When can my son claim UC?

Rubyroobs

My 19 year old son left full time education in June, I am still receiving child benefit for him which ends tomorrow I believe. He is only doing very part time work in a school, despite applying for many jobs and getting no -where. Can he apply for UC in the next couple of days when I officially stop receiving child benefit for him?

poppy12345

Once the CB ends he can claim for UC. Maximum entitlement for him will be £342.72 per month. His earnings received during his assessment period will reduce this by 63%.

Rubyroobs

poppy12345 said:

Once the CB ends he can claim for UC. Maximum entitlement for him will be £342.72 per month. His earnings received during his assessment period will reduce this by 63%.

Thanks Poppy. He is only earning about £200 a month furloughed so should receive some Uc top up I think. It's not so much about the money really more that I am hoping he can maybe receive some help with his CV or courses to improve his chances of finding some extra hours. I'm hoping a UC work coach could offer that some kind of guidance on that ?

poppy12345

£200 earnings will reduce his UC by £126 per month. Do be aware also that the standard allowance has increase by £90 per month because of Covid19 and is expected to return to the normal amount from April 2021.

huckster

@Rubyroobs your Son will be in the same position as hundreds of thousands of others due to current situation the country is in. Having the part-time job at a school should hopefully help him progress to a job role that he in interested in. Can the school offer any help in increasing hours or training to perform other roles at the school ?

What type of job role is your Son interested in doing ?

Other than applying for other jobs, what else is he doing ?

What I would suggest is that your Son approaches this as a project, where he starts to look at all aspects.  First it is about your Son and what personal qualities he is offering employers. This is not just about qualifications, although important, but about how to stand out from the crowd, as other applicants will offer same or better qualifications.

You say he is working at a school, so he should have written down full details of the work he has been doing, whether he has actually completed tasks beyond what was expected, taken on extra responsibilities etc.  And has he ever asked the school manager for help with progressing his career ? If he is not interested in working in the Education sector, the school may have still have information which may be useful e.g local employers with links to school, careers advice. And the manager may help with providing a reference to help with job applications.

Volunteering opportunities for charities etc. Giving up time to help others and learn skills at the same time. Has your Son done this ? This may help him progress towards the ideal career he wants. This would be attractive on a CV and a talking point at job interviews.

Has your Son made a list of all the local companies that he would be interested in working for ? What about writing to them, asking for information about possible work experience opportunities, their recruitment process e.g. if they were recruiting what qualifications and skills they would require. Many employers will not bother responding, but always worth making enquiries on the off-chance as some will reply with some information. Perhaps your Son can write a template letter where he introduces himself, expresses a keen interest in x company (tailor letter with information gathered from research) and asks whether they would be willing to consider work experience opportunity, a telephone conversation to discuss what they look for in job candidates, their application process etc or could they send any information to him about recruitment process, job specifications which include qualifications/skills.

The Jobcentre can provide help with job search etc, but as with most things in life, it is always helpful, if the person seeking help knows what they really want to do and has done their homework. The homework is gaining all of the information to understand what is required to get to the starting point in a chosen career. It may be the case, your Son will have to do other jobs in different sectors to the one he prefers, just to gain skills which are useful in moving towards his ideal career.

kazzyd_2

Rubyroobs said:

My 19 year old son left full time education in June, I am still receiving child benefit for him which ends tomorrow I believe. He is only doing very part time work in a school, despite applying for many jobs and getting no -where. Can he apply for UC in the next couple of days when I officially stop receiving child benefit for him?

This is exactly the same position my 19 year old is in. He left education in June also. He applied last week as soon as my Tax Credits stopped for him. I'm just hoping he finds something soon.

Rubyroobs

kazzyd_2 said:

Rubyroobs said:

My 19 year old son left full time education in June, I am still receiving child benefit for him which ends tomorrow I believe. He is only doing very part time work in a school, despite applying for many jobs and getting no -where. Can he apply for UC in the next couple of days when I officially stop receiving child benefit for him?

