Page 17 | Benefits reduction

Bonsaitreepic · 2023-09-22T07:49:40+00:00

I got my UC payment today. Just checked and it’s almost £300 less than usual. This is because my oldest is now classed as an adult as he’s left ft education. He’s not currently in work. I have 3 other children but now I seemingly only get support for 2 of them due to the child cap. Im freaking out. I only get maintenance for one of the children as I have the other 2 50/50 with their dad. I cannot afford to lose this much money every month. I was already struggling as it was. I’m unable to work just yet as one of the children has complex needs. I already get some DLA for them. im quite sure there’s nothing I can do about this but I’m so worried

Babyroobs · 22/09/2023 14:51

Kendodd · 22/09/2023 14:48

Agree.
Seems quite bizarre if you ask me that they can claim anything at all living at home. Would they be able to claim UC if the parents work? My oldest is just doing university applications, looking at finance, we'll have to give her money every month to top up any loans (fully expected and stated amounts in the load applications) . Or she could do nothing, stay at home, we'd have to give her nothing, and she could claim UC? That can't be true?

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Well yes any adult can claim UC if they are without income or parental support. It provides a basic amount to live off. Students cannot claim as they have student loans to live off which would wipe out any UC. and they can't claim as a full time student anyway unless disabled or have a child to support. Any young person aged 18 can claim if they have no income or very low income, they can claim whilst living at home but there are a lot of conditions attached to claiming, it's not just handed to them without them agreeing to meet commitments- work searching, attending courses etc.

Babyroobs · 22/09/2023 14:53

Kendodd · 22/09/2023 14:30

Are you in rented accommodation OP?

One unfortunate thing you might find is that when your son gets a job (which he 100% has to do) he might be expected to pay towards the rent and your benefits might be cut further. Even if this happens, he has to get a job, full time if not studying . You really, really mustn't let him just laze around, it's so, so bad for him and an easy trap to fall into. I know this might me difficult for you to enforce, but you must. Even if him working leaves you with a lot less money, cut back everything you can to enable him working, even a crappy starter job is better than no job and is something to put on a CV.

We had a Ukrainian living with us for a while, she absolutely refused point blank to get a job and was on UC. She didn't want a job because she wanted a posh job that she wasn't qualified for in the UK and wouldn't take a supermarket job or something like that. I told her that this was a big mistake because any job looks better than no job to an employer and a basic job will help her get a better job. She's now nearly 18 months down the line and is now much less attractive to even basic jobs, never mind posh jobs. Don't let your son fall into that trap. To further explain my Ukrainians thinking, apparently, in Ukraine, taking a basic job would look bad to employers there and count against you. She expected it to be the same here despite me telling her it would be the opposite.

Wrong information. One good thing about UC is that that you can have a young person living at home and there is no non dependent deduction on op's UC rent element until the young person turns 21. This differs a lot to the old housing benefit where a young person would be expected to contribute to rent from aged 18.

Secondwindplease · 22/09/2023 14:53

FSTraining · 22/09/2023 14:44

Yes, but most of them are planning to work for a dodgy uncle who will pay them cash in hand under the radar. It's a bit more difficult when you are a registered citizen in the UK.

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No it’s fucking not. UK education, native speaker, culturally familiar and not reeling from the trauma of war/displacement etc.

Honestly, have a word with yourself. For shame.

ThomasinaLivesHere · 22/09/2023 14:54

Kendodd · 22/09/2023 14:48

Agree.
Seems quite bizarre if you ask me that they can claim anything at all living at home. Would they be able to claim UC if the parents work? My oldest is just doing university applications, looking at finance, we'll have to give her money every month to top up any loans (fully expected and stated amounts in the load applications) . Or she could do nothing, stay at home, we'd have to give her nothing, and she could claim UC? That can't be true?

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I think it’s because they’re seen as adults and so not classes as dependents anymore. It’s been ages since I claimed anything but I remember being eligible for job seekers allowance when living at home with both parents who worked even though they were well off.

