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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think being forced to get a job when a student is ridiculous?

615 replies

onedaybabywelbeold · 07/06/2021 20:01

I am a 29 year old single mum, I have just finished my 3rd year at uni and going into my honours year. I worked for 10 years full time before going back to education. During the term year I receive student loan which is topped up by universal credit. I have about 1100 pounds to do me for the month so it's doable but tight.

Now that uni is finished for the summer I am obviously getting more universal credit to see me through. However, today I had to meet with my work coach and he told me I should be job hunting for a job over the summer and should treat job hunting as a full time job.

I told him that I might struggle to get a job as I can only work during the hours my daughter is in school, I have no one to help me and she finished school for the summer end of June. Also I told him it would be hard to get a job as I would be leaving again in September, to which he suggested I stay in a job whilst at uni as 'you don't really have to do much work until the end of the year'.

To be honest I don't really want to work when at uni, I mean I wouldn't be any better off than I would be on universal credit yet running with a substantial decrease in time so why would I? Honesty I don't understand the point in this, surely it's just wasting employers time as I'm not very serious about getting a job as I don't have the childcare. However, I'm worried that if I don't get a job they'll start reducing my payment.

AIBU to think the system is absolutely fucked?

OP posts:
Elys3 · 09/06/2021 09:57

Wow the capitalist bootlicking single mum haters are raging on here!!!

Totally agree with you. I am older than most on here and am a net contributor over the years But if this is the short sighted attitude of young women today the country is fucked.

inmyslippers · 09/06/2021 10:02

Wow the capitalist bootlicking single mum haters are raging on here!!!

Totally agree with you. I am older than most on here and am a net contributor over the years But if this is the short sighted attitude of young women today the country is fucked.

^^ I don't work when I'm busy at uni. But during the holidays majority of my child care is paid for. I don't get why you wouldn't want to earn more when the opportunity presents.

Lebowitzlove · 09/06/2021 10:02

‘grubby attitude’ really.... There are indeed some grubby attitudes on show here.
This thread is grubby.
She hasn’t quit working for four years. She is trying to better herself by doing a degree. She worked full time prior to that and in all likelihood will do on completion of her degree. Single parents really can’t win on mumsnet.
I congratulate her.

Lebowitzlove · 09/06/2021 10:05

@inmyslippers
I am probably at least as old as you.
By the way, most who see themselves as net contributors often aren’t.

moynomore · 09/06/2021 10:07

I don't have an issue with her not being able to work though. I get that it doesn't look very feasible in this situation. But it's the OP's attitude that bothers me. Her utter shock that a work coach might, you know, encourage her to work, is not good in my opinion. And also the part where she says to be honest I don't really want to work when at uni, I mean I wouldn't be any better off than I would be on universal credit yet running with a substantial decrease in time so why would I? This get peoples backs up and rightly so. She literally says she doesn't want to work as she is no better off.

Lebowitzlove · 09/06/2021 10:11

The work coach is doing what they are told to do with all claims whether they see it as realistic or not.

DelBocaVista · 09/06/2021 10:18

Her utter shock that a work coach might, you know, encourage her to work, is not good in my opinion. And also the part where she says to be honest I don't really want to work when at uni, I mean I wouldn't be any better off than I would be on universal credit yet running with a substantial decrease in time so why would I? This get peoples backs up and rightly so. She literally says she doesn't want to work as she is no better off.

This.
I think most of us can understand that it would be difficult for her, it was the attitude that got people annoyed. Especially when she said she didn't want to do certain jobs because they wouldn't be interesting or enjoyable. Well, welcome to the real world!

To call the system 'fucked up' is also ridiculous.
As many people have said, part time work while studying is the norm abs can be beneficial.

Lebowitzlove · 09/06/2021 10:48

Putting young children in childcare, breaking even or losing money, to continue in a job that will give you long term security is worthwhile, individually and for society.
Putting young children in short term childcare ( which is not easy to find ) to break even or lose money for a couple of months is not ideal. Since it is subsided nobody is ahead as the government end up paying childcare costs instead of the benefit. Meanwhile children are losing time with a parent, in an unfamiliar short term setting and Op loses valuable study time. That is what is fucked up.

