Universal Credit - Money reduced because child in education.

welshmoneylover

If this was my son I would encourage him to get a job to support himself rather than rely on benefits etc.
children/young adults learn a lot of life skills from their parents and he really needs to let go of the apron strings to give him an independent (of the state) start in life.
good luck OP but I think you will find that your benefits will further reduce when your 2 remaining children leave education;now is the time to start preparing for that as UC is pretty harsh to live on without any child/REN element.

soolin

I echo the above about getting a job , part time if necessary to assist with costs. OP a when your son goes to university how is he going to manage if he is already struggling a little with just 12 .5 hours of college work at the moment? Yes there are loans, but realistically they often don’ t stretch to cover all the costs and either the parents help out (which would not be possible in this case) or the student works. Finding a little job at the moment might well get him used to setting up his time management, and make it easier when he goes away to uni.

I have sons and they all worked various jobs from the age of 14, from paper rounds, to packing and unpacking  market stalls at the local market - moving into retail in shops and newsagents when they turned 16. They worked all the way through uni, one poor lad went through a horrible cold winter at uni traipsing the streets handing out leaflets for a local fast food chain . Even then when they got into their second years and moved out of halls we as parents had to act as guarantors for rental rooms in shared accommodation - and that was not cheap. 

KxMx

As no benefits or student finance is possible currently then him looking for a job seems to be the only option. He is an adult and it's not unreasonable.

Self employment is always an option, you say he is good with computers, he could look into starting a little business which could fit around College, perhaps places need coding help for their websites, repairs or new builds for people wanting something different/high spec?

There may even be funds available to help with that start.

I'd also suggest posting on the debt free wannabe board, some very experienced posters there can help with that side of things, they are not there to judge but to help, often an outside pair of eyes views the situation neutrally and can highlight what is absolutely necessary, what is nice to have and what is unnecessary. 

yksi

You're angry at me and a bit defensive, sort of understandable, but you clearly don't like the home truths. I get that. I was also too ill to work for many years and even if you don't like the fact, both you and I taught our kids the opposite of going out and working to support ourselves. We couldn't help it. It is what our kids observe, like it or hate it. Instead of being angry about it, it would be more useful to acknowledge that sometimes life just sucks and it is very unfair. Spending all your energy looking for ways to get the government to support him in sitting at home for most of his week is neither productive nor helping him in the long run. Employers still look at work histories of young people who have qualifications, you know, and having never had a part-time job will go against him when compared with the ones who've worked at McDonalds on weekends, etc. Every little thing we can add to that arsenal will help him in the long run.

I have to disagree with people continually saying that the minimum wage jobs are "out there for whoever wants them" as if they are easy to find - that is a load of !!!!!! - my own convenience store advertised an 8h temporary contract which got 30 applications in less than 24 hours which means that 29 people went away without a job. I've advertised for cleaners myself on 4h contracts and been inundated. But the thing is, if you don't act, you definitely don't get. The reality is that he needs to be spending a couple of hours every single morning looking at the new job ads and putting in applications. He will then have a good six hours a day to do his coursework and homework. Plenty of time. Eventually, some of them will offer interviews and he'll get that job, but it might take a while and cause a fair bit of disappointment along the way - it definitely isn't easy, but thankfully he will have his parents to encourage him and coach him on his CV and interview technique. There are still grown middle-aged customers in my store who remark that they've been let go but they'll "pick up a supermarket job" as if it's like picking up milk while you're out for a walk. People who can't even manage to sanitise their hands as they walk in or pull the mask up over their nose. They are in for a rude awakening when it gets snatched away from them by the 30yo who has applied for 20 other jobs this week, has a tidy CV, dresses nicely for the interview and has questions and answers prepared.

Spoonie_Turtle

poppy12345 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

sparkyuiop said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

yksi said:

As a responsible adult he should be helping to support himself. Choosing to study but not apply for the funding you mentioned earlier is his choice. 

What funding? Genuine question; I reread the thread to see what I'd missed but I still can't find what you're referring to.

Actually Spoonie Turtle we just found out he isn't entitled to student finance yet anyway so you're right, it seems there is no funding whatsoever. 

