Benefits mum-of-11 with kids aged 3 to 23 slams people who judge her for living off the state
A MUM-of-11 who relies on benefits has hit out at people who judge her for living off the state. Bethan Carter, 40, is mum to five girls and six boys whose ages range from three to 23. Six of her kids are under the age of ten. Bethan lives with nine of her children in […]
A MUM-of-11 who relies on benefits has hit out at people who judge her for living off the state.
Bethan Carter, 40, is mum to five girls and six boys whose ages range from three to 23.
Six of her kids are under the age of ten.
Bethan lives with nine of her children in Briton Ferry, near Port Talbot, Wales, along with her husband Andy while two of her kids have since left home.
Andy is dad to seven of the youngsters.
Bethan struggles with severe epilepsy as well as severe memory loss due to a brain cyst and a malformation at the base of her brain.
She also has three kids who suffer from epilepsy and her son Mark, 16, has severe autism and epilepsy and has several seizures a week.
Bethan said: “People judge me because I am on benefits, but unless you have a severely autistic child you can’t know what it is like.
“I am happy with my family – I do not care what people say. They are happy and get the care they need.
“They are loved. I find it very rewarding to be a mum.
“Being a mum of so many kids is hard but I love it – they are all so loving.”
Mark has several seizures a week. Bethan said: “When he fits, he just collapses and, when he comes out of a fit, he screams. He can not handle the little ones and likes being on his own.”
I am happy with my family – I do not care what people say. They are happy and get the care they need
Benefits mum Bethan Carter
Usually Bethan gets up at around 6am to prepare breakfast for everyone and sort out all the medication for the day and ensure everyone gets the correct ones.
Teenager Mark gets picked up by a taxi to take him to school in Bryncoch while Bethan and Andy then do the school run in two cars for the rest.
While the kids are at school Bethan then spends her time cleaning and tidying the house.
After the children have all been picked up from school Bethan will then start on dinner.
She said: “I can not cook so I just try to make things quickly like beans or sausages.
“I try to have dinner ready shortly after they get back from school.
“If it has been a long day and it is getting late, we will get a KFC or a McDonald’s.”
The family say they have fast food once or twice a week with each of these meals costing up to £35.
They also do a big monthly food shop at Farm Foods which costs £400. This includes around £30 on sausages and six boxes of 30 fish fingers for £20.
Some how they manage to fit it all in their two chest freezers and a fridge freezer.
“We get frozen food mainly because it is cheaper and more convenient,” Bethan said. “It is what they want.”
The family go through three big boxes of washing powder every month.
Being a mum of so many kids is hard but I love it – they are all so loving
Bethan Carter
With two washing machines and two dryers, there is washing on all the time and, with two bathrooms, Bethan can wash three of the children at a time in the shower downstairs.
“Time flies and before you know it is bed time again,” she said. “After dinner, they just play – there are toys everywhere.
“I try to get them to sleep by 8pm or 9pm. I am up until midnight or 1am doing things around the house.”
There are little breaks for the family as they never go on holidays, partly because Mark doesn’t like it.
“If we go anywhere, we go somewhere for the day – normally Porthcawl,” Bethan said. “But it takes a lot of planning.
“It is hard work to have that many children, but they are happy and they are very close to each other.
“I am happy I got sterilised but I do not regret anything.”
The mum-of-11 said she worked full-time in a café until she had Mark 16 years ago.
She quit her job to look after him and now relies on benefits to live. With £500 coming in every two weeks, the benefits they receive include income support and child benefit, as well as disability allowance.
“It is not enough. I could take them all to town and spend £200 just on shoes for all of them.
People can judge me as much as they want but I do not care
Dad Andy Carter
“We do not have any savings – all we have goes on them. We spend all year saving for Christmas.”
At the moment, the family live in a five-bedroom house in Briton Ferry, with three of the girls sleeping in one bedroom and three boys in another. The youngest one sleeps in the parents’ bedroom and then Mark and Amy – the two oldest – have their own rooms.
Bethan and Andy met 12 years ago through an advert in the South Wales Evening Post.
Andy said: “I like having that many kids, it is always busy – it is non-stop.
“People can judge me as much as they want but I do not care.”
The family have recently been having problems with the roof over their back bedroom, which recently collapsed during a spell of bad weather.
A lot of water started coming through and the family was told a new roof was needed.
Andy said some temporary measures have been in place by housing association Tai Tarian but the roof is still not fixed.
He said Mark sleeps in the bedroom with the damaged ceiling and has had to sleep in a different room.
Andy said Mark doesn’t understand why he can’t stay in his room and that they have had to buy a new mattress and bedding after the water came through the roof.
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“I am worried the ceiling could collapse any time,” he said. “It is not secure at all how it is now – it is going to cave in the moment it rains even a little bit.”
Andrew Carey from Tai Tarian said: “During the recent severe bad weather, we were made aware of the roof leak within the property and a temporary solution was carried out as soon as physically possible to stop the leak.
“The permanent solution has been planned in and the tenant has been made aware of all our intentions.”
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