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.

Time off in addition to the 22 weeks off he had every year for the past 3 years at Uni you mean?

If he's not working he needs to claim, to keep his national insurance contributions up to date

The more I read this the more I'm wondering if he realistically knows he's failed his degree and that's why he's being so wishy washy about coming home.

Which adds to the thinking that if he's going to need to redo his final year, or even just one module...WHY THE HELL ISN'T HE GETTING A TEMP JOB TO START FUNDING ANOTHER TERM AT UNI?!

@Lacky301 You could do with telling him that his £450 will be stopping as of 1st July. If you wait until he gets a job before you stop his money then you could be paying it for a L O N G time!

Sounds like he’s having a jolly up in his uni town. He should be working, especially in a field like physio not working would not look good on his CV even if it’s a volunteer role with a sports team. The skills he’s learnt will get rusty not being used. Also that type of role practising is so important to your development.

As he has accommodation until August, he doesn't actually live with his dad at the moment so there's no reason for his dad to lose the single person discount until he moves back in August.

Assuming he can't/won't live with you - it's ok for him to just have one home when he moves back rather than moving between your house and his dad's and if you already have two adults in the house it makes sense for him to live with you assuming there's space in your house for him to avoid the Council Tax issue. (Not suggesting lying about where he's living.)

If he's going to claim Universal Credit, the advice I've seen is it's best to claim between 1-18 of the month to avoid problems with two monthly salaries falling into one assessment period. It's worth doing some reading before claiming.

The university careers service should be able to help with job hunting.

A holiday / break after finishing uni isn't a bad plan before plunging into job hunting (not necessarily months worth, but a couple of weeks off)

It's not really about timescales though, but the overall attitude that's shining through

All of these details about applications, CVs, etc, will have been fully explained by the Uni staff, and so far it appears he's done practically nothing

It’s all changed and he’ll spend his life at interviews he has no interest in doing the jobs.
Much better to just go and get a job he enjoys.

His CV will take 4 minutes as there is nothing to put on it.

Name
Address
Phone

He's got nothing else to show for his 24 years on the planet aside from one time he got paid to get pissed and listen to music at a festival

@Lacky301 Wow, I've tried to read most of the responses here and can see so many very lucky people responding.

Lucky because they haven't needed to claim benefits in the past. Those who have unexpectedly become disabled know how quickly that can change.

Anyway, your son finished uni last week and he gets his results in less than a fortnight. I don't see 2-3 week break from working so hard to get that final work in as excessive.

However, he is an adult and shouldn't be relying on his parents funding him any more. He has to become responsible for himself.

A few years back I qualified in social welfare law and so will give you my opinion on the benefits situation.

Several people have said he should claim Jobseekers Allowance, which is a great idea, however, you can now only claim Jobseekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance if you have enough National Insurance credits. Someone who hasn't worked pretty much full time in the last few years will not be eligible for these.

Means tested Jobseekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit no longer accept new claims as they've all been replaced by Universal Credit.

If your son gets a poorly paid job now (pays less than £566 a month) he should be able to get that income topped up by Universal Credit. So personally I would be telling him I will no longer be giving him any money and he needs to find his own. You will help him apply for jobs/UC so he can get some money but you won't be handing him any from your in pocket any more.

As he is a fit and healthy young man there will be a list of claimant commitments he has to stick to so he will be able to get his UC. This will include spending a massive amount of time looking for work, applying for jobs, improving his CV etc. If he doesn't do it they'll sanction him and he won't get paid.

UC is not a walk in the park, even those with long term health conditions and disabilities are being pushed to do some work through that scheme. The system is very strict and degrading, most people in it want out ASAP. But wages are so low in so many jobs a lot of people are stuck with it.

My niece's mother had 3 zero hours jobs and because she got very few hours one month they had her into the jobcentre to push her into getting more work. Problem was she had lots of hours by then and was struggling to find a slot she could fit the jobcentre appointment into so she could go and explain her work situation and stop them reducing what little money she was getting from them.

Please try to remember 40% of people on UC are in work, the majority of the rest are long-term sick or disabled. Every one of us here would claim what benefits we are entitled to if we had no other way of paying our bills etc.

Please don't ever make anyone feel bad about needing the support provided by our government.

Does your son live with his dad? If not and your ex lives alone he will be entitled to 25% off council tax

As a taxpayer I don’t want to pay out for him and I think it’s a scandal that parents can choose to opt out of bankrolling their kids but random strangers can’t.

Why would you push someone into claiming benefits? Everything that’s wrong with this generation. It isn’t the governments responsibility to fund your child. I do despair for the future.

He probably won't be able to claim until the end of August as he's university course is for the year. Maintenance loads/grants are meant to tide him over. And then it would only be £311 so he's better off getting a job.

Well, yes. 😂 most students work as well as doing degrees. Yours has only had to concentrate on the degree. He doesn’t need loads of time to recover just from doing a degree. He really is coming across as a lazy arse.

No one else would have been waiting for results alone - working now will show he is capable of it when he gets graduate interviews.

Not all degrees are the same. OP's son was doing a healthcare degree, which would mean 40 hour weeks on placement on top of exams, lectures, doing assignments etc.
And not all people are the same. Some are better at spinning more plates than others.

So have countless other students and I bet the majority have worked their way through uni

As his course ended 25th May he will be able to claim from then. Student Finance only covers the actual dates of the course.

And the people who can spin the plates will stand out and get the jobs

“Some money to tide him over” while waiting for a job is not the reason for benefits. It’s not pocket money, it’s to help those who are struggling and who are genuinely trying to help themselves. Has he even tried to get a job yet?

I don't think the OP is coming back. She hasn't updated the thread since Friday evening.

If you're still there OP I hope your DS has passed his course and is busy with his applications

He doesn’t need his uni results to make a CV. He puts the degree on as pending and if it’s relevant to the job they will give an offer. There are plenty of jobs you don’t need a degree for. The thing he will struggle with if he hasn’t worked much will be the experience. Call centre jobs usually take on no experience and train you up so might be worth a look as well as agencies. The final year of university he should have been looking at future prospects around Christmas time. Check if your local council has an employability team. I graduated and then covid hit so I didn’t have a clue where to start. They got me into work and within 3 years I’ve went from minimum wage to a decent salary. By all means get him to claim but DWP will be insistent he spends 35 hours a week looking for work and takes a job with up to an hour and a half travel. They also won’t wait on him finding his dream grad job. If he doesn’t have a job lined up what is the point in going back to his uni town? He would be as well seeing if anyone wants his accommodation. Some students might be willing to take a short let until their own accommodation starting in the new academic year.

Congratulations, your ‘generosity’ has enabled your son to be selfish and entitled. Cut him off! Necessity is a great motivator. He isn’t looking for a job, he’s looking for the job.

The loan in the final year is lower as over the summer, (ie once he's finished his studies) he can work or get benefits if he needs to

Hi I've stopped responding as I've given up no point lol.