In that case it seems your only chance for support is to argue that he is not in full-time education and can therefore claim UC in his own right

I can't see that working and not the best idea in my opinion. OP was claiming the child element for the Son because they were in full time education. Saying they are no longer doing this so they can claim UC could be seen as benefit fraud.

Good point, I'd forgotten that detail.

sparkyuiop

yksi said:

You're angry at me and a bit defensive, sort of understandable, but you clearly don't like the home truths. I get that. I was also too ill to work for many years and even if you don't like the fact, both you and I taught our kids the opposite of going out and working to support ourselves. We couldn't help it. It is what our kids observe, like it or hate it. Instead of being angry about it, it would be more useful to acknowledge that sometimes life just sucks and it is very unfair. Spending all your energy looking for ways to get the government to support him in sitting at home for most of his week is neither productive nor helping him in the long run. Employers still look at work histories of young people who have qualifications, you know, and having never had a part-time job will go against him when compared with the ones who've worked at McDonalds on weekends, etc. Every little thing we can add to that arsenal will help him in the long run.

I have to disagree with people continually saying that the minimum wage jobs are "out there for whoever wants them" as if they are easy to find - that is a load of !!!!!! - my own convenience store advertised an 8h temporary contract which got 30 applications in less than 24 hours which means that 29 people went away without a job. I've advertised for cleaners myself on 4h contracts and been inundated. But the thing is, if you don't act, you definitely don't get. The reality is that he needs to be spending a couple of hours every single morning looking at the new job ads and putting in applications. He will then have a good six hours a day to do his coursework and homework. Plenty of time. Eventually, some of them will offer interviews and he'll get that job, but it might take a while and cause a fair bit of disappointment along the way - it definitely isn't easy, but thankfully he will have his parents to encourage him and coach him on his CV and interview technique. There are still grown middle-aged customers in my store who remark that they've been let go but they'll "pick up a supermarket job" as if it's like picking up milk while you're out for a walk. People who can't even manage to sanitise their hands as they walk in or pull the mask up over their nose. They are in for a rude awakening when it gets snatched away from them by the 30yo who has applied for 20 other jobs this week, has a tidy CV, dresses nicely for the interview and has questions and answers prepared.

He doesn't sit at home all week and when he does he mostly studies. He has applied for jobs and still is including going to interviews so I wish people would stop suggesting he is a dosser as he most defiantly is not.

theoretica

The thing that strikes me most is that this student apparently needs much of his time and energy for the course he is doing, to put his studies first.  But this course is relatively low on hours, as full time courses go.  If this is taking all his time and energy how well would he cope with increased demands at university?  A job would not just be valuable for his current finances, it would also as mentioned be helpful for future employability and it would be no bad thing for university applications.

calleyw

theoretica said:

The thing that strikes me most is that this student apparently needs much of his time and energy for the course he is doing, to put his studies first.  But this course is relatively low on hours, as full time courses go.  If this is taking all his time and energy how well would he cope with increased demands at university?  A job would not just be valuable for his current finances, it would also as mentioned be helpful for future employability and it would be no bad thing for university applications.

A number of years ago when I was in mid 20's when I was doing open university up to 16 hours a week in my own time and working a full time job and working 2 nights a week stacking shelves in a supermarket.  It was hard and after 8 months I had to give up the part time supermarket job. So 12 hours a week with nothing else to do but study sounds bliss to me.  If the op's son is spending the equivalent of a working week or more on a 12 hour course.  Then I would say he needs extra help and/or maybe academia is not for him.

Sadly too many people get caught out by this every year when they lose the money that they were getting for what now is classed as an adult children. Even though they have had 18 years to get ready for this they still seem to forget that this going to happen and not plan for it.

Yours

Calley x

Lanzarote1938

There needs to be another word to describe these young adults. They are certainly not what i would cal children and it so muddies the water when child related benefits are still being claimed for them. I was married with 2 children and running my own home at this young man's age.

sheramber

sparkyuiop said:

 

He doesn't sit at home all week and when he does he mostly studies. He has applied for jobs and still is including going to interviews so I wish people would stop suggesting he is a dosser as he most defiantly is not.

He does want a job but at the moment with COVID and the fact he needs a distinction or merit to get to university his study has all of his priorities. 

So, which is it?