Benefits father of fourteen children claims £70,000 a year to keep his family running

A father of fourteen, who receives an estimated £70,000 a year from the taxpayer, says he can't get a job because he needs to be around for his children.

Tom Shaw, 39, from Nottingham, gave up work 10 years ago to help his wife Stacey raise their huge family in an eight bedroom Victorian house paid for by benefits.

'I don't think we necessarily set out to create a big family, they just happen,' says Mr Shaw, who has had five of his children while unemployed.

'I've been to job interviews and the feedback has been horrible,' he explains. '"You've got that many kids, you're unemployable", they say. 

'"What if one of the children has an accident and you need to leave work?".'

Instead, the Shaw family is funded by the taxpayer, with the couple receiving housing benefit, child benefit, income support and child tax credits.

Because two of the children are registered disabled, one because of Attention Deficit Disorder and the other due to Addison's Disease, Mr Shaw also rakes in disability and carers allowances.

Mr Shaw, who appears on tonight's episode of Channel 5 documentary Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole, says this makes it even more difficult to find work.

'These children today are the future of the planet tomorrow and they will pay into the system and make the economy and the country profitable,' he says.

Only one of his 14 children has flown the nest so far: eldest daughter Shannon, a 19-year-old single mother, who, like her parents, lives on benefits.

Nevertheless, Mr Shaw has some tough talk for those who say he and his family are lazy.

'People call us scroungers and lazy but we are so far from that,' he says. 'Come and live a day in my shoes and then I will allow you to comment.'

dailymail.co.uk