Benefits reduction

[Bonsaitreepic]

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

DS needs to learn that the majority of an adult's income goes on feeding and housing themselves. Then if they are lucky, there is money left over for beer

Then he needs to get a job. Not sit around deciding what to do. He takes what he can find FGS.

How old is the one child you don’t receive maintenance for?
Do they have complex needs?

You need to try and find a job that fits around the 50/50 contact you have with your ex.

If you’re losing £300 that’s only 30 hours a month on NMW which is only 7.5 hours a week.

You may be able to find a job that is one day a week or a couple of hours over a couple of evenings, which you can do whilst your DCs are at their dads and your eldest can look after the other one.

For everyone saying ‘carers allowance’ (which the op is), unlike other jobs or benefits it’s taken off UC £1 for £1. So it’s not ‘extra’ money at all. But do use Turn2Us op, make sure you’re absolutely getting full entitlement. Are you claiming carers element with CA? Your son has to get a job, and in the meantime pay most of the uc into the family pot. That’s simply the reality of being an adult - it would cost a lot more to be living out of the house for him.

To pay taxes, you have to work!

Ha, yeah right those kids are likely not be net contributors anyway.

At no point did I say he doesn't have to work. What about her other children, who are .worse off than he was growing up?

People won't like to hear this, but if your son isn't in education he needs to go to work full time. I am sympathetic to your situation, but the tax paying population aren't working to pay for your son to "take time to decide". Essentially, the money you used to get now goes to him. If he won't pay you that, or a large proportion, he'll need to make his own way.

This ^

It's a parent's responsibility to plan for their children to ensure they are as well off as possible. The state are only ever going to give the bare minimum- no longer like the good old boomer days sadly.

Before I was 18 I had already worked as a waitress, pot wash, secretary and a pesky little telesales person flouting timeshares. Doesn’t really matter what he wants to do, he’s just got to do something. Shit jobs are very motivating, on the bright side!

You would only get paid for a third child now if one of the younger ones was born before the two child cap was introduced in April 2017.
Now that your eldest has dropped off the claim, you get the higher child element paid for a first child ( born before April 2017 ) which is why your Uc payment has only dropped by £300.
You should not be benefit capped on your full UC amount as you have a disabled child.
Your ds needs to contribute more, People who keep saying " he needs to get a job asap " perhaps don't have a full understanding of the job situation in some areas of the country especially for young people. My 18 and 20 year olds ( students) were both looking for jobs this summer, applied for hundreds and got offered nothing. So I do understand it is not easy for school leavers possibly with no experience. In a way you are lucky you are on UC and not housing benefit as at least UC doesn't have a non dependent deduction for an adult child until they turn 21.
Someone upthread said claim carers allowance. This is deducted in full from UC so won't make any difference to the amount you receive. I assume you already get the carers element on UC and the disabled child element ?
The only thing is for you son to pay you more and keep looking for work - his UC work coach should be offering suggestions for training/ getting a CV together etc.
You should be getting the UC cost of living payment of £300 soon which will help a little in the short tem.

Well your eldest needs to get a job pronto and start contributing to the household bills if you cannot support him financially. An able 18 year old not working is ridiculous especially when you cannot afford to fund him.

Have you applied for carer’s allowance?

Two of my kids applied for hundreds of jobs this summer without success and with job experience already. It is not always as easy as you make it sound in some areas of the country.

So he's keeping £200 pocket money off the tax payer? Nope, he gives that to you. He'll find a job much quicker without the pocket money keeping him comfortable

Not people in households that can’t scrape together one job between them.

Honestly I'd take £50 a week from him right now, you need that £ 200. He can keep the £50. This should motivate him to get a job. He has to get a full time job and start paying you £100 per week. You're going to have to explain that you now owe money and can't afford bills, until he pays board.

‘I agree. He’s at a bit of a crossroads and is panicking about what he wants to do’

while he’s at that crossroads he can do bar or restaurant work, hotel work, retail work.
All of which will bring in money and look good to future colleges or employers. A healthy young man shouldn’t be sitting around on his arse on benefits when there are so many jobs available to him.

Benefits are a safety net, or supposed to be, not something for life. You need to think about the next 5+ years as your kids become adults and you lose the money you get now for them.
Whats YOUR future going to look like?

So he's getting the benefits on his own behalf? What is your issue exactly?
Do you think the government should pay both of you?

‘Not very relevant to your situation OP, which I have sympathy for. But can we all just take a moment to appreciate how ludicrous it is that a country with a staggeringly sharply declining birthrate is disincentivising having children 😂 who do the government think is going to pay taxes in 30 year's time?’

Not people in households that can’t scrape together one job between them.’

This.

Why are you only taking £50 a month off him? If he were living alone ALL of his UC would be going on food and bills. He needs to pay you the amount you are down in your benefits. His claim for UC covers your loss. £50 doesn't cover anything for one adult.

I agree that he needs to be giving you the full amount as otherwise you can’t actually pay to house him. Unless he has medical needs that require a specific diet he needs to eat the food you provide.

He needs to get a job, any job! It doesn't have to be what he wants to do forever but it needs to pay a wage. If he tries, he could potentially have a job by the end of the day - bar work, waiting tables. He could have several applications in over the weekend for shops, call centres, supermarkets etc. there are jobs about there but he needs to step up and do something.

He's an adult and he can't afford to be a fussy eater because he's leaving you and his siblings going hungry and cold.

As harsh as it sounds, he/you both together should have been planning for the end of FT education and what it would mean for him (work) and you (financially).

Then you're an idiot. Stop crying and get him to give you £200 a month. And tell him to get a job, he can work out what he wants to do with his life whilst earning.

Carer’s allowance will be deducted £ for £ but you should still claim as it gives better NI credits.

Do you have the disabled child element or severely disabled child element depending on the rate of DLA and carer element on your UC award?

@Zebedee55 the benefit cap (which, as you point out, doesn’t apply to OP) is not the same thing as the 2 child limit (which does apply if DC4 was born after 04/2017).