Benefit for 18yr old son

[cosmobrown]

HI. I'm just wondering what benefit, if any, my son should be applying for. He is having a year out before uni, and so far has not managed to get a job at all.
Does UC count our savings, as he lives with us? Or just what he has?
If he could contribute to the household, it would really help at the moment.

Is he entrepreneurial? Are there any gaps in the market that he could fill?

Could he set himself up as a family help?

I was looking into employing someone on somewhere between £8 - £10 a hour to come to my home (it's allowed) to provide supervision and distraction while I wfh. Our normal out of the house childcare is closed.

I retain the responsibility as I'll be there but I need another pair of hands to feed, entertain, distract my children. (Glorified babysitting!)

I was looking for someone for about 10 hours a week (I work for 24 hours a week)

Yes - there will be hurdles but with a plan they can be overcome. Get a couple of families on board, some word of mouth recommendations and he could earn.

Sounds like you work for yourself too, so you can guide him about tax, NI etc etc.

Being entrepreneurial will look great on a CV.

"University is meant to be a formative experience. It’s not just education. But a lot of the activities simply won’t happen. I would be loathe to attend this year in his shoes. "

Most people have to accept poorer options than normal.

Rteurning to his uni course - if they allow this -
would be much more useful and less stressful than claiming benefits and having to prove he's spending 35 hours on job hunting

He would actually gain something from returning to uni:

being another year forward in his course
so he would be qualified and ready to start his career when the economy picks up again

Sadly he doesn't drive (can't get a test yet).
Does anyone know the answer to my Uni grant question? Regarding whether we would have to pay based on last years tax return, or what we earn now?
Thanks everyone. Tough times.

The amount of privilege on MN really shines through on threads like this.

Yes, he can apply for UC. The waiting times are long at the moment but once he's verified his identity he'll be entitled to an advance (with repayments being automatically taken out of his award monthly.)
They will expect him to look for work for 30 hours a week, he'll need to prove that by writing about the positions he's applied for on his journal; he'll be expected to apply for all jobs (even if he isn't qualified/physically capable of undertaking the role.)
They can sanction him if he doesn't job search for 30 hours.

I can understand why he wants to defer this year. The younger generation have really caught the shitty end of the stick with the lockdowns and restrictions; no jobs, no activities, no real time with peers/teachers.
I feel very sorry for them all at the minute.

What vicious comments MN really hates 18 year olds.
It was tough in many area finding work before Covid. With the best will in the world it could take him months to find work.
As to the student loan (please don'tcall it a grant) I believe if there has been a major change to your income they will use more recent figures.

I just had a look at the local jobs. There was care home work, and the job of Personal Assistant, which turns out to be one-to-one care for someone requiring intimate care (and I thought a personal assistant was a top secretary!) and two positions selling funeral plans on commission). It really is not a jobseeker’s market out there.

I've seen about 10 jobs advertised locally to me for bar and restaurant work this week. Both my nieces have walked into jobs in bars as they're having a gap year.

That’s great. I actually run a local job page on FB so have lots of contact with local recruitment firms and employers- I’ve got my finger firmly on the pulse of what’s available here locally and how many are applying and it’s insane. Unless someone you know is keeping a vacancy just for you- no-one is walking into any job here.

@milkysmum

Yes your money will be counted if he lives in your household. He needs to get a job not claim benefit for a year.

Are you sure about that? He's over 18 so counted as a single person and so parents income and savings not relevant.

www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/is-it-for-me/

Yes, and OP’s son could be really kind and caring and totally suited to care work Even if he wants to do something totally different at university and be able to make a real difference to people’s lives.

www.gov.uk/guidance/support-for-18-to-21-year-olds-claiming-universal-credit

I dont think ds1 is eligible for UC

And I don’t think accessing job help which bibbity linked to as part of the 18-21 support is possible if you are not claiming

Unless anyone knows anything different

@cosmobrown

Sadly he doesn't drive (can't get a test yet). Does anyone know the answer to my Uni grant question? Regarding whether we would have to pay based on last years tax return, or what we earn now? Thanks everyone. Tough times.

The gov student loan calculator just asks for income, it doesn't ask which tax year.

OP..you will notice there’s so much conflicting opinion on here. That’s why you should always go to gov.uk and apply ( or your son should!). He won’t get anything he’s not entitled to. Don’t waste a valuable CAB appointment on general advice that can be just as easily obtained from reading the actual gov websites. And take everything on here with a pinch of salt as people’s circumstances differ and some of what I’ve read is just plain wrong.

Don’t waste a valuable CAB appointment on general advice that can be just as easily obtained from reading the actual gov websites

We’ve looked at the websites...as far as we can see he isn’t entitled to anything

I don’t know who else he can contact

Such privilege and so many hard of thinking or living in the 90s here. Employment opportunities vary vastly by area - in some areas it might be possible to 'walk' into a job but that doesn't mean it's true for the whole UK, duh . The charity abroad crap, LOL, you need money to fund that and working holidaymaker, plus some place to quarantine.

Just have him apply for UC.

Does he drive/have access to a car?

He might find it easier to get night shifts at the supermarkets as less people are likely to apply. Once he has a foot in the door and probed his worth, he may then be able to move internally to more sociable shifts.

UC and im sure he can claim housing benefit for his room and pay you rent
I know afew people who do it

People on UC only get housing benefit paid if they live in "exempt", ie supported, accommodation. Otherwise they claim their housing costs through UC.

You can only get help with your housing costs when your "landlord is a near relative if it is a genuine commercial arrangement. Continuing to live with your parents in the parental home you grew up in is clearly not such an arrangement.

If the OP had a BTL property that happened to have become vacant, and her DS moved into it, he could conceivably get UC to cover the rent but it would be capped at the shared accommodation rate because he is under 35 (unless he gets DLA/PIP).

OP, your son won't be able to claim until your child benefit stops, which will be the first week in September.

@cosmobrown The student loan is based on your historic income from previous tax year. However, if there has been a significant drop in your income (can't remember if the guidance says 15% or 20%) there is provision to state this and declare current income - I think that is what you were asking.

He should be entitled to UC. Ignore all the naysayers.

As others have said your income and savings are not taken into account.

He won't be entitled to JSA as he hasn't paid any national insurance conts I assume and there's no new claims for income based JSA any more (except in certain circumstances that don't apply here).

UC is worth more currently than JSA anyway due to the Covid uplift.

Claiming UC will also open up support to find work.

And he cannot claim rent costs as some have suggested as you are his close family and live in the same house.

@RufustheRowlingReindeer That’s why I say apply for UC...the definitive way to find out!

@MiniMum97 That’s not true. New Style JSA is still available but there are qualifying conditions depending on work history. OPs son wouldn’t qualify though.

Oh sorry @MiniMum97 Just re read your post on income based and you are right!