RiderofRohan · 22/09/2023 14:58

Secondwindplease · 22/09/2023 14:53

No it’s fucking not. UK education, native speaker, culturally familiar and not reeling from the trauma of war/displacement etc.

Honestly, have a word with yourself. For shame.

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Couldn't have said it better myself.

Kendodd · 22/09/2023 14:58

FSTraining · 22/09/2023 14:40

Yes, the problem you will have is that if will only pass to your youngest when your second youngest reaches adulthood. I wish I could say something more positive than that and frankly I think the 2 child law is the kind of evil that belongs in Communist China but that will not help you now.

I guess you youngest must be under 7 but how old are they? Your next battle is going to be when they expect you to work more hours.

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With regard the two child rule, and this isn't a dig at anyone, or the benefits system, its astonishing how much money impact the decision to have children and how many. It many situations, money flows up the generations. It happened in working class communities decades ago in the UK. People would have lots of children and children would grow up, get a job, and the cultural expectations was that you gave a % of your wage each week to your mum. This is still very much the case in some of the global South. Money flows up the generations so the more kids you have, the more money they will give you.

In much of the world that has now flipped around and money flows down the generations. Having children costs people big time and birth rates are collapsing around the world as a consequence.

MikeRafone · 22/09/2023 14:59

Bonsaitreepic · 22/09/2023 08:55

No he’s also getting some uc while he’s looking for work. I only take £50 off him per month.

Sadly the reality is, he really need to get a job asap, there is plenty of work out there and once he has a job - its easy to swap jobs to another. He needs to be working and contributing to the household

IfOn · 22/09/2023 14:59

Secondwindplease · 22/09/2023 14:53

No it’s fucking not. UK education, native speaker, culturally familiar and not reeling from the trauma of war/displacement etc.

Honestly, have a word with yourself. For shame.

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THANK YOU!!

Crumpleton · 22/09/2023 15:02

you would not believe my sister and I grew up in the same home with hard working parents.

@Throwncrumbs ..👋

I would...

If I'd have known for sure that I only had one sibling we could of grown up in the same family.

Document · 22/09/2023 15:03

bananaxapple · 22/09/2023 14:06

I wish people were more clued up to how fucked the UK job market actually is. It’s all roses and daisies and assuming sectors are “crying out” for workers or “hand out CVs and get a trial shift today!!” kind of bollocks. I do feel for the OPs son whilst job hunting, it’s shit.

It’s not as simple as people think it is and to be honest people saying the above are just severely out the loop with this type of thing. Unless you live in a city there’s basically nothing, and if you’re in a small town well you’re competing with everyone else in your town. I looked at three different cafe jobs and all of them demanded two years experience in a similar setting, minimum wage by the way. Yes I claim UC and no I don’t care how much people cry about tax payers money, it’s not until you’re actively searching for a job you see how truly limited it is.

As I said, my son has been in a city for university and lives in London. We have been shocked at the number of rejections he has received. Many many people are going for these jobs.

And they recruit those who have direct recent experience. He simply doesn’t have the experience they want. His cafe work experience even counts for nothing it seems.

Kendodd · 22/09/2023 15:03

Babyroobs · 22/09/2023 14:53

Wrong information. One good thing about UC is that that you can have a young person living at home and there is no non dependent deduction on op's UC rent element until the young person turns 21. This differs a lot to the old housing benefit where a young person would be expected to contribute to rent from aged 18.

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Good to know.
I remember when I was young and working we had a friend, same age, 18/19 with a full time job. All her money went to cover the council rent because her mum was on benefits and she lived with her mum. It was so unfair.

Document · 22/09/2023 15:06

Babyroobs · 22/09/2023 14:17

Totally agree with this and I think it largely depends where you live. My two kids have struggled to get work this summer. We live near a city where a lot of businesses ( restaurants, take aways, shops etc ) are run by the asian community and they tend to just employ their own extended family members. Other options are large supermarkets where my kids can't even seem to get past the online situational judgement questions ( not sure what they are doing wrong ), or country pubs in the middle of nowhere that they can't get to as neither drive. my dd was offered a job cleaning trains at night in the roughest part of town. I was not happy with that. I'm guessing many mumsnetters live in middle class towns where people have money to spend in cafes and towns and restaurants. Not all places are equal in terms of available jobs for young people particularly those with little or no experience. My dd has had a term time job cleaning at her school but that is obviously term time only. Thankfully she has now gone to Uni but was not able to get any work over the summer despite applying for hundreds of jobs.

