What does job centre/society actually expect this woman to do?

[steppemum]

I support a lady (friendship through a charity) I'll change some details to make it less identifiable.

She has a son aged 5 and in school and so the job centre are giving her a lot of hassle to get into work. But I just cannot see how she is supposed to do this:

• she is a single mum. Her partner is not son's dad and doesn't live with her.


• she lives on a large council estate out of town. Very little work on the estate. 20 minute bus ride into town. Some work in town, mostly in shops (which I doubt she would get, she's not likely to get a customer facing job) most work is then a further 20 minutes on the bus from the bus station in town.


• there is no breakfast club or after school club, or holiday clubs at the school


• there are no childminders on the estate. The closest ones are about 1 mile away, and don't do school drop offs or pick ups


• she does have local family, but they are not willing to do any childcare, either before/after school, or in the holidays.


• she is only likely to get a minimum wage job as she has no qualifications.

So, she could only work day time, from about 9:30 - 2:00 in order to do school run, no weekends and she has no-one to look after her son in the holidays.

Job centre has told her she is being too fussy and she must be more flexible with timings.

Am I missing something here? I just don't see HOW she can get a job! She would like to work actually, but is also pretty scared about ending up with less money.

OP, thank you for what you are doing to help this person.

I cannot believe some of the nasty replies on here; equally some people are either a bit dozy themselves or too lazy to read the posts to realise that the vulnerable adult can't read properly and doesn't have a computer. The suggestion to approach some larger organisations like Morrisons or Timpsons is a great one.

To the poster who said that all schools should be compelled to provide wrap-around care, what planet are you on? School budgets are pared to the bone. How are they meant to fund extra provision? How is the OP's mentee meant to work as a TA if she cannot read? Even lunchtime supervisors need some literacy skills to be able to read IHPs and complete accident reports. Can you imagine the outcry on here if someone's precious DC had an illiterate person listening to them read?

As others have said, there used to be lots of jobs in the manufacturing sector for people with a limited education but a willingness to work. My dad ran a business which employed around 200 locals, many in unskilled roles. Often teenage school-leavers joined their parents. Dad retired many years ago but still sees the man who could not read or write and a host of learning difficulties. This chap spent all day sweeping up, doing a good job and earning a wage. He was enrolled onto the pension scheme and now in his 80s is still drawing his company pension. One department was staffed entirely by mums who worked from 9.30 til 2.30, something that would suit the OP's mentee, but there are unfortunately few jobs like that any more.

I think the OP should have a couple of plans. Firstly, addressing the literacy and numeracy. Is there something that could be accessed - this will also help with parenting the 5 year old? Secondly, look at all local employers. Could the OP approach them to see if the mentee could get some voluntary experience in any suitable role (washing up, wiping tables etc.)? Thirdly, go back to the care agencies with the JC people to prove she is serious. Contact the local MP about the lack of childcare options. At least you and she will be seen to be being proactive.

@Remmy123 how might she learn to read? given that she has been through the school system etc.

My kids are at a school with no wrap around care/ breakfast club and no local childminders so I understand how challenging it can be. I'd agree with pp that cleaning is probably the easiest option. Perhaps not self employed cleaning of homes but pubs/ b&b's/ hotels all tend to need cleaners during school hours.

It's a bit boring but it's quite regimented in terms of what needs done and timings so might work with your clients abilities. Generally an easy interview too it's cleaning not rocket science etc.

@Remmy123

she already does volunteer in a charity shop.

She can't read...how the heck is she going to be able to read a care plan?

Except that it has been explained she struggles to keep her own home clean and generally struggles with life skills.

It’s true. I can remember some of the mums clucking about the “latchkey” siblings at our school. It must have been on the cusp of acceptable, then, in the 80s.

@BoDerek My own home can be messy and my car is a cesspit. It doesn't mean you can't flip a hotel room or mop the loos.

It's often the clutter that overwhelms people at home but in an eviromnment where everything has a place, it's much easier.

www.shawtrust.org.uk/

I don't know whether this charitable organisation works in your area OP. I used to work for them as a sort of peripatetic personnel person. It employs disadvantaged people - physical disabilities, learning, hearing, sight etc. It approaches companies to find jobs for these people and promises the proper support for the employees to help them to retain the job and do it well. Might be worth a bit of research. They were a very efficient and forward-looking organisation.

I did everything from help with form-filling, sorting benefits, travel, support to fit in with the working environment, child care to helping one young lad to understand what the doctor was planning for him to "make me balls drop"!