This is exactly the same position my 19 year old is in. He left education in June also. He applied last week as soon as my Tax Credits stopped for him. I'm just hoping he finds something soon.

There doesn't seem to be much out there at the moment unfortunately. He is hoping to go to Uni next year but just needs a job for now. He is currently furloughed as a cleaner at his old school but I fear that they are going to prioritise the people on contracts and not the casual workers like my son. Hope your son finds something soon.

Rubyroobs

huckster said:

@Rubyroobs your Son will be in the same position as hundreds of thousands of others due to current situation the country is in. Having the part-time job at a school should hopefully help him progress to a job role that he in interested in. Can the school offer any help in increasing hours or training to perform other roles at the school ?

What type of job role is your Son interested in doing ?

Other than applying for other jobs, what else is he doing ?

What I would suggest is that your Son approaches this as a project, where he starts to look at all aspects.  First it is about your Son and what personal qualities he is offering employers. This is not just about qualifications, although important, but about how to stand out from the crowd, as other applicants will offer same or better qualifications.

You say he is working at a school, so he should have written down full details of the work he has been doing, whether he has actually completed tasks beyond what was expected, taken on extra responsibilities etc.  And has he ever asked the school manager for help with progressing his career ? If he is not interested in working in the Education sector, the school may have still have information which may be useful e.g local employers with links to school, careers advice. And the manager may help with providing a reference to help with job applications.

Volunteering opportunities for charities etc. Giving up time to help others and learn skills at the same time. Has your Son done this ? This may help him progress towards the ideal career he wants. This would be attractive on a CV and a talking point at job interviews.

Has your Son made a list of all the local companies that he would be interested in working for ? What about writing to them, asking for information about possible work experience opportunities, their recruitment process e.g. if they were recruiting what qualifications and skills they would require. Many employers will not bother responding, but always worth making enquiries on the off-chance as some will reply with some information. Perhaps your Son can write a template letter where he introduces himself, expresses a keen interest in x company (tailor letter with information gathered from research) and asks whether they would be willing to consider work experience opportunity, a telephone conversation to discuss what they look for in job candidates, their application process etc or could they send any information to him about recruitment process, job specifications which include qualifications/skills.

The Jobcentre can provide help with job search etc, but as with most things in life, it is always helpful, if the person seeking help knows what they really want to do and has done their homework. The homework is gaining all of the information to understand what is required to get to the starting point in a chosen career. It may be the case, your Son will have to do other jobs in different sectors to the one he prefers, just to gain skills which are useful in moving towards his ideal career.

Thanks so much for this. He is waiting to hear this week whether his school cleaning work will continue but I think because there is not so much need for dinner time staff as all catering is becoming just pre-packed sandwiches, some of those on permanent contracts may be given the cleaning roles instead so that is a worry. hopefully he will know this week and has made it clear he is available for extra hours.
He is thinking of going to University next year, but still unsure what course he wants to do. In the meantime he  is willing to do anything. He says he has applied to places like food outlets, supermarkets, pubs etc but as you say there are thousands of others chasing these jobs too and it's not easy.

kazzyd_2

Rubyroobs said:

kazzyd_2 said:

Rubyroobs said:

My 19 year old son left full time education in June, I am still receiving child benefit for him which ends tomorrow I believe. He is only doing very part time work in a school, despite applying for many jobs and getting no -where. Can he apply for UC in the next couple of days when I officially stop receiving child benefit for him?

This is exactly the same position my 19 year old is in. He left education in June also. He applied last week as soon as my Tax Credits stopped for him. I'm just hoping he finds something soon.

There doesn't seem to be much out there at the moment unfortunately. He is hoping to go to Uni next year but just needs a job for now. He is currently furloughed as a cleaner at his old school but I fear that they are going to prioritise the people on contracts and not the casual workers like my son. Hope your son finds something soon.

My son had his telephone assessment today. He's been applying for loads of jobs but there's not much out there as you say.

I hope your boy finds  something soon too. I feel so sorry for the young ones just now.