By GB News (World News) | Created at 2025-04-03 19:31:11 | Updated at 2025-04-04 14:03:29
18 hours ago
A mother-of-three from Rotherham is earning a staggering £480,000 every year by teaching Britons how to maximise their benefits claims through social media.
Whitney Ainscough, 31, has amassed one million followers across various platforms with her benefits advice.
But in the face of her soaring income, she continues to live in a council house - even as hundreds of thousands of households remain on waiting lists for social housing.
"I see my role as educational in helping real people who need benefits and can't understand the system," Ainscough told The Sun.
She added: "I am going to pay cash for my house, and it will be an amazing day."
'I see my role as educational in helping real people who need benefits and can't understand the system,' Ainscough said
PA
Ainscough's wealth has funded a lavish lifestyle, including a £4,000 gastric sleeve in Egypt, a £9,000 family holiday to Zante, and a £60,000 Range Rover.
She even purchased a £1,200 iPhone for her pre-teen daughter and spent £7,000 on a three-day trip to Disneyland.
The social media star lives with "dad-fluencer" Joel Christopher, 32, and their children Cora, 12, Addison, seven, and Adley, three.
Her journey began when she opted for benefits instead of returning to her pharmacy job after maternity leave in 2022.
"I had no option but to stay at home, care for the three kids and claim benefits," she explained.
MORE LIKE THIS:
Ainscough deliberately uses hashtags like #universalcredit and #benefitsmum to attract followers
Prior to her internet fame, Ainscough received £1,151 monthly in Universal Credit and had £30,000 of debt.
In early 2023, she started sharing "mum things" on social media, and began on TikTok before expanding to Facebook and Instagram.
"People wanted to know how I spent my Universal Credit and so I shared my grocery buys, cheap recipe tips and my everyday life," she said.
Her so-called "slummy mummy" posts include feeding her children beans on toast and facing court for term-time holidays.
She deliberately uses hashtags like #universalcredit and #benefitsmum to attract followers.
"I do it to help people but also to get followers - but that's good for me and the economy," she admitted.
Ainscough now earns more than twice Sir Keir Starmer's £172,153 salary, having finally come off benefits in September 2023.
She has also established a corporate structure for her earnings, explaining: "I am taxed at 40 per cent, not higher, because I have set up a company and pay myself a salary from it."
Despite critics branding her a "benefits scrounger", she remains defiant.
"Martin Lewis tells people how to claim more. I do the same. If you troll me, then troll him or experts like him as well," she said.
"I post videos to deliberately wind up people who troll me. My devoted fans know the truth and it makes them laugh."
