In despair. Husband is taking ages to find a role

I understand that it won't pay mortgage but they won't qualify for UC with 25k savings. They will have to pay credit cards off if they are going to qualify

Actually OP, in the current climate, the 'chats' are probably more worthwhile than sending you CV off along with 100 other people to apply for the same post.

It's brutal out there at the moment - no matter the sector. I have never been out of work before (I'm late forties) and the only way I can see myself securing something decent at the moment, is via contacts/word of mouth/friends of friends/networking.

I have a strong CV, good experience and plenty to offer but I'm not even getting responses from jobs I know I'm over-qualified for - despite hitting 90% of the 'experience needed' criteria. The 'job market' is swamped with applicants.

I totally understand your worry, but don't discourage the conversations.

Selling up may not be feasible option in this currently flat market re property. Their house may be on the market for months, they may have to reduce to sell. The realistic and better option is to increase household income (and cut back on everything). The boom time for sellers has long past.

UC will not pay there 2k mortgage however when the money runs out in a couple of months they maybe able to claim UC at that point. Paying the CC is jumping the gun too soon.

The sensible thing to do in this scenario would be to use savings to pay off the credit card debt and then apply for UC.
They will get money for both kids and help with childcare costs as well.
And he absolutely should be applying for contributions based JSA - he's entitled to that for 6 months

Geeez he is taking the piss royally.

Im all for supporting someone when they've lost their job but he isn't supporting you financially, mentally, physically or anything.

Sit him down. Tell him straight enough is enough. You can apply for jobs and look after children/do housework/shopping and still go for a quick swim.

What a joke! Either shape up or ship out! You won't love him for much longer when the resentment builds!

As I said previously. She has stated that the 11k will last them two months. They have credit card debt too

They have credit card debt as well. If they paid it off they could claim UC in the meantime and as I said earlier he should be entitled to contributions based JSA

It's not about waiting for his dream job. It's about hitting the minimum salary they need for their lifestyle.

I thought the £10k savings was on top of the £11k final pay?

She also said he takes home 4K a month and has an 11k settlement. I would expect that to be able to cover 3 months otherwise there was already an issue.

You take an "any job" when you have exhausted all other options after a reasonable length of time. And in their case, if he hits that point, they'll have to look at selling up and moving somewhere cheaper.

Presumably the OP is not ready to accept moving.

As for overqualified - it's an employer's market right now. Employers are not going to pick a candidate they think will quit as soon as something better comes along. It's a very different time to 2020.

She's stated that the 11k settlement will last them two months. He's not got the luxury of waiting for the role he wants

ML is talking about an ideal situation when you have an income coming in. Absolute bonkers recommendation to start advising paying off huge debt that can wait when they have no income at all. Yes obviously in an ideal world he would walk in to another job and they would use the payout to pay the debt off but this just shows a lack of awareness as to what the current job market is like.

He can't opt out of being a parent, but it would be wrong to get him to suddenly take on more because he has no job. His job right now is finding a job. Or at least, it should be.

They should be splitting the chores in the same way that woud feel fair to them as a couple as if he were still working.

They can't afford for him to not throw his all into the job search.

Agree, I phased it badly. Should certainly be pulling weight and ideally doing the lion’s share

There are plenty of people who have done jobs that they are over qualified for. I have. How do you think people coped during lock down. I know people who worked in warehouses and as delivery drivers to get a wage in because of the wages they were losing elsewhere.

They won’t go for him “any job” he wont be qualified for or have recent experience in

They are his kids. He should be doing more than helping out. Same with housework

Still what would I know. I'm a pleb who uses sites like indeed that other people look down their nose at clearly.

I'm of the view that in this situation he needs to be looking at anything to get a wage in even in the short term while other roles come up

Other people think the OP should work full time till he gets a job

Similar story with my dh, took six months. I won’t lie it was a stressful time but it does take time to get traction and eventually things will fall into place

exercise is important for mental health. And again, helping out with the kids and house is important too.

I'm quite aware of that. I wasn't suggesting that one size needed to fit all. When I was jobseeking I had more than one CV. My point was and is that he seems to be using his job search to opt out of doing anything in the home apart from baking -nothing with childcare and no pick up and drop offs and they have money to last two months

I got my last job offer through indeed btw

Well he has still been earning a salary for the last month and now has enough redundancy pay to cover the next 3 months of salary so he’s not bringing in nothing at this point.
yes he does need to secure a job but he needs to commit enough time to getting the job for him. Alongside that he should investigate backup options in case he can’t get something quickly.

It’s not uncommon for managers to “find a reason” to make someone redundant but nevertheless I think it’s unfair to consider him to be “sacked”
he’s been unlucky and a lot of us have been I a similar situation. It’s early days, I’d cut him some slack

that said there is no excuse not to take over at least a proportion of childcare in the meantime.

also he could be tasked with declutteirng by selling on Vinted/Facebook which will bring in a bit of cash.

He's only just been let go, he got an £11k payout and they have £10k in savings.

If he gets a NMW job now, they definitely won't be able to afford their mortgage and childcare. He won't be able to prep for interviews and attend interviews if he's busy in a NMW job.

False economy with no forward thinking at all.

He needs to apply for jobs seriously, but he hasn't been out of work long enough to give up on £80k and chase £12.71 an hour.

Ok but you need to write the cover letter, that is the bit that takes time- if you are putting a generic cover letter then don’t expect to get a job.