Leaving school - is this true?

The_Last_Username

PLEASE bear with me and read this?:D

Having a convo with a pal last night & he was telling me - that when his teen daughter finishes 6th form soon they will be approx. £80+ PER WEEK out of pocket! :eek:
YET ..... they are still supposed (somehow) to support her.
Which seems to me a bit harsh.
Is that true?


Background (from what he told me, ? how true) which I will try to keep brief:

Father @ work, minimum wage & mum SAHM.
Daughter age 19 & son aged 12.
Daughter in 6th form @ school & no idea what to do next; seems not enough qualifications for uni; works 4hrs/week only @ weekends for "pin-money". Son at school.

Receive Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits; these to reduce August by about £60/week as daughter will be finished education AND over 19 years old.

Child Benefit stopped once she reached 19 too; so another £13/week less.

Council Tax Benefit - currently at "about £12/week" - he thinks will reduce too if she stays at home.
Hence (I suppose) where he gets his "£80/week worse-off".
Gotta say, if you took that off ME every week I would struggle, too.

Anyway, before anyone says "work" etc .... a little more background?

A VERY poor area here for work of any kind; by far the majority of employment is in the seasonal holiday industry. No industry or anything else for that matter within 30-mile radius. Poor transport. Traditional VERY high unemployment and also very high elderly population.
So honestly very little scope for either mum or daughter to find work; either full- or part-time.

So, are they supposed to just somehow cope?

Makes me particularly cross as I personally know of MANY young mums this girl's age who were pregnant at 15 or 16.
THEY are being housed AND are on benefits (Yes, I DO know this for fact).
My point being that my friends are saying that they will be worse-off financially than these young mums & their families.
Seems wrong to me.
SO - your thoughts?

tea-bag

True once they leave education they can get a job or claim JSA this is the reality hitting alot of the tax credits generation the "OH CRAP MY CHILD IS NOW AN ADULT WHERE HAS ALL THE MONEY GONE?"

Poppie68

The_Last_Username wrote: »

PLEASE bear with me and read this?:D

Having a convo with a pal last night & he was telling me - that when his teen daughter finishes 6th form soon they will be approx. £80+ PER WEEK out of pocket! :eek:
YET ..... they are still supposed (somehow) to support her.
Which seems to me a bit harsh.
Is that true?


Background (from what he told me, ? how true) which I will try to keep brief:

Father @ work, minimum wage & mum SAHM.
Daughter age 19 & son aged 12.
Daughter in 6th form @ school & no idea what to do next; seems not enough qualifications for uni; works 4hrs/week only @ weekends for "pin-money". Son at school.

Receive Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits; these to reduce August by about £60/week as daughter will be finished education AND over 19 years old.

Child Benefit stopped once she reached 19 too; so another £13/week less.

Council Tax Benefit - currently at "about £12/week" - he thinks will reduce too if she stays at home.
Hence (I suppose) where he gets his "£80/week worse-off".
Gotta say, if you took that off ME every week I would struggle, too.

Anyway, before anyone says "work" etc .... a little more background?

A VERY poor area here for work of any kind; by far the majority of employment is in the seasonal holiday industry. No industry or anything else for that matter within 30-mile radius. Poor transport. Traditional VERY high unemployment and also very high elderly population.
So honestly very little scope for either mum or daughter to find work; either full- or part-time.

So, are they supposed to just somehow cope?

Makes me particularly cross as I personally know of MANY young mums this girl's age who were pregnant at 15 or 16.
THEY are being housed AND are on benefits (Yes, I DO know this for fact).
My point being that my friends are saying that they will be worse-off financially than these young mums & their families.
Seems wrong to me.
SO - your thoughts?

Why would they still receive child related benefits? She is no longer a child, she can now claim JSA, but I'm sure if she tries hard enough she will be able to secure some form of employment.... Maybe an apprenticeship?

I have no idea what the young mums in your town have to do with your 'friends'situation?

duchy

Not so difficult to understand.
The daughter can choose to either find work or go to college and improve her prospects (not a bad idea if employment options are limited). She'd get job seekers allowance whilst looking for work so could contribute part of that to pay her board and make up part of the shortfall.

A SAHM with two children at secondary school. I think his wife is having a laugh. If he can't support the family on his wage alone then she can't afford the luxury of SAHM-ness . She could even join her daughter at college and gain some vocational qualifications to make her more employable.

