AIBU to encourage my 18-year-old daughter to claim Universal Credit?

[ThisTealWarrior]

My daughter is 18 and no longer in education. She currently as a job (7.5 hours per week) and is waiting to start another job pending DBS checks. I advised her to make a claim for UC at the beginning of September before she was offered this position. She had to go to a meeting at the job centre this morning to start the claim and weekly check in video calls until she starts the job. This won’t be fixed hours as it is a bank staff role.
She has made such a fuss about it saying it is pointless basically acting like claiming is beneath her! We don’t charge her any board and don’t intend to after she earns more either but I have explained that technically we could. I just think it’s important to claim if she is eligible and also explained about NI contributions for when she gets older. I have explained that at some point the hope will be that she is earning enough that she doesn’t need to claim but for now she should.
Am I being unreasonable?

We are not a wealthy family, just an average family with a mum and a dad who both work but have never claimed anything ourselves. We did get tax free childcare and 30 hours childcare for our son.
We do a lot for our daughter including paying for her driving lessons and food.

It seems that this has divided a lot of people, I just thought if she was eligible for something however small it would be a good idea to claim to help start her off in the world of work. She wants to work which is good. I just don’t like the attitude that she is too good to do so. I wouldn’t be so proud if I needed to. I just don’t think she realises how much it costs just to get by these days.

Tell her she's going to welcome to seek accommodation elsewhere then.

Yabu.

UC is supposed to be there for people who need help with the cost of living which many people do and thus it’s a lifeline for them.

your dd does not need help with the cost of living. She has a free home and a small job for personal spends.

the more people take from the pot who don’t need it, the less there is in the pot for those that do.

it’s also totally the wrong message to an 18 year old. ‘Don’t worry about working, someone else can’

You have totally misread my post. I am not saying she should not work.

She doesn’t ’need’ to though, so the money ought to be left for those who do.

Who decides who needs it and who doesn’t?!
If she gets a message next week to say she is eligible then surely she is eligible?

I haven’t misread your post. My point stands that i don’t think in the very first few months of trying to find a job, for 18 year olds who have a home, that it’s a good idea to let them know there’s free money available to them. It’s the wrong message. Sure, 6 months down the line if they’ve tried and tried, different situation. But from the outset? Not what I’ll be advising my dds.

People with a moral compass. She - objectively - doesn’t need it atm.

She won't get much in benefits as she is young and living at home and working , she will probably only get around £100! A month I doubt that would make her decide not to work more hours.
But also OP said her daughter is only working 7.5 hours currently while she is waiting to start her job in a bank when she probably won't qualify for UC

You're right to encourage her to apply for UC if she can't find a job as she'll get NI credits and help from careers advisors etc but there's no need to be in a rush. She's already got a small job and hoping to build this to something bigger so I'd give her time for now to sort things out herself. If she's still stuck on 1 day a week in a year's time then definitely you'll need to broach this again and probably ask for at least a token payment towards food and board so she can start to feel a sense of independence, however small.

Absolutely grotesque opinions on here and complete lack of awareness about the job market for under 25s.
My eldest left Uni and it took 7 months to get a ‘proper job’ . She worked in a pub on a zero hour contract which meant sometimes no hours and sometimes 40/50 hours a week. Hours were declared and UC paid when there was an entitlement. Then she got a graduate job, still not great money but had to move to London for it as no opportunities locally. UC continued to support part of her housing costs and a reduction in council tax until her salary increased. That was in 2020. On a salary of £23900 . 6 years later she is on £68k and a high rate tax payer. Without UC she would never of been able to afford travel to interviews. Nor would she be able to accept the job offer in London because despite coming from a loving supportive family , we still had two at home, still had rent and council tax to pay. No way could we afford the cost of her getting to interviews and setting up in London. We charged her £50 a week for rent and saved it towards her deposit. Claiming UC and living at home does not give you any housing allowance. So I think her average UC was £240 a month when not working full time at the pub. This paid her £900 deposit and some household crockery, utensils and furniture. Non of which would of been possible without UC.
For my youngest. The same - except it took her 750 applications and 14 months to get a post graduate job. Securing a position in Jan this year. She still receives some help towards her London rent. Which will end after her next pay rise in February.

Having a ‘loving family’ is not the same thing as having a family able to provide the kind of financial support required to help youngsters into decent jobs especially if you live rurally and they need to be in a large city for any hope of employment that gets them beyond the poverty line .
OP, this is EXACTLY what UC was designed for. It’s actually described and designed as an IN WORK benefit. Don’t be guilted into not encouraging her to claim by a bunch of people who do not understand what it is like to do your best for your children on limited funds.

You decide if your own child needs it.

Can you afford to help her get on her feet? If the answer is “yes” then she doesn’t need it. If the answer is a genuine no, then she needs it.

Just because she is entitled to something, doesn’t mean she needs it, and doesn’t mean she should take it.

I was raised to believe that benefits were for those who needed them. Now, it seems like benefits are just for everyone.

Sounds like she doesn’t need it currently.
As someone else said , just because she can doesn’t mean she should.

So a totally different situation then @Stopbeingsoridiculous. She hasn’t been looking for 7 months, neither has the op said she can’t help get her to interviews.

@Stopbeingsoridiculous I agree. Lots of teenagers seeking work in a difficult job market for young people have loving homes. It doesn't mean that all those loving parents can afford to offer them a home without financial contribution. If she is eligible she should claim and the money should be spent on making a contribution to her living costs and on expenses relating to job seeking.

Yanbu at all op

I would take money off of her though, just a small amount.

I'd encourage her to claim, less for the money and more for the support it might open up.

The job market is dire and those kids that have left school at 18 with decent A Levels but no wish to go to Uni are really being treated very poorly. My son was in this position and has just secured warehousing work but if he hadn't I'd be encouraging him to claim so he would be recorded in the government statistics.

Neets are a huge problem which the government needs to address and I'd want DD at the top of the list for any support or schemes to secure decent work if I were you and to do that the system needs to know she exists.

Good for him :-) benefits are entirely there for those trying to do the right thing but need some help. And no one begrudges those that fall into this camp. It's all the spongers that should be rooted out.

But in this situation the OP has said she wouldn’t be claiming board. It would just be fun money for her child. Do you think taxpayers should be paying anyone ‘fun money’? I certainly don’t.

Thank you, that’s also why I wanted her to claim. For the opportunities it might offer up not just the money. She is not academic and couldn’t continue her chosen course at college which I have mentioned before due to not having the GCSE grades needed. I felt that she might engage more with the work coach as they are an authority figure of sort to look at different opportunities available.

I have explained about this point, if people think we should be encouraging her to pay board we will now consider it.
Not fun money as such, what about if she needed new clothes to attend an interview or train fare?
She has also applied for quite a few positions even ones that are totally unsuitable such as cleaning jobs at 6am in the morning 45 minutes drive away when she doesn’t drive! By some people’s standards I should be taking her to these jobs without question or consideration for my other commitments!

Most employers refund fees for travelling to interview, and there are grants available for clothes for work. The government offers such grants as monthly UC benefits are meant to be for essentials for survival.

I have never known an employer to give expenses for interviews!

She’s 18.

You wouldn’t buy your 18 year old child clothes, or give them travel money, for an interview?

But she doesn’t need clothes for an interview or train fare? You’ve already said she’s got a job just waiting for the DBS.

what a waste of her own time and money applying for jobs she can’t get to.

look op - it’s very clear you plan on getting her to get this money. You are just here is the hope that others do the same, so that you can feel better knowing that others are also taking from a pot they don’t need. Pointless responding.