Elys3 · 09/06/2021 10:57

[quote Lebowitzlove]@inmyslippers
I am probably at least as old as you.
By the way, most who see themselves as net contributors often aren’t.[/quote]
Without being too outing I held a specialist role in medicine so I most definitely have been a net contributor Grin

University is a relatively short period in ones productive working life, so it felt more important when I went through it to invest any spare time I had in studying to make sure I passed my course, and for the sake of future patients to make me the best possible doctor I could be. I came from a single parent household too, so whilst I had some grant income, studying was still a huge struggle financially and left me in debt, which took a long time to pay off.

We desperately need more top quality social workers, the job is getting progressively harder and if being able to focus on studying makes the OP a better social worker, this is far more important a yield to society than a few hours in a min wage job, the desultory tax take that this would result in. It is not as though she doesn’t already have work experience for her CV.

Babyroobs · 09/06/2021 11:01

@DelBocaVista

Her utter shock that a work coach might, you know, encourage her to work, is not good in my opinion. And also the part where she says to be honest I don't really want to work when at uni, I mean I wouldn't be any better off than I would be on universal credit yet running with a substantial decrease in time so why would I? This get peoples backs up and rightly so. She literally says she doesn't want to work as she is no better off.

This.
I think most of us can understand that it would be difficult for her, it was the attitude that got people annoyed. Especially when she said she didn't want to do certain jobs because they wouldn't be interesting or enjoyable. Well, welcome to the real world!

To call the system 'fucked up' is also ridiculous.
As many people have said, part time work while studying is the norm abs can be beneficial.

The issue is that people claim Uc and in doing so they agree to their work commitments which to be honest if you have kids are pretty reasonable. If op didn't want to keep to the agreement she shouldn't have claimed or agreed to the conditions of claiming. There's no point agreeing to something and then saying actually you don't want to do it after all. I do agree that it is hard to look for short term work and as above it actually costs the tax payer more to fund childcare than to just pay the benefit which is fine if it's a long term thing as it will hopefully pay off in the claimant eventually continuing working long term and childcare costs reducing but for 3 months I agree it's barely worth it. Having said that though, op would be significantly better off working even in the short term - if she claims UC rent element she can earn up to £293 a month without her Uc amount even being affected at all which surely even if short term would have significant benefits to her household income.
smallgoon · 09/06/2021 12:02

Volhhg

Wow the capitalist bootlicking single mum haters are raging on here!!!

Funnily enough there is another thread where youth violence is also being placed at the door of single mothers ( too busy working to properly raise their children).

@Lebowitzlove You literally couldn't make this shit up, could you? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Classic mumsnet!

RedthroatedCaracara · 09/06/2021 12:20

I work a minumum wage job and pay childcare, should I not bother then?

Up to you but in the OP's position I wouldn't as it's just a few months in the summer not a long term thing.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 09/06/2021 12:31

Feels to me (having followed the the thread for a while) as though:

You will have roughly the same amount of money if you work or don’t over those theee months. As the amount is the same-

  • you would prefer it came form tax payers’ money so you could stay at home with your child, and could potentially get more studying done if you have any in the break
  • your work coach, and many on here, think you should earn that money as you are able to do so, and many others have to etc

When out that way, you do seems a bit unreasonable! I guess that’s working on the basis that being at home with your child over the summer is a luxury and not a right.

Dozycuntlaters · 09/06/2021 13:44

It's not that people are capitalist bootlicking single mum haters, it's the OP's attitude that is putting peoples backs up.

Saying things like she won't enjoy shelf stacking etc, no point working as she will get the same in UC is never going to sway anyone to her point of view. Saying the system is fucked when it's a system that keeps her, a bit of a cheek really. That is what posters are objecting to!

