What do you practically do if your adult child wants to live at home but cannot find a job

[AsmallabodeIsallweWant]

This really; let's say you have an adult daughter who is mentally capable and is going into her 20s but does not know how to find a job. Let's say you don't mind her living with you, but does she need to apply for a benefit or ?

It is a question really.

This is the position my parents were in when I was 16. I left college as I hated my a levels, then I tried getting a job in a specific field but was having no luck. My parents were very nice about it but the rules were if you were out of education you pay rent......so I had a loan book on the side in the kitchen and any time I borrowed a tenner it would be added to the book and of course my weekly rent. By the time I owed them £500 I had a screw this moment, gave up on the specific job search, went to an agency saying I'd do anything and had a job to start the next week. 18 months later I had some work experience to change jobs into the field I wanted.
Looking back my parents played it perfectly. I felt supported as they weren't too judgmental or negative about it to my face, but the loan book open on the kitchen side was a constant reminder of the expectation to find a job and pay them back. Whatever you do, don't allow your daughter to think that staying at home is an option. If you can afford to keep her, I wouldn't tell her about universal credit either, as it may just be enough money for her to live on and may dampen her enthusiasm to find work.

OK. Still too little information. It really matters WHY she can't keep a job.

I don't understand why what this young girl might be struggling with is being treated as a non issue? When it's the main issue? How are people making suggestions without knowing that very important bit of information??

Knowing the reason dictates what the best practical steps are. Know the problem matters when considering how to help.

You cant throw a fish - or even a bird with a broken wing - into the sky and expect it to fly.

I apologise as I don't know the whole reason why the daughter does not like her jobs; I am gathering practical steps for my friend and the advice is very good

Might be something to do with not feeling like fitting in large groups but this is me just guessing, not that I know their whole life story

The thing is that the situation and the solution will depend on what’s going on in this family, how the girls illness affects her, how much she wants to hold down a job etc. You can’t advise her without knowing.

The info you’ve given is quite vague. If she is nearing 20 and can’t hold down a job, then she quite simply needs to get over it. If she doesn’t like what she was doing, she needs to retrain.

Coursera offers free online courses that may be of use. Oh, and register with an employment agency, Volunteering could also teach her skills to hold down a job (see Volunteer Now’s website). Probably a good idea to get UC or PIP to have income.

My parents fully expected us to get a part time job, at the v least, at that age. Even if we were studying. We were expected to buy our own clothes, toiletries etc.

I always think it’s important to have another job lined up before leaving a current one. It’s always easier to find a job when you’re in a job.

Though, if she has a physical/mental illness that changes things a fair bit, and what I’ve said above may not be appropriate.