Graduate DD not qualifying for job seekers. The buck stops with us

[drivinmecrazy]

DD1 graduated this summer and moved home to us in October.
Since then she's been applying for entry level jobs in publishing and copywriting in London.
We live in a rural town with limited employment opportunities, for which we feel really guilty for, but that's another story.
We agreed to give her until the new year to focus fully on finding the ideal position before we expected her to apply for local jobs which would tide her over.
Since then she's applied for job seekers allowance. Found out today she does not qualify because doesn't have enough NI contributions.
She's certainly not work shy, she supported herself largely through uni and spent time from graduation until she me of September working full time at her uni job so was paying NI and tax.
Now she's home it falls to us to support her. She has dwindling savings so has enough for her socialising and we obviously don't charge her for board and lodgings.
But at 22yo surely she should be treated by the state as independent.
What if we didn't have the means to support her at home?
TBH I was hoping she'd qualify for the £200 odd per month for job seekers so she might be able to contribute £20 a week to the household, which would obviously not come close to what she is 'costing' us , but might give her some self worth.
We are fortunate we can accommodate her but it's a hefty weight for us to carry with the cost of living etc.

We have never claimed anything as a family but surely as an independent 22yo woman she should have some autonomy.

I realise probably shouldn't have put this in aibu cos I know I am, but where do our parental responsibilities stop?

She has obviously started applying for local jobs in what she has experience of and her cv is fortunately full of work experience so shouldn't take long.

But I guess my real AIBU is what would happen if we could not or would not cover her living costs

Sounds like she applied for JSA New Style rather than UC Income Based JSA.

I thought you couldn't apply for JSA anymore? Hasn't it been replaced by UC?

She needs to apply for UC not JS! Takes about 4 weeks and she'll get £240 a month ish.

Your DD need to apply for UC as this is not based off your NI contribution record.

Have you checked on one of the sites such as “entitled to” to check which benefits she should be in, and how much they should be?

Go online and apply for Universal credit, this is whst most unemployed young people get, sounds like she applied for the contributions jsa instead? My two oldest had short spells on UC and they were quite helpful.

This happened to me, entitled to sweet FA after Uni when struggling to find a job. Absolute shit show, I’d have been homeless if I hadn’t the people to look after me.

That's interesting. She said that she had checked UC and she thinks she'd be entitled to 46 pence or something ridiculous.

Feel awful encouraging her to apply in the first place.

New JSA is contribution based. You need to have paid full contributions for around 52 weeks to qualify.

But the other posters are correct. Your DD can claim universal credit instead.

She can start her claim online. She will also be allocated a job coach to help her get back into work.

My graduate DC also had a time where they applied for UC before they got a job. Tell her to apply for this.

If you couldn't support her surely she would have had to look for a local job sooner? I dont understand why she didn't find something locally then keep applying for the dream London job.
She should have had no need to claim anything.

Are her savings over £6,000? If so that will have an impact. Benefits are reduced over this amount.

I don't know anything about benefits, but many years ago I was in exactly the same position as your daughter. The way out of it for me was to forget about cool media jobs and just get any old job in London. Publishing has always been hugely competitive. I hope she gets sorted soon.

Agree she should a local job while she hunts, employers prefer young ppl to be proactive and independent

That’s why it’s quite normal to apply during the final year and / or to get something temporary to tide you over after exams.

Orangegato that's my point, what if she didn't have us.
Obviously even entry level jobs she's looking at mean she'll be staying to pay back her student loan hopefully quite soon.
I'm so pleased I'm past all this. It's really hitting home what a torrid time that younger generations are having to endure.
Naively never really given it much more than lip service previously

Yep, Universal Credit is definitely what she needs to apply for. This won't depend on her parents earnings. She probably won't get much (about £260 a month whilst she is living at home with no rent to pay)

She won't be eligible for the full amount if she has over 6k in savings in her name. She wouldn't be eligible for anything if she has over 16k. I appreciate none of that may apply to her, but just for info.

Getting entry level copywriting/editing jobs can be extremely hard as it's a very popular graduate industry. If she doesn't already have very relevant work experience that would be worth looking into as sometimes there are opportunities remotely. Many publishing companies have paid short term work experience which she potentially would be eligible to apply for.

Came here to say that she is definitely entitled to UC.

Do you think that she's being turned down for the London jobs because she has a rural address? The graduate jobs can be long and unsociable hours and normally employers expect the new recruits to be easily able to get to work.
She should adjust her CV so the address is not immediately obvious, or maybe add a note saying she's willing to relocate.

Wish I’d have thought of that…

Got a 2:1 from a RG in humanities but sadly businesses not falling over themselves to give you a job in a market saturated with graduates. So people deserve to be made homeless as they should have been more successful?

She will be entitled to Universal Credit. it won't be much as a person under the age of 25 and she won't get the housing element because she lives with you but it should be about £265 per month unless she has savings over £6,000

Paying back the student loan is irrelevant and she won't be paying anything anyway if she's not earning much. My son came home from uni and got a job in a pub whilst he was applying for other jobs. He's cheaper to support at home than he was when he was at uni.

My son worked at one of our local pubs whilst applying for his post grad jobs. He was earning about 150 per week and it was fine.
He was kind of socialising at the same time as working!

@drivinmecrazy it was a hard lesson to learn, could have defaulted on rent, ruined credit score, homeless and in debt all before age 22 and literally the DWP are just ‘computer says no’. No advice but I know how soul destroying it is coming out with a good degree and hopes and dreams then to fail at even getting the dole. Sending good luck to your daughter, it’ll all work out eventually once this hard bit is over.

In answer to others, she worked until October and came home when her uni accommodation ended so gave her that time to sort out her CV and get her head together.
She is now applying for local jobs while doing a few online courses and building up her art portfolio and writing.
Her degree is in English literature and Spanish so knows she has skills, just trying to make them relevant for the real world.
She really struggled in her final year with her mental health (who doesn't!) so she's really getting her act together.
I'll get her to look into UC

She is being treated as a stand-alone adult for what she was trying to claim, and she didn't qualify??