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6 months out of work and still no luck
jennie65
Posts: 113 Forumite
My son has been out of work 6 months, he has applied for every available vacancy and had several interviews and still nothing. gets told everytime - not enough experience. Sadly I cannot afford for this situation to go on much longer. When he lost his job back in November 2012 I had £2000 in my savings account, he was paying me £100 a week, JSA gives him a measley £56 a week not even enough to cover his rent, he is not allowed to ask for housing benefit as he lives with his mum and apparently I am supposed to keep him rent free. So he gives me all his JSA, I then end up giving it back to him for bus fares to sign on as thats in the next town, bus fares to interviews for jobs he never gets, Ive had to buy him new shoes recently, new trainers, a new shirt, pay for hair cuts, I pay for all his food, his xbox subscription (he has to have something to do).
My savings are now down to £300, his sister turns 20 in february 2014 and tax credits and child benefit stop immediately then for her, even though her college course wont finish til june 2014, i knew this so was saving to have enough money to support her at this time.
My rent is over half my salary as private renting in West Oxforshire is very high, and the council have told me over and over again in the last 8 years that single white working females do no get priority housing, if i was an immigrant, or living on benefits I'd have been housed long since, but being English and working I get not enough points apparently. I was told i do my self no favours by working.
Now it seems they were right. I should have not bothered as if I had affordable housing it would not matter that my son could not find work.
THe question i suppose is - Is it right that i am having to support him for nothing? as I suppose I give it another month or 2 before I just wont be able to have enough money to pay the rent etc as my savings will run out.
It just seems so unfair that I have done things right, I have gone to work, I have supported my children, I work 40 hours a week, I couldn't earn anymore if I tried, and people who do nothing get everything handed to them. I can see no future but homelessness and despair, i cry all the time - not in front my children. My son tries so hard to get a job its not his fault. I am just at wits end end now with no light at the end of tunnel.
My savings are now down to £300, his sister turns 20 in february 2014 and tax credits and child benefit stop immediately then for her, even though her college course wont finish til june 2014, i knew this so was saving to have enough money to support her at this time.
My rent is over half my salary as private renting in West Oxforshire is very high, and the council have told me over and over again in the last 8 years that single white working females do no get priority housing, if i was an immigrant, or living on benefits I'd have been housed long since, but being English and working I get not enough points apparently. I was told i do my self no favours by working.
Now it seems they were right. I should have not bothered as if I had affordable housing it would not matter that my son could not find work.
THe question i suppose is - Is it right that i am having to support him for nothing? as I suppose I give it another month or 2 before I just wont be able to have enough money to pay the rent etc as my savings will run out.
It just seems so unfair that I have done things right, I have gone to work, I have supported my children, I work 40 hours a week, I couldn't earn anymore if I tried, and people who do nothing get everything handed to them. I can see no future but homelessness and despair, i cry all the time - not in front my children. My son tries so hard to get a job its not his fault. I am just at wits end end now with no light at the end of tunnel.
Bankrupt 15/04/09 Discharged 28/10/09
Debts £000:j
Debts £000:j
0
Comments
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Your son receives JSA to support himself which he isn't doing if you keep giving it back to him. Why not take £30/40 to cover his food and bills and leave him to manage clothes and fares from the rest?0
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Ignoring the comments about immigrants, I think you have to put the responsibility back on your son.I then end up giving it back to him for bus fares to sign on as thats in the next town, bus fares to interviews for jobs he never gets, Ive had to buy him new shoes recently, new trainers, a new shirt, pay for hair cuts, I pay for all his food, his xbox subscription (he has to have something to do).
He has something to do, he should be looking for work. If he hasnt got anything work-wise after 6 months then he needs to set his sights lower. If he has set his sights lower and there is nothing even cleaning or gardening then he needs to get some voluntary work to up his skill-set.
In the meantime, stop buying for him... once he has no x box, and needs new clothes he'll put more effort in!0 -
if i thought he wasnt putting effort in I owuld be nagging him, he applies for shop work, mcdonalds, labouring, cleaning, warehouses, factories, offices, not sure how he could set his sights lower or higher, not sure how he could try harder. He gives me ALL his JSA, but then I have to give him some back to travel to sign on and to job interviews, or he couldnt get there.