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‘Thankfully she has now gone to Uni but was not able to get any work over the summer despite applying for hundreds of jobs.’

Yep my son got his job at the end of August after applying everywhere since mid June. We thought it would be easy. A real eye-opener. And we live somewhere with lots of cafes and restaurants. He has been in person, emailed, used social media, indeed etc. You name it.

He was grateful for the job he finally got but goodness it was tough.

Seymour5 · 22/09/2023 15:07

Babyroobs · 22/09/2023 14:23

True. Exactly what my two kids have been doing this summer when they couldn't find jobs, both working in local charity shop to gain expereince.

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DGD did that too, then she got some part time work in a restaurant. It varies, but as she is still at school and doesn’t depend on the income it suits her and the other young part-timers. As they leave to go to uni or start full time work, other youngsters fill the gaps. Middling sized market town, where most of her friends seem to have some sort of work whilst still at school.

Babyroobs · 22/09/2023 15:08

Kendodd · 22/09/2023 15:03

Good to know.
I remember when I was young and working we had a friend, same age, 18/19 with a full time job. All her money went to cover the council rent because her mum was on benefits and she lived with her mum. It was so unfair.

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Yes that would be housing benefit and the good thing about the changes on UC is that it does allow parents on benefits who have young people who are perhaps on low wages or apprenticeships wages to not lose benefit money for allowing them to still live at home and have a roof over their heads.

Document · 22/09/2023 15:09

user1497207191 · 22/09/2023 14:19

Total crap. There are jobs literally everywhere. Not just cities. I live and work in a small village, the pub, sandwich shop, and chippy are always short staffed, advertising for staff, to the extent that the pub has reduced it's opening hours because it can't get staff so they're running on a skeleton staff basis as much as they can. Local Facebook pages have local employers in other villages and nearby towns appealing for staff. What you really mean is that people aren't willing to do minimum wage work and want their "perfect" job rather than any job, because they're comfortable enough claiming benefits!

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Well I promise that’s not the case for my son. He would have loved a local cafe job. But they are all fully-staffed. Often by family and friends.

People are desperate for work. There is not a staffing crisis where we are. Even places that say ‘hiring’ don’t seem to want a young person who is just here for the summer.

Unless you are the one applying, you don’t know the reality of it. Anyway, everywhere is different of course.

Tiredalwaystired · 22/09/2023 15:11

You can’t be getting deeper in debt while he lives off £200 pocket money! That’s crazy!

You have to take back what you need to run the house from him and he has to look for a job to get the nice stuff, like every other adult.

Document · 22/09/2023 15:12

HootyMcBooby76 · 22/09/2023 14:49

We are in a small town, 15 year old DD applied to every job at out local shopping centre that was posted online, got about 5 interviews from that, was offered all positions and accepted one.
16 year DD applied to 5 or 6, got offered a trial shift immediately and was offered job the same day.

It's not impossible.
Every single one of both DDs friends were all similar.
Maybe it is geographical but I've not seen a single older teen struggle to get a job extremely quickly here.

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That sounds amazing. Where do you live…I am sending my son down ;-)

I promise that’s not the case here. It’s been very disheartening really.

Lentilweaver · 22/09/2023 15:13

@Document where I am in London, it was tough for my son to get work because they wanted people who would work till Xmas, and he has uni commitments. But OP's son is not in uni. He definitely wont get work right away. But all the more reason for him to start trying now, so he gets some by Xmas.

I totally agree that teens take time to find their feet. But by having 4 DC with no means of support, OP has left them no choice. This is why I had 2 DC, so we could afford to support them while they muddled their way into the world.

