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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:
Mustreadabook · 07/06/2021 20:42

Are there agencies for the kind of work you will be looking for at the end of your degree? Relevant work experience could be very useful. It’s 25 years since I did my degree and I didn’t know anyone who worked in term time, we had lectures 9-5 every day. I did work in the summer though, either agency work or one year got a relevant job via a tutor recommending me.

PotassiumChloride · 07/06/2021 20:42

To be honest, I really enjoyed the bar work when I was a student. It was sociable and a great way to meet other people. It was also in a city where every night was busy, so it didn’t impinge on my outside-work/student social life. The summer factory work was solely to pay off the overdraft / debt from the previously year Grin

fashionablefennel · 07/06/2021 20:43

I also volunteer on top of that.

so you find time for that?

Sootybear · 07/06/2021 20:43

@SaskiaRembrandt@Waxonwaxoff0 I also worked while I did my degree, cleaning , summer jobs etc, but I didn't have children at the time. OP has said she doesn't have support, so who is going to look after the children if she has to work out of her home. I'm just trying to be empathetic. It's not easy. Maybe, yes she finds a job that fits in, and I'm sure she will take it up, but why do single mothers have to make these difficult choices? Lots of my studying, once I had children, had to fit in with my partner, after he had come home after work. Why should trying to make life better for everyone be so hard?

JackieTheFart · 07/06/2021 20:44

[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]
Wow, how amazing you are that you’ve never had to take a job you don’t necessarily love to get by!

You have three months off. Feel free to not even try to get a job, but no the system isn’t broken that asks students to try and get a job in the very long holidays.

Odd that you think the fact you have a child and study means you should basically get a quarter of the year off.

Graphista · 07/06/2021 20:44

which is topped up by universal credit

Not for everyone

I worked in the summer when I was last at uni and dd was little. Childcare I used while at uni was continued and paid for with tax credits and wages.

I don't honestly see why you can't? There is always seasonal work available and especially this year as the hospitality industry are crying out for employees.

Also when you finish uni what do you think prospective employers will think of the gap in your cv?

A degree alone is meaningless you have to show willingness to go above and beyond

Do you have placements in the summer? How long is your summer break?

If you have time to volunteer you have time to work

The only students I knew who didn't work alongside their degree and in summer break were those from wealthy families and honestly they struggled to get work after uni initially because they had no proven work record

well for one I will be working in a job I actually enjoy and interests me rather than stocking shelves or cleaning

You are not coming across well here op. What's wrong with stocking shelves or cleaning exactly? Honest days work for an honest days pay - nothing wrong with that.

If you are thinking you will automatically get a job that DOESN'T require you to do menial tasks at least for the first few years I think you're in for a rude awakening -

What degree are you doing and what hob are you studying for? I have my suspicions

why am I not surprised training to be a social worker! Ime there are too many social workers with little real life experience and never working a nmw job is very much part of that. Op how can you relate to your clients if you don't have some real life experience of juggling a nmw hob, childcare and other responsibilities? Get out there, get a seasonal job and get some life experience

I've been lucky enough to have a couple of good really helpful social workers, but ime the newly qualified just trained ones can be a nightmare precisely because they have little real life tough experience. Don't be one of these op

ShanghaiDiva · 07/06/2021 20:44

[quote Sootybear]**@SaskiaRembrandt@Waxonwaxoff0 I also worked while I did my degree, cleaning , summer jobs etc, but I didn't have children at the time. OP has said she doesn't have support, so who is going to look after the children if she has to work out of her home. I'm just trying to be empathetic. It's not easy. Maybe, yes she finds a job that fits in, and I'm sure she will take it up, but why do single mothers have to make these difficult choices? Lots of my studying, once I had children, had to fit in with my partner, after he had come home after work. Why should trying to make life better for everyone be so hard?[/quote]
Who is going to look after her child when she graduates and has a full time job?

mellongoose · 07/06/2021 20:45

YABU. I worked a retail job whilst studying and I didn't have any UC top up either.

It's totally normal to work. We would all like to 'focus on our children' but that doesn't pay the bills 🤣

Jengnr · 07/06/2021 20:46

As a lone parent in the holidays I’m pretty sure there’s an exemption. There certainly used to be. Ask your WC

TheFairyCaravan · 07/06/2021 20:46

YABU

DS2 worked in a pub alongside his nursing degree. Sometimes he’d do a 7am-5pm shift in the community or on the ward then be behind the bar from 6:30pm-2am. He worked his bloody socks off. Most people on his course did. His girlfriend worked in Next for the first two years and then as a HCA on the bank. I’m not sure why you expect to be different.

DazzlingHaze · 07/06/2021 20:47

Your attitude absolutely stinks. YABU to think it's fine for you to sit on your arse all summer receiving benefits when you are able to work. Boohoo you wouldn't want to stack shelves because it doesn't interest you Hmm working in a job that you enjoy and find interesting is a privilege, not a requirement.