I have always worked both as a married Mum and then as a single parent since my son was eight months old -sometimes fulltime sometimes part time and once kids are old enough to travel home from school independently (which for most is when they start high school at 11) then there is no reason for a mother not to work if the family budget needs it.

The state has supported your friend whilst their eldest child was a child and will continue to give them some support until the younger one leaves education -Why the heck should you and I pay for his daughter and wife to sit at home ? They've had 18 years of taking - now it's time for them to contribute.

Our country supports families with children quite generously -but that support stops when they are capable of contributing. The fact he and his wife have never thought ahead to when that support stops is a little ridiculous.

The daughter needs to find a job with more hours or find an apprenticeship-perhaps if instead of telling her she has no prospects he encourages her . His wife doesn't seem to be much of a role model either.

My thoughts- the wife should be looking for a job now -or at retraining - there's a lot available both for school leavers and for Mums returning to work after raising their family. He needs to stop moaning and realise that in a family everyone should contribute as best they can.

(I don't see what local single Mums have to do with it either ......unless you are suggesting the daughter gets pregnant to be able to claim more benefits- Britain supports people raising children -once they are raised the money stops whether it's your pal or a single Mum) Your Pal seems to think that a household with three working age adults and one child should get more money than a single parent....... where is the logic there ?

You mention there's a very high elderly population locally .....bound to be lots of employment in the care sector.

Frankly your mate has a job, a council house with part of the rent paid , no doubt council tax reduced and money paid by the state to help him raise his kids in the form of child benefit and tax credits, free prescriptions and his wife can't be bothered working to improve the family's situation preferring the state to provide . Do you really think your sympathy is appropriate(and if you're working you are paying his wife not to work remember) . Did this conversation happen in a pub over a few pints by any chance ?

Mojisola

They're going to have even more of a shock when the son reaches 18 and all child related benefits stop.

The_Last_Username

Whilst I generally agree with the comments above, is it not wrong that a family is expected to either support this girl ad infinitum or expell her from the family home & make her stand on her own 2 feet?
As I understand it, JSA may be an option until she can get more work than 4 hours.
AS OPPOSED TO being funded by benefits (not family) like her friends with children. Who do NOT have to be supported by their parents.
I too disagree with the State funding her ....... or her family, for that matter.
BUT I do disagree with a system which makes her peers and/or friends who decided they couldn't say "No" ( or be careful, despite an abundance of readily-available resources on the matter ) financially better-off.
Thoughts?

burlington6

The_Last_Username wrote: »

Whilst I generally agree with the comments above, is it not wrong that a family is expected to either support this girl ad infinitum or expell her from the family home & make her stand on her own 2 feet?
As I understand it, JSA may be an option until she can get more work than 4 hours.
AS OPPOSED TO being funded by benefits (not family) like her friends with children. Who do NOT have to be supported by their parents.
I too disagree with the State funding her ....... or her family, for that matter.
BUT I do disagree with a system which makes her peers and/or friends who decided they couldn't say "No" ( or be careful, despite an abundance of readily-available resources on the matter ) financially better-off.
Thoughts?

What the hell? That's the way it should be. She is an adult, it's time to get into the real world along with the mother....and yourself if I'm honest. Pathetic

The_Last_Username

Hey steady on!
You're welcome to an opinion - that's why I posted - but keep it civil please?

midnight_express

The time to think about the cost of kids is before you have them. This thread is a great example of why all child related benefits should be abolished.

The_Last_Username

At last!
My thoughts entirely! :T

The time to think about the cost of kids is before you have them. This thread is a great example of why all child related benefits should be abolished.

Poppie68

The_Last_Username wrote: »

Whilst I generally agree with the comments above, is it not wrong that a family is expected to either support this girl ad infinitum or expell her from the family home & make her stand on her own 2 feet?
As I understand it, JSA may be an option until she can get more work than 4 hours.
AS OPPOSED TO being funded by benefits (not family) like her friends with children. Who do NOT have to be supported by their parents.
I too disagree with the State funding her ....... or her family, for that matter.
BUT I do disagree with a system which makes her peers and/or friends who decided they couldn't say "No" ( or be careful, despite an abundance of readily-available resources on the matter ) financially better-off.
Thoughts?

This has got nothing to do with others having babies....
Your friends could of also said NO, they have had to rely on handouts to bring up their children..
Why couldn'tthe wife of worked also...they got extra benefits etc because she chose not to work...
Do they also get help with housing benefit?
If you sat down and went back to day one and calculated every single penny your friends have gained from the benefit/tax credit system.....maybe you wouldn't feel so aggrieved on their behalf.