, mate. I don’t like it, eff off. I had my first one at 18 and my last one at 36, and I’ve told them I want 50 grandkids before I die.”
Cowie’s one goal is for her children to continue to have children until she has fifty grandchildren. She currently has sixteen grandchildren, so she is well on her way to achieving her bizarre goal. Cowie has become somewhat famous across Great Britain after she was selected to appear on the television show Britain’s Biggest Benefits Family, which documents the lives of families that rely on government handouts to make ends meet.
In addition to mooching off the government and the taxpayer, Cowie has not been an exemplary parent. She once admitted that she bought her thirteen-year-old daughter cigarettes and would let the child drink alcohol at home when she had performed some good behavior.
“People may be shocked that I’ve been on benefits for so long, but I don’t care,” Cowie said. “I can’t work because of the kids, and while the pregnancies weren’t planned, I love having a big family.
Three of Cowie’s ten children still live with her, while the other seven have moved out and started their own lives. Cowie currently accepts government handouts in the form of disability benefits for her son, child tax credits, child benefit, as well as a jobseeker’s allowance.
It’s uncertain whether Cowie’s children will follow in her footsteps. However, her 24-year-old daughter Cristal already receives welfare benefits.
“I’m still with the baby’s dad, but he doesn’t live at my house. People say he lives there, but he doesn’t…” Cristal said. “If we were to live together, our benefits would get stopped, so we might as well be together and live in different houses.”