If you are a high income household, do your uni student DC work?

[Newmeagain]

I don’t think I am wrong here, but have started to doubt myself.

My DD is doing a very demanding uni course with long contact hours, so is not working during term time. But I strongly encouraged her to get a summer job before she started uni and again this summer. She is also having a couple of trips so not just working.

It is not essential for her to work as I have a good salary and her father (exH) is very well off and gives her an allowance. But she tells me that quite a few of her uni friends and friends from school are not working.

i get that she doesn’t love her minimum wage job, but when I was growing up (not UK) it was a bit of a “rite of passage” for all students, even from upper middle class families, to have a job waitressing, supermarket cashier, etc. For the experience and to be earning some of their own money.

am I wrong?

Couldn’t have put it better. An empty CV (of work) could top the balance against her.

I’m not a high earner but my DH (deceased) was when my stepson was at uni. He had a summer job. What else they going to do? He earned enough to go on a weeks holiday and the rest paid expenses during term time.
My DD got an internship at her uni for the last term. She’s working abroad this summer but she won’t bank any money as they’ve paid her flights and accommodation, that’s why she was so keen to get some work last term. But her friends have all got jobs for the summer, one just increases her term time hours. She worked last summer too which gave her a nice cushion - I don’t give her any money.
My son has always got jobs by going in person and then going back every week to remind them of his interest!
They need something on their CV for when they start applying for those scarce graduate jobs!

High earning family- DD has just finished her first year at Uni and is working all summer and not having any holiday- her choice. She hasn’t been able to find a term time job but is hoping her summer job will make her more employable when she’s back at Uni.

We have five kids and now have three in university. We didn’t ask them to work unril
they reached university level . We pay for everything else but think they need to pay for their own social lives and extras once they reach this age . Their jobs have been about so much more than money though . They have had fun, made friends and learned how hard it can be to earn money . Valuable life skills come from working though university .

DC didn't go straight to university after school. He worked two years as chef in in a top hotel, and he helped fill the portering casual jobs with nicely spoken well dressed people for the summer who understood exactly what their parents were expecting from a posh hotel.

DS has just left school and has had a job for the last year. He will try and get a job in first year at least (but knows it might be hard to get one). He quite likes earning his own money and not relying on the bank of mum and dad. He saved his own money to go on holiday with friends, and is hoping that working, along with us paying his rent when he goes to Uni, will really help cover his costs. Despite going on holiday he has a few thousand saved already, and hopes to add to that considerably over the summer.

We can afford to support him, but working has been really good for him. He’s developed new skills, including how to balance competing priorities, made new friends, and has a good work ethic which will stand him in good stead in the future.

We are high income and our kids have both worked from 16 - DD part time through A-levels and then full time in all uni holidays until the start of Jan in 3rd year so she could fully concentrate on exams and her dissertation. We felt she should cover her costs (we did top up accommodation costs since her maintenance loan didn't quite cover them). She also found working was so great for her confidence and helped her make friends. DS did an apprenticeship in software development after GCSEs and has a full time job now at 19 in the same company. DD certainly would have been bored out of her mind with nothing to do for 3 months every summer and I think we would do our kids a disservice by not encouraging them to earn their own money as soon as they can. It has certainly made life easier for DD to find a job after graduating. She also did a lot of volunteering (Brownies and a companion for SEN teens) which again has helped with her confidence, looks good on her CV, helped her make friends as well as just being a good thing to do. She is staying in her uni city to work and will continue the volunteering.

My 2 brothers are in their 40s and still getting financial help from my parents. They are ridiculously dependant on them which has been stressful and meant my parents didn't retire until later than they needed to. My brothers were the golden kids and didn't work as teens unlike me It just made me super conscious about not giving my kids an easy ride (I appreciate it is an extreme case!).

Yes and to be honest as an employer I would probably judge new grads who hadn’t worked during uni Summer holidays quite negatively unless there was a good reason (rich parents not being a reason). What they may see as crappy part time jobs irrelevant to their chosen career actually build character and resilience and are probably some of the hardest jobs they’ll end up doing!

My ds worked throughout the upper 6th, and I expect him to work during uni too. He is fine with that, he likes working.

Yes. My DS works. Technically we could afford to just give him money but I think working, no matter what level the job is at, is really good experience and builds skills.