Oh and love how you pick up on the word "immigrant" as if to use it is some kind of offence. It's not. I know for a fact that our council have housed people that have not been in the country as long as I have been on the housing waiting list and that is wrong.Bankrupt 15/04/09 Discharged 28/10/09
Debts £000:j0 -
if i thought he wasnt putting effort in I owuld be nagging him, he applies for shop work, mcdonalds, labouring, cleaning, warehouses, factories, offices, not sure how he could set his sights lower or higher, not sure how he could try harder. He gives me ALL his JSA, but then I have to give him some back to travel to sign on and to job interviews, or he couldnt get there.
Oh and love how you pick up on the word "immigrant" as if to use it is some kind of offence. It's not. I know for a fact that our council have housed people that have not been in the country as long as I have been on the housing waiting list and that is wrong.
It sounds as if he doesn't have much in the way of qualifications, have you considered encouraging him back into education/training?
You're not doing him any good or helping him with budgeting by taking his JSA and then giving it back to him for fares - just take his keep and leave him the rest to budget for himself. As for buying him clothes and an x box subscription, it's daft to do this and then complain about it - these are luxuries for a young unemployed person.0 -
how far does he have to travel to sign on or for job interviews and such ?
if its fairly local, you could just get him a bike and save on the travel cost
It might be better to find a non-paying vounteer job instead0 -
my mistake I though someone might actually be able to advise if there was anything I could claim, as I dont know enough about claiming, and surely it cant be right that I am expected to support my son on only 56 per week he could live anywhere else for that, and when my daughter turns 20 in February2014 I shall be expected to support her for nothing until her college course ends and as she hopes to be a teaching assistant will not find work until the september.
But heh will try elsewhere...Bankrupt 15/04/09 Discharged 28/10/09
Debts £000:j0 -
It sounds as if he doesn't have much in the way of qualifications, have you considered encouraging him back into education/training?
You're not doing him any good or helping him with budgeting by taking his JSA and then giving it back to him for fares - just take his keep and leave him the rest to budget for himself. As for buying him clothes and an x box subscription, it's daft to do this and then complain about it - these are luxuries for a young unemployed person.
He has gcses grades B and C, a BTEC in Media and a BTEC in IT and Games design. Biggest problem - he has ADHD and the social skills of a dead ant.
I dont see his xbox subscription as a luxury, me and his sister do not need him constantly in our faces moaning he is bored, this keeps him occupied and stops him spiralling into depression.Bankrupt 15/04/09 Discharged 28/10/09
Debts £000:j0 -
He has gcses grades B and C, a BTEC in Media and a BTEC in IT and Games design. Biggest problem - he has ADHD and the social skills of a dead ant.
I dont see his xbox subscription as a luxury, me and his sister do not need him constantly in our faces moaning he is bored, this keeps him occupied and stops him spiralling into depression.
It might have been helpful if you posted this info at the beginning. I don't think the issue is about whether you can claim extra money for him as much as it is about him making himself more employable and this might be about going through a training agency or skills provider where he would get the same money he is on and would generally get bus fares on top of this. This would help him with some of the social skills you describe him as needing support with and also some references to take with him in addition to the experience.
Your description of him having the social skills of a dead ant made me laugh - he needs to take the step towards becoming more of a live ant and channelling his skills into something that suits his personality traits - dead ants and all
If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got!0 -
Why on earth can't your daughter get some sort of seasonal work? or temp?
If your son is failing to get a job then there will be something wrong with his CV, his interview skills or his skill set. Maybe rather than playing on his x box he should be looking at this? Or looking at apprenticeships?
Finally, the fact that you have been on a housing waiting list does not give you automatic entitlement to cheap housing. You clearly are not in need of housing, but obviously the council considers that these people's needs are greater than yours. Their ethnicity has nothing to do with it.0 -
how far does he have to travel to sign on or for job interviews and such ?
if its fairly local, you could just get him a bike and save on the travel cost
It might be better to find a non-paying vounteer job instead
I think its about 6 or 7 miles to sign on and most of the jobs are there too or further. we have thought about volunteering but our town is fairly small and theres only the blue cross, 2 miles out, which are not taking on at the moment,Bankrupt 15/04/09 Discharged 28/10/09
Debts £000:j0
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