To push ds into claiming

[Lacky301]

Ds has just finished uni and never worked through me and ex dp give him £450 a month between us plus I've always bought him the odd thing and gave a bit extra here and there.
Me and his dad are seperated and his dads just received notification that he will now be charged full council tax as ds has finished uni I'm under strain financially. I've told ds he needs to claim universal credit until he finds a job but he keeps saying I want my results first. Am I wrong in pushing him to claim to take some pressure off me and dp. Fwiw he would get around £370 per month as living at home.

No, I don't think your son should be encouraged to apply for UC, he needs to look for a job which can tide him over until he finds a more permanent role.
My views are influenced by the people who choose UC over work

They can’t possibly have done - they were giving him about 5k a year and the fees are 9k for one year.

It does make sense.

I studied at the other end of the country from where my parents lived. While job hunting, I kept my accommodation so that I could easily attend interviews at that end of the country (without having to spend on train fare each time).

I don’t think a lot of people realise that income based JSA doesn’t exist anymore and is under Universal credit.

You claim UC while looking for work. Students are not eligible, but if he is technically not a student rn, he can definitely claim the job seeker element of UC while looking for any job. Even temporary work in a pub or whatever.

He has been to Uni to go on the dole ? FFS surely he has a career in mind ?

I can’t believe this….I don’t know any single person who doesn’t, or didn’t, work during uni at some stage. What did he do for those long summer holidays??

https://www.charityjob.co.uk/

Tell him to start applying while he's waiting for a job and to temp in a bar in the interim. You need to snap out of the benefits culture mindset. Your 1st instinct should have been to encourage him to get a job instead of signing on.

During the summer holidays and prior to permanent work my dc did:

Hospitality (bar and waitressing(
Babysitting
Gold caddying
Kumon assistants
Gardening
Writing for catalogues
Amazon warehouse shifts
Reception work.

They both had permanent jobs within 2/3 weeks of graduating. maybe because they had work experience on their cv's

No he shouldn't claim universal.credit. He should get a job if he wants to stay in uni accommodation. If he doesn't get a job he can pack and go home. When home he needs his arse kicked tonearm as much as or more than uc would pay.

@AmpleFatball I wasn't questioning him keeping his uni accommodation until August, I stayed in my uni city between years so I could, well, work, as there were more opportunities there than my home town.

I was questioning why he couldn't get casual work in either/or his uni town or home town whilst job searching. Should he suddenly be offered a career opportunity in physio in another part of the country he would probably only have to give a week's notice max in a summer job.

Again, why can't he find casual work?!

If he's physiotherapists he shouldn't be signing up for events organiser, he could have a locum or bank job assoon as he wanted it🤷‍♂️

Can he get touch with the Bank at his local NHS trust and sign up for Bank Work?

He needs to be mindful gaps in employment don't look good on a cv and during an interview they will want to know what he's been doing with his time. Working in a shop or bar sounds a lot better to an employer then I was playing on my xbox until I got my results

So from your OP it seems that DS is going a physio degree, hasn't had any job at all apart from working at festivals and now wants to stay in his uni town until August, still not working and being funded by you to the tune of £450 per month. You're wondering if you can stop paying the £450 and have Universal Credit pay it instead to keep him in the lifestyle to which he's become accustomed?

Surely this can't be right, if he's really insistent on waiting for his results, he needs to get any job in the meantime and then look for a 'proper' job. It seems like he's somehow missed the boat for a graduate job, but there must be tonnes of healthcare related jobs that he can be doing?

UC should really be a last resort and not some pocket money to enjoy the summer.

All this is true, but the red flag is him "not knowing if he's passed", which would be unusual with grade predictions, etc.

And while grad schemes may make an offer conditional upon grades, the time to actually apply is often months before this - which is yet another thing he doesn't seem to have done

I totally agree. Even if it's just as a porter or HCA temporarily. It'll make him stand out more for job applications. He could even voluntarily shadow some physios when he isn't on shift. I don't get this hesitancy in applying for any job and preferring to go on benefits. There is much more to this and I'd image he hasn't passed and is hiding behind it until it's official.

I "intend" to get married one day. It doesn't mean it'll happen! And it definitely ain't happening without a bit of effort on my part. I can't just sit back without joining any dating sites, tell people I 'intend' to get married, and expect a husband to miraculously waltz into my living room.

And if someone was subbing me £450 a month I'd be even less inclined.

I live rurally but see signs all the time for pub staff, cafe staff wanted. Shop staff usually wanted in the local town. Best thing is to walk in and ask rather than email.
It seems quite usual for graduates to have a temp job then move on to start building their career. He’ll need to treat job finding as a full time project.

Get him to look into doing fundraising calls for his uni yo alumni, it's a flexible and easy job he can do for a few weeks in the summer to earn cash before his accommodation ends.

As I have implied a few times OP, it seems he may be concerned that he hasn't passed his physio degree. No judgement there, it's a tough course and the placements can be brutal. Just be mindful of his mental health here, check in with him, is he ok?

Oh I see, he's possibly waiting for his results because it hasn't worked out, different kettle of fish then...

OP I have managed a lot of recent graduates over the years. Your son doesn’t sound like he has the motivation at the moment to succeed in any competitive career. He needs a good kick up the ass.

it is shocking that a parent would rather their child be in benefits than look for work - what a strange attitude.

He is an adult - and shouldn’t need to be in benefits while he finds his feet! He needs to grow up and get a job - even part time.

There are thousands of jobs out there. He should get any job.

That's a really good call. I think he may be preparing the OP for the fact that he hasn't passed.

This.
If he is not sure he has passed, then his MH must be in tatters, especially after all the time and effort getting to this point.

I went to uni (ODP) and at the start, we advised to not take on a job during the course duration (term time), as placements, lectures, OSCES, assignments, exams etc.... we would not have time to shit, let alone have a part time job. Lots of people didn't work during the course duration, but some did. Some people are good at spinning lots of plates, and others are not.... and that is ok.
I dropped out in the end as I could not even manage the course itself (and I fucking hated placement.... so it would have been nuts to do it as a job after).

Honestly you’d think from this thread that he’d been out of work/studies for many a month, it’s been a week.