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

Yeah... I have to say, unable to use the internet to suss out which are the right benefits and apply for them, unable to use a forum to ask others for advice, unable to start freelancing before leaving Uni...

None of this sounds like the skill-set required for much of the work she appears to want to do!

There's only contribution based esa. The OPs daughter will need to apply for UC and submit fit notes

There's plenty of work around if she wants it. Care homes are crying out for staff.
Unless of course such work is beneath her.

On another point, she is trying for jobs in one of the hardest industries to get into. And in London! Each job ad will have hundreds of hopeful English graduates competing for the worst possible pay. She should either try to boost her CV doing freelance or reconsider career options.

has she considered the possibility that the jobs she is hoping to apply in February have probably already been filled since September with other graduates with her degree, or similar, who were proactive during their final year, didn’t take five months to get their portfolios sorted , and made sure they had some relevant experience to show by doing pro bono work for local companies ?

Life for a recent graduate is not very different from one years ago, the only difference being she had to take out student loans. When I left school 45 years ago, yes, students got grants, but very few children actually went to Uni - it was very elitist. Those that didn’t went into mainly low paid jobs, no pensions, no prospects. They didn’t get benefits of any kind until they qualified via NI contributions. They certainly didn’t get universal credit.
I bet your DD has her own phone, a Mac book, a car or use of your car, and many other trappings of modern life. She should get a job - any job -and start contributing. Whilst she’s working she could then start searching for her dream job. I read somewhere that of today’s graduates, something ridiculous like 80% can’t get jobs in their chosen area of study!

Exactly this. I wouldn't care what kind of work it was. Even better if the candidate was also writing (blog etc) or doing some voluntary work.

So many amazingly valuable and transportable skills to be gained from small local jobs and a dose of reality rather than a sense of 'I will only do X at Y business'.

Worst fall in living standards since records began, public sectors facing real terms pay decreases, recession, unaffordable housing (whilst older generations block new housing to be built to protect their precious little towns further pricing young adults out).

Where’s the nice bit?

This could easily be my dd in a couple years, she’s doing an English lit degree and I worry about where she will work when she leaves as she doesn’t want to teach. I think they need to be prepared to work in a supermarket or something similar if they can’t find a job linked to their degree, sadly that’s life and of you need to work then you have to take what’s available. We also live rurally, i a, trying to encourage dd to learn to drive before she leaves uni as there won’t be manly job opportunities close to home.

And I say that as someone who is a young adult who got onto a good grad scheme after uni.

Is she looking at all sorts of publishers not just the exciting bestseller types? Academic publishing can be easier to get in to if a little more dry.

To be fair though, in the loveliest possible way, sometimes mums are a bit busybody!

I know when I was starting to freelance my mum unsolicitedly went around asking random friends she knew in tangentially connected industries for "contacts" and "advice" and made me look like a proper idiot who knew nothing and was doing nothing.

I understand why OP is worried and seeking advice though, as a mum it's natural to care.

Whether or not it's a tough time to be leaving university and making your way in the world, your DD needs to find a job, any job, and there are plenty of jobs around at the moment, many industries are crying out for staff.

She should be getting any job she can rather than getting benefits.

Re: the publishing jobs. What is she applying for? Most people think 'editorial' for publishing but If she has Spanish she could be looking at Rights and production. I am sure she is on top of all this but keep an eye on Twitter for opportunities.

I’m a big fan of state support, and think it needs to be protected. But I’m sure why your daughter couldn’t continue working or get other local jobs while she looks for her “dream” job? None of us get to work in our dream jobs as 22 year old fresh graduates! Especially in cutthroat London.
Both her and your expectations are WAY too high. If you can afford to support her, and it sounds like you can, then I don’t see why she should get state support just because she’s holding out for a job she’d prefer to do.

Shes going to have to graft in crap jobs like the rest of us, or you’re going to have to keep paying her way. She can write pub menus, do the social media pages of the local business, design flyers for the newsagent down the road to keep her mind active and get her proper experience for her CV. Wishing her luck.

The best thing to do - and what most others I know in similar fields have done - is to save up working in a local job at home and apply for internships in London when she has enough to support herself through it. I know people who have shared rooms with friends and worked evenings in pubs to support through internships/ voluntary work. The year after graduation was completely miserable. It's a crappy system, having to work for free before getting work, but that is the reality in these competitive industries.

This is why I encourage young people to try and get this experience while in university while getting loans.

An english degree opens loads of doors. Anything to do with communication or writing especially.

I work in banking because I enjoy report writing and acting as a mediator.

The options definitely aren't limited to teacher or supermarket.

You say she has savings. How much? Anything over £6k will impact on any UC she is entitled too. If it's more than £16k she'll get nothing. To recieve the benefits she'll be expected to make a serious effort to find work and will likely need to attend the local JobCentre regularly.

Lots of schools are desperate for TAs at the moment. With her degree I'd recommend secondary or primary.

Poor wage but certainly more than £200 a month.

Will also look good for her to have a job whilst she's looking for her 'proper' job.

You can only claim ESA if you have enough NI contributions now, same as JSA.

There may well be PIP entitlement, but nearly every claim I do for people with solely MH issues has to go to appeal, which takes ages. One of my clients started her claim in May '21, won her appeal at the start of December '22, and still hasn't seen any money from them 7 weeks later.

They are speeding up a bit, but it's still taking ages.

My son got a job as an online copywriter which he did all through uni. He works for a website, writing fairly boring articles about tech stuff (which he doesn't have specialised knowledge in - the content is provided for him). He earns around £600 a month, working about 12 hours a week, which is better than min wage, very flexible and in his chosen career (even if on a very low rung). He applied for a few jobs and had to do test writes, but these were all paid too. Best of luck to your DD!

It’s supremely unhelpful when posters sneer that they/their offspring decided on a career and worked towards it since the age of 16. Good for them - but aren’t people of any age allowed to change their mind or be a bit of a late starter?

I agree that not being based in London is a challenge, and it is obviously advantageous if your parents live there and you’ve got free accommodation. Ds did several unpaid internships and had to pay (with our help) for (grotty)accommodation as we live too far to commute.

Bar work? It depends where you live. Unfortunately in most cases round here they don’t want stop-gap employees. The local pub was asking applicants to sign a year-long contract.

re universal credit, it’s ok as a short-term tide over, but they will not let you lounge around on it till that dream job presents itself. Determined people can string it out, but that would involve taking jobs and getting the sack, which most people are not brazen enough to do.

I'm a bit unsure what your post is about tbh OP. You've said yourself she should get a job soon, which presumably given the current job market, she will. She should be eligible for UC. If she wasn't living with you she'd get support for housing. I know it's really hard for new graduates, with the costs of living and especially housing costs, but it doesn't sound like she's in a bad position? She has skills, and she has work experience, so she'll get something. What's the actual AIBU question? I can't work out what it is you might or might not be being unreasonable about.