The only people I knew at uni who didn't work during the summer were those who had family money to fund them. Fair enough if during term time you can't manage to work due to childcare issues, studying and placements but there is no reason for you not to work during summer.

NatashaAlianovaRomanova · 07/06/2021 20:48

YABU

I worked 25hrs a week alongside my degree & I had 3 school age kids. I'd have been better off financially not working & claiming benefits but it just wasn't an option for me.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 07/06/2021 20:48

@SeasonFinale

How come your child breaks up at the end of June, surely she will be at school until at least most of the way through July too?
Surely you realise not everyone in the UK lives in England? Hmm. Scottish and NI schools break up at the end of June.
Original poster
onedaybabywelbeold · 07/06/2021 20:48

@Graphista oh if there's something I do have it's life experience 😂 in bucket loads...trust me...it's why I wanted to become a social worker in the first place.

OP posts:
MrsTerryPratchett · 07/06/2021 20:49

She needs to spend time with her child before September. Last year in a SW degree will be hard enough so some time off is needed.

Speaking as an exSW, if you think the hard bit is the degree, you will get a hell of a shock actually working as a SW.

I quite fancy a few weeks paid time off in the summer to hang out with DD. Can I have some?

However knowing how people feel about SWs, this is almost definitely a wind up to get the haterz out for:

Students
SWs
Benefit claimants
Single mums.

It's a cornucopia!

Graphista · 07/06/2021 20:49

And if you think there isn't a good deal of "grunt work" in social work... I think you're in for a shock!!

SaskiaRembrandt · 07/06/2021 20:49

[quote Sootybear]**@SaskiaRembrandt@Waxonwaxoff0 I also worked while I did my degree, cleaning , summer jobs etc, but I didn't have children at the time. OP has said she doesn't have support, so who is going to look after the children if she has to work out of her home. I'm just trying to be empathetic. It's not easy. Maybe, yes she finds a job that fits in, and I'm sure she will take it up, but why do single mothers have to make these difficult choices? Lots of my studying, once I had children, had to fit in with my partner, after he had come home after work. Why should trying to make life better for everyone be so hard?[/quote]
I guess she'll have to employ a child minder, or pay for a summer child care scheme. She's going to have to do that to carry out her placements anyway. I did my first degree in the '90s, the choice of childcare was really limited, and I was lucky that my university did offer financial support to pay for what was available because there was no government help.

I agree it shouldn't be so hard, but this is the situation. If the OP wants her degree she's going to have jump through a lot of fiery hoops to get it. If I ran the world she wouldn't have to, but we all have to work with the situation we have not the one we would like.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 07/06/2021 20:49

@Jengnr

As a lone parent in the holidays I’m pretty sure there’s an exemption. There certainly used to be. Ask your WC
Not now. Why should people pay for them to have a holiday when others don't get it because they don't have kids?
Peoniesandpeaches · 07/06/2021 20:50

The system is definitely screwed up but not because it asks you to look for jobs that may not interest you after all most people don’t really enjoy their jobs. There is a startling amount of privilege on display here and I’m not convinced this is real. Surely a social work student would have experience of the real difficulties of universal credit and poverty through placements so wouldn’t be so monumentally tone deaf.

DelBocaVista · 07/06/2021 20:50

These days it is very rare for students not to have a job while at university. It's not luxury most people have I'm afraid.
In fact, must universities have job shops which advertise jobs and some have entire teams working supporting students to find work.

Having a job while studying is an excellent way to develop additional employability skills.

Graphista · 07/06/2021 20:51

Op you're really not coming across as someone with empathy, grace and humility (as a pp mentioned essential qualities in a sw) and certainly not as someone with a lot of genuinely tough life experience if you think stacking shelves for a wage is a hardship!!

@MrsTerryPratchett yes I have my suspicions too

Anna727b · 07/06/2021 20:52

I agree OP. Just make it look like you're looking for work.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 07/06/2021 20:53

[quote Sootybear]**@SaskiaRembrandt@Waxonwaxoff0 I also worked while I did my degree, cleaning , summer jobs etc, but I didn't have children at the time. OP has said she doesn't have support, so who is going to look after the children if she has to work out of her home. I'm just trying to be empathetic. It's not easy. Maybe, yes she finds a job that fits in, and I'm sure she will take it up, but why do single mothers have to make these difficult choices? Lots of my studying, once I had children, had to fit in with my partner, after he had come home after work. Why should trying to make life better for everyone be so hard?[/quote]
You pay for childcare like other single mums do. As I said, I am a single mum on minimum wage and I pay for childcare.

ProudPolyGradSingleMum · 07/06/2021 20:53

I didn’t enjoy shop work. It was hard and it was boring and it didn’t interest me.

How is it fair that you get the summer off to be with your child?

I have two currently at uni. Both work. One has 2 jobs.

DelBocaVista · 07/06/2021 20:54

I never said any jobs were beneath me, only that I wouldn't enjoy it nor would it interest me

Well packing boxes in a factory wasn't enjoyable or interesting for me but I needed money while studying.

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