Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole

This edition of the programme focuses on large families who depend on the benefits system, including 64-year-old Peter Rolfe, whose children - by 15 different women - range in ages from three to 43, of which he is the sole carer for six. He has been fighting his council in the Isle of Wight for a much bigger house and is also at loggerheads with the benefits office for capping his weekly payment. West Midlands mother-of-eight Marie Buchanan has recently split from her partner and is looking for a larger home, while Ipswich couple the Fisks have been in dispute with their neighbours, who objected to two houses being knocked into one to accommodate them and their 13 children.

The documentary examining the lives of individuals on the dole in the UK follows the stories of Roma people who moved to the UK and are now surviving on payments from the welfare state. Ion is from Romania and wants to make £40,000 from benefits to help him build a new house for his family back in his home village, while Katarina arrived from Slovakia seven years ago and has 11 children and 11 grandchildren living in and around an estate in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Nottingham resident Viorel is 25 and lost both legs in an accident in his native Romania when he was seven, and now wants to pursue a career in the movies.