EMA - small rant

Hapless_2

zoezoe wrote: »

I dont think so, why would you assume that she would have to work 26 hours ??

To earn the £350 a month at the co-op on minimum wage would mean 26hrs a week.

And why are students who remain at home allowed (encourage even have you seen the ema site faq's??) to get a job at the same time ?

but not earning £350 a month! a max of 10 or 12 hrs a week.

I dont think so, why would you assume that she would have to work 26 hours ?? Even if she only worked 10 hours on minimum wage she would not be entitled to IS.

Minimum wage 10 hrs is £33 a week, IS for 16 yr old is £ 35.65 so unless she was getting more than min wage then she would get some IS on 10 hrs.

zoezoe_3

my mistake

milkydrink

zoezoe wrote: »

I am being torn between my teenage daughter refusing to come with me to plymouth and me needing to be in plymouth for many reasons. How dare you tell me that I should be prosecuted for neglect. I am not throwing her out I am litterally looking at her options. At 16 if she wants to leave home there is little I can do to stop her.
.

If my daughter were 16 & wanting to leave home (shes 20 & very much still at home), I would be looking at our relationship (mine & hers) not "her options" & what benefits she might get.

zoezoe_3

my mistake

Tigger36

Hapless wrote: »

The other problem was he was in "foyer" accomodation, which he was only eligable for while at college, so work = no home.

That's scandalous! I work in a Foyer type project and our young people can work and stay with us. The reason for that is we charge an affordable rent. Unfortunately, some of these places charge a huge rent as it's classed as accommodation with 24 hour support. The young people can't afford the high rent and it's actually cheaper for them to rent with a Housing Association or a private landlord as they can't claim full Housing Benefit. We deliberately keep our rents low so that our young people can afford to pay whether they're working or not - Housing Benefit covers the ones who aren't working.

Hapless_2

zoezoe wrote: »

Why are you assuming minimum wage ? How do you know there are know there are no students working more than 10/12 hours a week and getting EMA. As the mother of a 16 year old I know plently of students. My daughter is the only one not to have a job and the rest appear to manage college and working quite well.

If you are right then the rule about getting an EMA should simply state that you can only get it if you work up to 12 hours a wekk or so. But it does not, its say you can work and get the EMA except for if you leave home, wehreby you can only get it if you DONT work.

To get EMA a declaration has to be signed, and as a previous poster says, their son was told they cannot work more than 12 hrs. It would no doubt be in the college agreements what hours they can work and still be entitled etc.

As for the minimum wage, if she will get more than minimum wage at 16 then good for her. But the rules still stand.

I have looked into is EMA and half the bloody teenagers in the country get that.

Probably because half the teenagers are from a low income background and put study before work?

As for leaving home/working and EMA, can a 16 yr old work part time and support themselves? extremely doubtful there is no housing benefit in real terms for under 25's let alone under 16s. The EMA is only paid for those working if they work part time. If they leave home and work to support themselves then they will not be able to study full time as well because they would not be able to live working part time.

Kilty_2

zoezoe wrote: »

Why are you assuming minimum wage ?

Because people under 18 usually get paid less than £4 per hour. Even Tesco pay £4.40 or something like that, so I'd expect the Co-Op to pay less.

milkydrink

I actually had a similar situation with my daughter. Just after she had turned 16 & was leaving school & starting college, we decided to move 60 miles from central London to the Sussex coast.

Now we had tears & tantrums, all sorts. BUT HER STAYING ALONE WAS NEVER AN OPTION, it wasn't mentioned by any of us.

She actually loved it.
A year later I timed our next move (again 50 miles or so) from the Sussex coast to Surrey she was really distraught, tears & tantrums again. She had a local friend & the girls mother hinted she could move in there with them so as she wouldn't have to move with us. The girls mother was a mother on the dole who charged both her daughters rent to supplement her dole money, I think she thought she might be boosting the coffers with my daughter. I hit the bloody roof when I found out & to be honest I felt like hitting her, had my daughter seriously considered it, I probably would have. Anyway my daughter saw through her "kind" offer of lodgings to rent & said no more about it.

That was the last move (& I'm probably leaving here in a wooden box). She loves it here also & SHE REALISES THAT THE MOVES WERE NESCESSARY FOPR THE FAMILIES BENEFIT AND WE ALL LOVE IT & HAVE ALL BENEFITED.

I just cannot fathom how your daughter moving out of the family home at 16 ever became an option???

louise_1981

zoezoe wrote: »

The students who do get the EMA presumably would have £30 a week pocket money?

Please do not presume, this is what has got the thread into a nasty area, which is not what the forum is about.

I work in a sixth form college in a very deprived area of Manchester, and often parents take half of EMA to help run the family home , the other half goes toward the student travel. At 1.40 a day it does not last long, then there is lunch if they are in all day.

the up side is that the majority of my student have pasted this year with distinction stars, which is a tribute to all their hard work, part time job or not.

Being in this position, I get to see it from all sides. I see students from well off families, who work, those who don't.

I also get to see the manipulation that goes on from companies pressurising young people during lesson time to come in to work, to work all their free time because they can. the college that I am at recommends 10 hour of work without it affecting academic work. many students ignore this with varying affects.

going back to house sharing you home IF she stops, how is going to vert her fellow house mates, as I am sure I would not want strangers living with my daughter (if I had one), nor would I want her friends living with her. Would it not be possible to live with a friends parents? that way she has the guidance of a parent e.g. don't you thing it is time to go to bed / stop drinking / what time do you think this is, and she gets to stay with her friends. Again this would take a lot of trust But would be better all round.

Not sure how this would affect the EMA, as it is not my area.

Louise

Oldernotwiser

zoezoe wrote: »

I left home at 16 and raised my baby with £50 a week and paid £10 towards my rent (landlord was a conn man - long story). It has all taught me a very valuable lesson.

So having gone through all this yourself, you think it's ok for your daughter to go through it as well? What valuable lesson have you learned; that it's ok to desert your children when they reach 16? For goodness sake, either insist she moves with you or provide for her financially so she can continue her education in the place where she's grown up, without having to work ridiculous hours to do so.