Very few people have the benefit of such an organisation. We need more - maybe this is what Job Centres should be doing more of.

So those saying -

she can't learn to read
she can't get a cleaning job in a deprived area as no one has cleaners
she can't be a carer as all the companies she has called can't do school hours at all
she can't be a dinner lady

what do you suggest she does?

Honestly...right now she sounds unemployable. I'd suggest she stays on benefits but continues to pointlessly apply for jobs so the job centre can tick their boxes.

Op what job was she doing before she had dc? I’m not sure how it works but did she have to make NI contributions at some point to get this allowance

Honestly...right now she sounds unemployable. I'd suggest she stays on benefits but continues to pointlessly apply for jobs so the job centre can tick their boxes.

Out of interest does this have a time limit?

They expect her to look for work so they can tick a box and she can keep getting her money.

If she finds work but cannot fulfil the hours she cannot do the job and will have to stay on benefits.

If you'd bothered to read, she's been turned down for care and cleaning jobs from all the local employers because she can only work school hours.
The woman has tried! She wants to work,

They expect her to use childminding and school clubs and reclaim the expense.

They expect her to work instead of influencing her children, that's the sate's job and the more time they have with her children and the more time she is in soul destroying work, the better.

She can take out debt to support herself once in work, and keep our fiat currency going.

This is her role as a mother on the breadline.

The system works.

Then she is fulfilling the looking for work criteria and needs to keep doing so.

There's two issues @MarshaBradyo

1. Her skill set
2. Her childcare issue

Solving both these problems simultaneously is quite honestly, verging on impossible.

Once her ds is old enough to not need childcare then she could focus on her skill set. Nowadays even the most basic, menial, poorly paid jobs need some degree of literary. She has learning difficulties by the sounds of it...it will be a huge challenge to find her work and I doubt she will ever be truly financially independent

Oh and I'm no left wing type I can assure you. Just a realist

The support system for vulnerable people today is broken by design and why we have so many people homeless on the streets.

It's disgraceful that such a wealthy country can't provide people who need it with childcare and support

I am not saying that she can't learn to read. She may well be able to learn, with the right kind of specialist support.

However, it isn't as simple as just getting on and teaching herself, as your previous post seemed to suggest. If she has got to this point in her life without having learned to read, then it's reasonable to assume that a) there are probably some learning difficulties that prevented her from acquiring this skill when she was at school, and b) that there are probably some pretty huge psychological barriers that she would have to overcome now in order to have the confidence to even try learning again. It isn't necessarily easy for people to access the support that they need, and it's incredibly naive to suggest that she should somehow just be getting on with it.

She already does voluntary work in the back room of a charity shop sorting out incoming donations

Have you been to the job centre with her? Are they aware of her barriers? That she has issues with literacy etc. Or is she just agreeing with everything they say because she’s worried that if she doesn’t they’ll stop her money?

It might also be worth checking if the school has a breakfast club - it would be unusual if a school on an estate as you describe didn’t have one. But maybe she doesn’t realise it can be used for childcare purposes?

I would consider her vulnerable and struggling, and this is what a decent benefits system should support, and I am happy to pay into. There are those who slip through the cracks, don't have a chance and we have not walked in their shoes.
I loathe the bootstraps mentality, we had that in the early 1900's and it ought to remain there. Social mobility is dead in the UK now, for many people like this. It is also a matter of confidence that most vulnerable people don't have, nor do they have access to nifty little inheritances and helpful family support.

So yes I agree she should be on benefits, not chastised for it, and to be able to try to broaden her skills whilst claiming. How else can anybody get off the ground in this situation if the system is forcing them into anxiety and inappropriate work?

If the past 10 years of rising homelessness and housing insecurity hasn't taught anyone anything, it's useless arguing. There's an elephant in the room. It wears a blue rosette.

Op has said woman has a low IQ and probably has a learning disability. Not everyone can learn to read and write. Responses would be very different if Op had said woman had Downs Syndrome.
In olden days there were institutions for people who couldn’t function in normal life or employers like remploy.
I’d imagine her best bet is via a scheme aimed at people with disabilities - like some posters have pointed out some bigger employers like McDonald’s do employ people. But it’s difficult if woman doesn’t have a diagnosis and finding what she might be eligible for and can access with no childcare or transport is virtually impossible.

If they do have a breakfast club check if she can access it for free if she gets free school meals. Even though all ks1 children get free meals if they apply for the funded ones they’ll also get pupil premium which can be a gateway to other help, such as free breakfast club.