- Mohammed Salim, 58, has 11 children with his wife Noreen in Rochdale
- Said it is expensive to feed a big family and shopping costs £300 a week
- Relies on £27,000 a year in benefits as he hasn't worked for a decade
A father of eleven who has been claiming benefits for the past ten years says he doesn’t believe in using contraception – even though he admits the government pays for his children’s upkeep.
Mohammed Salim and his wife Noreen, 40, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, receive £27,000 a year in child tax credits and job seeker's allowance.
The 58-year-old Muslim said he doesn’t believe he has been irresponsible for having so many offspring.
They had their eldest son in 1991 and another ten followed, with their ages now ranging between 24 to seven years old.
Mohammed Salim has been signing on at the job centre for a decade and gets £27,000 a year in benefits
Mohammed Salim, second from left, pictured with nine of his 11 children. Mohammed said he has no regrets about having a large family, even though, in his words, 'it is the government who pay for their upkeep'
Mohammed said he has no regrets about having a large family, even though, in his words, 'it is the government who pay for their upkeep, food and clothing'.
And he admits the family shopping bill comes to £300 a week.
'Having 11 children isn't irresponsible, we don't believe in contraception, we are following god's first command, he said "go forth and multiply",' he told Channel 5's On Benefits: 26 Kids And Claiming documentary.
Mohammed, whose family of 13 lives in a four-bedroom house and often travel by mini-bus, once worked as a teacher but has been on benefits for the last ten years.
He said that he never expected to be signing on for so long but the years flew by as he cared for his brood and now he feels pushed out of the job market.
A family photo in Mohammad's home shows six of his children whose ages now range from 24 to seven
The father sits down to eat dinner with four of his children. He said they can spend £300 a week on food
He said despite his qualifications he can't get work and any roles that are available pay less than what he currently gets in handouts.
He said: 'I have got qualifications and real work experience but it is the system. I have been forced onto the dole.
We are feeding 13 people. £500 a week is not enough, the costs are there, we are having to stretch and stretch. Rather than going up they want to shrink them down
‘I am expected to do at least seven job applications a week, you are better off on the dole than working on a minimum wage.'
He added: 'It's a sad state of affairs I can't get a job in the UK. I am not getting the results, people are not giving me interviews.'
Mohammed said he is a 'workaholic' who had 'never shied away from hard work' but in his ten years of seeking employment, he is yet to have any luck.
He said he can't find a role that would suit his lifestyle and pay enough to support his family.
He explained: 'I have been told to do taxi work but the hours I would have to put in to get a reasonable wage, I can't do it, especially with young children.'
The family of 13 live in a four bedroom house, often travel by mini bus and their weekly shopping bill can come to £300 a week.
Mohammed blows out the candles as he has a birthday party. With 11 children and regularly religious festivals, he said they always have something to celebrate, which means their benefits have to stretch further
The father said he has struggled to find work in the UK and would consider a job overseas
As a result, Mohammed said would struggle if their welfare bill was capped at £500 a week as the government are currently proposing.
He said: 'We are feeding 13 people.
£500 a week is not enough, the costs are there, we are having to stretch and stretch. Rather than going up they want to shrink them down.
‘Next year there will be another cap and I will lose out.'
Along with the weekly shopping, Mohammed said they have to fork out on modern gadgets for their children as they all want iPhones.
'They want that because it is the thing of the present day and you have to cough up,' he said.
He added that with 11 children, there are often birthday parties to cater for as well as religious festivals to celebrate.
'Virtually every month there is something going on, if it is not a birthday it is some kinds of celebration, Christmas, Easter, Eid,' he said.
'It is a big pull on the little amount of benefits that we do get.'
Mohammed said it can be tough to fund such a large family and he has started applying for jobs overseas. But he said he wouldn't have life any other way.
'I am the richest man in the world with these children,' he said. 'I have a big family, I am on benefits, there is a worry there but god always see us through.'
Mohammed Salim has been signing on at the job centre for a decade and gets £27,000 a year in benefits
Mohammed Salim, second from left, pictured with nine of his 11 children. Mohammed said he has no regrets about having a large family, even though, in his words, 'it is the government who pay for their upkeep'
A family photo in Mohammad's home shows six of his children whose ages now range from 24 to seven
The father sits down to eat dinner with four of his children. He said they can spend £300 a week on food
We are feeding 13 people. £500 a week is not enough, the costs are there, we are having to stretch and stretch. Rather than going up they want to shrink them down
Mohammed blows out the candles as he has a birthday party. With 11 children and regularly religious festivals, he said they always have something to celebrate, which means their benefits have to stretch further
The father said he has struggled to find work in the UK and would consider a job overseas
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