Lebowitzlove · 09/06/2021 13:54

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

Feels to me (having followed the the thread for a while) as though:

You will have roughly the same amount of money if you work or don’t over those theee months. As the amount is the same-

  • you would prefer it came form tax payers’ money so you could stay at home with your child, and could potentially get more studying done if you have any in the break
  • your work coach, and many on here, think you should earn that money as you are able to do so, and many others have to etc

When out that way, you do seems a bit unreasonable! I guess that’s working on the basis that being at home with your child over the summer is a luxury and not a right.

The taxpayers contribution is cancelled out by childcare subsidies. For a site for mothers there doesn’t seem to be much support for mothers. This is really not a situation where someone is work shy.
OccaChocca · 09/06/2021 14:00

Crikey, I worked during term time and the holidays when I went to uni. I can't really remember having a holiday.

How are you going to cope with permanent work if you can't manage a few hours in the summer?

moynomore · 09/06/2021 14:04

This is really not a situation where someone is work shy.

She literally says in the OP that she doesn't want to work as she won't be better off.

Lebowitzlove · 09/06/2021 14:06

@OccaChicca
We’re you a single mum at the time too?
If not, it’s a bit irrelevant. All my friends worked in the holidays too.
I would imagine once she has full time work, she will arrange stable childcare around her job. She obviously did when she previously worked full time.
I’m wondering about this short term childcare that is flexible enough to fit around the kind of unpredictable hours you would be working in a typical summer job.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 09/06/2021 14:19

@Lebowitzlove I’m not having a go at her, I just think she may not have thought through how it comes across!

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 09/06/2021 14:19

Or what she’s actually saying, more to the point.

inmyslippers · 09/06/2021 14:33

She literally says in the OP that she doesn't want to work as she won't be better off.

^^ she would be better off though. The first £270 earn't doesn't effect universal credit. Then you lose 40p to the £ (not entirely sure of the amount) and single parents get 80% of childcare paid for. They even have grants available to cover the first month of child care bills. They even finance courses that lead to employment. It couldn't possibly be made any easier to work

CaptainSmartarse · 09/06/2021 15:12

18 years a sw here. OP , don't listen to them on here ,berating you. You claim what you can ,while you can . I was a single mum doing that course and worked during my hols. It's very tough . When you qualify ,oh boy you will make up for it . The job is very hard and thankless most of the time . I lost alot of time with my children ,running about looking out for other people's children . My bosses were crap and really didn't have your back . I'm not trying to scare you but it is a tough job. We need real people with real life experiences like single mums ,so you spend time with your kids and study and don't listen to the ones saying your workshy . If she was workshy ,she wouldn't be doing social work ,ffs ! Good luck !

christinarossetti19 · 09/06/2021 15:45

You're so right CaptainSmartarse.

I think what OP meant by the 'system being fucked' is her having to 'be seen' by the Job Centre (or whatever it's called now) to be actively looking for work that she and he both know that she's unlikely to be able to find childcare for and will need to leave when the next year of her degree starts. And her spending her time looking for this job with magically available childcare and worrying that her UC payments will be reduced if she doesn't find one is a shitty position to be in.

Also, requiring lone parents to put their children in a childcare setting so that they can go and earn enough to pay for it is, well, not great for the children and of no particular benefit to anyone else.

Before she left, OP did say that she doesn't consider any job to be 'beneath' her but obviously don't take any notice of that.

Suffolkpunch345 · 09/06/2021 16:38

I think the problem is that our social security system makes it better not to have a job than to have.

Ariela · 09/06/2021 16:55

[quote onedaybabywelbeold]@Waxonwaxoff0 well for one I will be working in a job I actually enjoy and interests me rather than stocking shelves or cleaning. Secondly I will be making a wage that is worth my while to actually work and be able to pay childcare. Working part time and paying childcare would make me come out worse off [/quote]
Perfectly possible to do both . Eldest rode/schooled peoples horses for them @£20/hour or so a time, and worked less hours for more money than all her friends, and got petrol paid to some jobs..