Son left education- losing large percentage tax credits

mysterywoman10

Although strictly speaking to use a caravan/shed long term as an extra room you would need planning permission! Which is unlikely to be granted. It's fine as a temporary thing though

For me with a son at Uni it has become a real drain on our resources. It's mainly his rent while at uni that it is the problem it takes well over half his income and that's excluding basic bills.

I think on another thread Dumroming said that someone on low income would get £7000 to live on which was enough. Most families/students don't get anywhere near that much though even with a percentage of it being a maintenance grant.

Also it is done on income of a couple tax years previously, although you can ask for a special form if family income has changed.

What I don't really understand with the system is, if it is supposed to be about young people becoming independent and borrowing the funding etc. why is the parent's income taken into account then? Which in effect this means is you are expected to top up your young person's living costs.

It really worries me the debts he already has and it's purely subsisdence living, why can't we invest in young people more ? But make attendance and performance much stricter for Uni etc. like they do in other European countries.

Also I think it would be ok, if it was relatively easy to get a summer job or work part time at Uni, where he goes it is more or less impossible to find a job and we have literally nothing going around here. Last year he even did a Paperround which isn't much useful experience for an 19 year old is it?

Dunroamin

mysterywoman10 wrote: »

Although strictly speaking to use a caravan/shed long term as an extra room you would need planning permission! Which is unlikely to be granted. It's fine as a temporary thing though

For me with a son at Uni it has become a real drain on our resources. It's mainly his rent while at uni that it is the problem it takes well over half his income and that's excluding basic bills.

I think on another thread Dumroming said that someone on low income would get £7000 to live on which was enough. Most families/students don't get anywhere near that much though even with a percentage of it being a maintenance grant.

Most students don't get that much because their parents aren't on a low income and can afford to top up the funding. Last statistics I saw, about 25% of students were fully funded.

Also it is done on income of a couple tax years previously, although you can ask for a special form if family income has changed.

What I don't really understand with the system is, if it is supposed to be about young people becoming independent and borrowing the funding etc. why is the parent's income taken into account then? Which in effect this means is you are expected to top up your young person's living costs.

People have been complaining about students being assessed on parental income since I was at school - at least the assessment now is much fairer than it used to be. Many other EU countries assess on parental income.

It really worries me the debts he already has and it's purely subsisdence living, why can't we invest in young people more ? But make attendance and performance much stricter for Uni etc. like they do in other European countries.

Although fees are high in England, actually maintenance funding is more generous than in many countries.

http://www.eurograduate.com/article.asp?id=4171&pid=2

Also I think it would be ok, if it was relatively easy to get a summer job or work part time at Uni, where he goes it is more or less impossible to find a job and we have literally nothing going around here. Last year he even did a Paperround which isn't much useful experience for an 19 year old is it?


Many students make ease of finding term time work a factor in their choice of university if extra income is necessary.

..........

mysterywoman10

Yes you make some good points and I don't disagree with them it just doesn't feel like that at times. And the debt thing is a new concept but it's pretty scary I think for a lot of young people and very stressful.

I know in most of the EU countries the maintenance has to be paid fully by the parents unless they are on again a low income.

I don't agree with your last point as such, whilst I'm sure it's true that some students factor it in to their choice of Uni, it is very very difficult to find casual work where ever you live at the moment, unless you happen to be in a very seasonal place for the summer.

The reality is there are very few jobs out there full stop. The days are gone when you could rely on a "summer" job. If you could it would make a massive difference.

princessdon

My eldest wants to do medicine, we will get very little help, feeling a long term drain on finances coming on! Still I think it has to be less that the £1000 pm I used to pay whilst she was in childcare, so should cost less as a student than as a baby.

I worked full time throughout my degree, my nieces and a nephew both work too, though less hours.

Has your son advertised as a "helper", by that I mean, babysitting, shopping for elderly, gardening, odd jobs round the home.

My nephew gets irregular work, but especially during the school holidays get's work as an unofficial childminder. Teenagers too young to be left alone, but too old for out of schools. He takes them surfing, plays football with them, goes to the skate park, plays X Box - They love having a cool older "sitter", as opposed to a babysitter per se.

He gets £20 a day, food and does 2 friends so £40 a day in all. Less than NMW I guess, but he really enjoys it. He gets £5 an hour babysitting at night, but again, it means free food, Satellite TV with all the channels and it doesn't feel like work.

Might be worth exploring.

mysterywoman10

Thank you Princessdon for your useful suggestion, it is worth considering. Although money isn't the only issue in not finding a proper "job" it's about experience etc. as well, which he really does need.

Interestingly as it was National Apprentice Week, I heard on R2 that there are a lot of vacancies nationwide and maybe lots of young people don't consider this enough as an option?

silvercar

EmmaHerts wrote: »

I'm 31, if I visit my mum I have to sleep on a blow-up bed in the living-room. Seems that some people have the idea the rooms should be kept as a sort of shrine to their children.

Bit of a difference between you visiting your Mum, to a student coming home in the uni holders. Most universities have 3 10 week terms, though in practice the 3rd term is often shorter.

Given that the family housed their student the previous year it would be pretty callous to downsize the minute the student has gone to uni, in the full knowledge that they would have nowhere to come back to outside of term time.

silvercar

My eldest wants to do medicine, we will get very little help, feeling a long term drain on finances coming on! Still I think it has to be less that the £1000 pm I used to pay whilst she was in childcare, so should cost less as a student than as a baby.

I worked full time throughout my degree, my nieces and a nephew both work too, though less hours.

Medicine is a very full on course and I doubt working during term time would be possible. To get a place to study medicine requires top grade A levels and some work experience/ volunteering in the medical field. I doubt it would be possible to hold down many hours of work during 6th form and expect the holidays to be taken up with placements/ shadowing rather than paid work.

A long degree, but I'm sure the rewards, not just financial, will be worth it in the end.