to be scared when kids leave full-time education

[spanieleyes22]

So I'm currently eligible for Universal Credit with 2 children over 16 but in full-time education. But when the youngest turns 20 I believe I won't be eligible for it any more. I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent or survive without it. They will still be living with me and will be in university (hopefully). What do people do when this happens.

I may have missed this part, but how much is an average wage in this scenario?

According to Google the medium is £38k for a university graduate.

@RiderofRohan It varies a lot by location.

My elder child pays£300 pcm towards his food /bills from his student maintenance loan. I don't like taking it- but I'm a long-time widowed single parent and was reliant on the Bereavement benefit / Child Tax credit and Child Benefit I used to receive for him and my other DS. It would be lovely not to need him to pay but i can't manage without it. I don't have a car/ holidays/ outings/ hobbies/ social life/ any household maintenance as it is.

But how on earth can you call your job 'good' when you already work full time but are relying on UC to get by? Especially if you are university educated

Are you serious?! I've been a single parent for over 15 years now. I've claimed Tax Credit the whole time. I'm a teacher and I work full time, tutor and exam mark. I mean, do you live in the real world?

Another idea is for them to go to Uni part time. I commuted 40 minutes to work, worked a 9 hour day and then went to Uni 6 til 9 for 2 days a week.

Yeah it was hard work but not as hard as not having a good wage coming in and you can do it when you're young and fit. I did my Uni work on weekends.

Employers were very impressed that I'd done that as it showed commitment and hard work. Where there's a will there's a way. Good luck.

Is that really the case? I thought it got paid if you earn more than minimum wage, but there's a taper.

also isn't there an element for housing costs that you'd get even without having children?

I'm no expert, but I thought it was paid to people earning up to £30k

I’ve said it before on here, but University is a luxury not everyone can afford. It’s turned in to a right of passage. There’s a lot to be said to just getting a job (studying can be done in other ways without going to Uni).

i dont want to worry to more but uni accomodation in halls is 40 weeks and a house (2 and 3rd year) is normally a 52 weeks contract. prices from £4500 - £12000 for a year. The student loan does not cover it all if an expensive city. Please get them to choose the uni with this in mind. ie NOT london, bath etc

Salaries have been frozen for years!!! It's all wrong that nurses even doctors have to claim UC to survive. It was on the radio this morn that salaries are hoped to back up to 2018 levels by 2026!

Surely you can see that's wrong. Children from poor families shouldn't go to university because of their parents' earnings?

University isn't (or at least shouldn't be) a luxury and it's more than a right of passage.

@HelenHywater It does depend where you live. If in a City with high rents then you probably will get some. Where I live you will get nothing.

You most be very proud of your son he sounds an amazing young man . I hope my son will be like this

And the fact that someone close to them has died.

I considered this early on and decided to retrain. I think a lot of people don’t realise universal credit is for low incomes not necessarily for people choosing/unable to work. I only became entitled to it when my marriage ended. Could you look at courses etc to do a different role in the future?

Oh ok @BenefitWaffle - @spanieleyes22 if you haven't already - do check your entitlements with Gingerbread or Turn2us . You may not be in as bad a position as you think. (I'm really no expert, but if you're on a low wage, I did think you'd get a top up from UC and possibly other elements too).

Tone down the aggression.

So once your children have jobs/stop living with you, you won't be able to look after yourself despite working full time as a teacher and having extra jobs on top of this? Despite having no dependants?

As the daughter of a teacher, I find this unbelievable.

@spanieleyes22

he is and I am. I’m from a very working class background so no inheritances here, he is also adopted and knows he has to make his own way in the world.

I’ve recently had a redundancy and will get a lump sum when I take a pension next year, so I am in a position to give him a bit of money but it won’t run to a house deposit.

It’s difficult to tell what you should do Op without info on how much you earn and what your bills are.

the only options are to increase your income or reduce your costs.

@HelenHywater I know people always advise me I should be getting UC. I have checked several times and I am not entitled. People on legacy benefits get more generous entitlements. But with universal credit benefits entitlement was reduced for many.

Oh stop. Everyone will have someone close to them due eventually. That’s nothing to do with the rate of pay in work.

It is bloody hard. And to that once you are 50 you will find it much harder to get pretty average jobs or retrain ( yeah it’s not impossible but it’s not as easy as in your 30’s). If you are in a low paid sector the only choice is retraining really.

You will loose uc when they finish sixth form. They will get a full loan to cover their costs, you will need to cover your own costs. I wasn't eligible support, it's normal

@BenefitWaffle But I was in exactly her situation, that's the point, and I changed that situation. Admittedly an inheritance helped but I was never expecting to get that as Social Services had warned me it was more than likely the house would need to be sold because of my mother's condition. I acted accordingly. You are being deliberately obtuse and I can assure that it's not me with comprehension issues! This thread is absolutely not about me, but why ask a question and then pull the answers to bits? Options are, do what I did and increase earnings, or downsize, I've made that clear in my response and still I have people telling me that my lived experience isn't real and I dont understand. 😂The OP has said she has multiple degrees so lack of ability wasn't an issue, no health issues and a job where the next step is management. All sounds pretty promising to me if its just built on!

It's worth phoning one of the helplines mentioned rather than using the benefit entitlement calculators - they are often incorrect.

But yes of course benefits should be there to ensure full time workers are able to achieve a reasonable standard of living. Plus of course, the OP is far from alone at looking at an extremely tough retirement.

@TheSnootiestFox because you are not answering the question asked but one you are pretending has been asked. Read the OP again. I have explained the question being asked.

Aren’t the entitled to benefits (housing benefit etc) in their own right at that point? Perhaps you could pop to see citizens advice as they usually have specialists who can advise on those?