You’re definitely not wrong. As well as all the reasons others have given, the uni holidays are LONG! I appreciate some young people have complicated homes lives, and it’s not always easy to find work. But if they can, I think it’s much better for them than twiddling their thumbs, or even than spending the whole time travelling, if they’re lucky enough for that to be an option. It gives them a sense of independence, a different perspective, knowledge of people from different walks of life and, hopefully, an understanding of how fortunate they are.

Our kids worked over the summers- they both gained from every single experience- it gave they stuff to talk about at interviews and they gained confidence. I interviewed for grad positions- I was always a little concerned if someone had reached age 22 and never had a job - it was a red flag.

My DCs don’t work during term
time but do during the summer.

My ds1 worked in a pub in summer and at Christmas. He tried to get a job in college bar but no luck, My ds2 didn’t, but he’s super academic and spent all his hols reading and studying. My dd is doing babysitting and other odd jobs after her A levels. Last summer she handed out loads of CVs but not a sniff - hopefully now she’s 18+ she’ll have more luck.

My kids don’t work term time but I 100 percent expect them to work in the summer holidays and quite frankly anyone who doesn’t needs to take a hard look at themselves.

the uni summer is long. No teen needs to be lying in bed scrolling and getting funded by their parents. Mine have done sports coaching, babysitting, tutoring, bar work, youth work and camp america. I can easily afford for them not to work but it really does them no favours. I’m in a position whereby voluntary work / internships are also a good option but to do nothing, absolutely not. That’s not even open to discussion

Totally. How can any parent think it’s ok for a uni student to have no work experience and then be suprised they are struggling to find a grad job

Yes, I think it's very important not to get to 22 and not have worked.

I used to be responsible for hiring graduates and don't think I'd have taken on anyone who hadn't.

I was at university in the 90s and some people didn't work then, so it's not a new thjng.

sure but a) it's an employers' market and you have to sift the CVs somehow, and b) training up new graduates is a lot of work, l don't want to add basic workplace skills to that

We’re not quite there yet, DC is nowhere near uni age, however when it gets to that I will not expect her to work.

I did my degree as a mature student rather than straight out of college and I remember the pressures and stresses of it all well. I had to continue working and it meant every waking moment was taken up by something, assignments were handed in just in time because I had little time to sit and focus on them, work became a chore (even though I enjoyed my job) because I was always thinking about what I had to do next and I had no time for a social life/life of any kind.

When it gets to that point, if it’s what she chooses, she will only work if she wants to. I want her to have the whole university experience without being thrown into the deep end of adult life. I had friends in university that left because they needed the money from working that have ‘wasted’ so much potential.

A summer job, for the experience, I might encourage because it’s useful for CV’s and picking up new skills but at the same time I would much rather have her go travelling, pick up new hobbies, spend time with friends and relax.

The days have long passed since a recruiter was impressed by travelling - you’re setting her up for a light weight cv, low on skills and experience- employers actually want to employ adults - best to have a bit of practice in adult skill beforehand. Babysitting recruits is something they aren’t too keen on.

£200k household income here and both DCs have worked during university. DD worked as a mentor through uni, did clearing shifts and tutored basic maths. DS works in a restaurant and is a musician so gets paid gigs (weddings pay VERY well!!)

DD is one of a few in her cohort to get a grad scheme and she says that it was far easier to answer some interview questions using work examples than uni examples.

I have a team of nearly 100 people who report through to me. I don't do much grad recruiting myself but my management team do and they would much rather see someone with min wage hospitality or retail experience than someone with no work history.

Things like team work and dealing with complaints are key skills in work and readily learned in retail and hospitality.

First child did minimum wage jobs during holidays. Second child isn't allowed to work at university, and is spending the summer doing additional courses to try and get a head start for applying for paid internships in his chosen field next year. I'm not going to make him work on top of that.

She’ll have more luck applying to graduate jobs if she has some summer job work experience to talk about at interview

It’s very hard to get hired with a degree and 0 work experience. Why would anyone want them?

She does other things that if continued will look great on her CV but I see your point.

I know lots of young people through work who didn’t work through university and still landed awesome jobs though so I’m not too worried. Skills and experience can be gained through life outside of working a minimum wage job and risking burnout or choosing a steady wage over an education.

She is not looking at doing anything majorly competitive either, if it was the sort of subject that require a mass of experience I would be advising her to work part time.