AlexaCanYouHearMe · 22/09/2023 15:13

@Bonsaitreepic

Your son who is now an adult needs to get a job, or give you the bulk of his Jobseekers Allowance (maybe £200 a month,) to try and make up the shortfall. Or you need to work more hours yourself. (Preferably both!)

There's only so long you can keep claiming benefits for children, and depending on them. I don't mean to sound cruel or harsh, but I have heard this story SO many times from people who largely depend on UC/housing benefit/child allowances, and then when the children are no longer children, it stops/is reduced a lot. Then they are shocked and stunned that the income is now less, and expect some magic fix by posting about it on the internet.

Your son is an adult now. He needs to get some income in. OR as I said, you need to earn more. It's an easy trap to fall into, being dependant on benefits, and I am NOT attacking you for it, and you shouldn't feel bad for it (as you said you sometimes do.) But I can't see the point - when the children become adults, and the benefits are pulled/cut - in people saying 'help! I am now £300 a month down.' I am not sure what they expect people on here to do. The answer is obvious. The child - now adult - needs to step up and hand some income over!

I wish you luck and don't mean to be rude, but yeah, this is something that is not going to resolve itself. They are not going to just magically re-start paying £300 a month more. You - and your son - need to bring more income in between you, to make up the shortfall.

arethereanyleftatall · 22/09/2023 15:14

It must be so totally different depending on exact location in the Uk.

Round my way, if someone wrote on our fb page 'hi, I'm Bob, 18 yo, looking for work, I'll do anything (legal!), £10 an hour, you supply the equipment for whatever it is that needs doing' he would have literally 100s of people saying yes please Bob.

Document · 22/09/2023 15:16

Lentilweaver · 22/09/2023 15:13

@Document where I am in London, it was tough for my son to get work because they wanted people who would work till Xmas, and he has uni commitments. But OP's son is not in uni. He definitely wont get work right away. But all the more reason for him to start trying now, so he gets some by Xmas.

I totally agree that teens take time to find their feet. But by having 4 DC with no means of support, OP has left them no choice. This is why I had 2 DC, so we could afford to support them while they muddled their way into the world.

Yes I think my son would have had more chance if he could commit to jobs for longer.

But he has been applying to jobs in his university city part time and this week had rejections from Boots, Blacks, Superdry amongst others. He put his recent retail
experience in London down but no joy. Anyway he has applied for four more today, including at his uni so fingers crossed.

Dixiechickonhols · 22/09/2023 15:17

I’m nr a small town in north and there’s hundreds of jobs advertised. If he’s not up to retail or food service then there’s day shift warehouse (£12.68) or overnight supermarket shelf stacking/picking (£13.65) or hotel room cleaning (£10.75)
With how minimum wage is if you don’t get experience at 16/17 (lower wage) by 18 when they need to pay you more it’s harder to get foot in door as you are competing with teens who have experience.
Not expecting teens to have pt jobs doesn’t do them any favours.

Document · 22/09/2023 15:17

arethereanyleftatall · 22/09/2023 15:14

It must be so totally different depending on exact location in the Uk.

Round my way, if someone wrote on our fb page 'hi, I'm Bob, 18 yo, looking for work, I'll do anything (legal!), £10 an hour, you supply the equipment for whatever it is that needs doing' he would have literally 100s of people saying yes please Bob.

Ha. I did think my son should stand in central London with a sign offering his availability. For some reason he was not keen…

CHRIS003 · 22/09/2023 15:18

You say you are £300 down on your claim because your eldest child is no longer eligible
He is not working - living at home - he gets £ 250 a month
So in terms of the uc claim your sons claim is taken into account cos he is living at home. So it is still being classed as household income so in the eyes of UC you have only lost £50 on household income. If you see what I mean !!
So why not just treat your son as you did before. Just include his £250 while he is living at home - your loss is £50 on total household income not 300. So don't be upset you have only lost £50.

Butterkist8 · 22/09/2023 15:21

Supermarkets and large stores are now recruiting for Christmas, if that's of any use ( to anyone.)