To ask how you’d react to your Year13 quitting 6th form to claim JSA?

[WhistleDownTheMersey]

Posting in AIBU for traffic.
DS who is in his second year of 6th form has just given me and DH a big speech about how he wants to quit, and get out into the ‘working world’. He already declared a few months ago that he has no interest in uni. I didn’t mind that as uni isn’t the be all and end all and if you can take a path that avoids you getting into lifelong debt, good on you. But I am not happy with him dropping his A-Levels. He has struggled with them, having only scraped the necessary GCSE’s needed to do them. The pandemic hasn’t helped. He’s struggled with the remote learning and only being called into 6th form college 1 day a week (local lockdown area, they are only having students physically in one day a week to ensure social distancing within the college).

He wants to buy a car with a 2k trust fund he is getting for his 18th birthday in 3 weeks. That’s fine, it’s his money and he has passed his test. But I’ve told him he has to be pay his own insurance. He’s applied for hundreds of part time jobs to be fair and yet has got nowhere. His CV is decent enough so I am blaming Covid. He’s just read that an 18 year old is eligible for JSA (or the UC alternative) as long as they aren’t in full time education so he wants to quit so he can claim. He’ll get £58 a week. He knows that the car insurance will swallow all of that up but he’s apparently fine with it, he just wants his car. He knows that while claiming he will have to be actively looking for work, and he says he intends to. I definitely think he’ll be claiming for a while with the current job climate and don’t want him to become a bum, so to speak. DH is fuming and thinks it’s taking the lazy way out, and thinks that if he does go on JSA we should take the money off him for his upkeep. DS’s argument is that by going on JSA, he’ll be able to fund his car insurance, therefore meaning he’ll be able to apply for jobs further out, increasing his chances of getting a job. It’s a fair point.

I don’t know what to think. Also, when he’s supposed to be in Year 13, will he be able to claim?

Fairly sure he won’t get the benefits.
If it was my son I would be helping to fund the car insurance if possible as long as he stays in education of some kind. Worth looking at apprenticeships and more vocational training.

I'd say he should go for an apprenticeship but first have a think about what he wants to do with his life- what he does for a living (ideally he'd get a career rather than a job) will determine more of his adult life than he currently knows. He shouldn't clutch at the first straw that comes his way, and he'll be required to if he (somehow) manages to claim for unemployment. He needs a plan and doesn't need to rush into the first idea that pops into his head. Also, my first car was a £900 banger and still cost about £600 a year to put through MOTs, plus breakdown cover (and it was a good job I had that too!) Plus petrol. I don't think there's anything wrong with dropping out, provided there is a plan in place, but dropping out to become a rudderless ship is a stupid idea.

Be careful if you encourage the choice of benefits at his age.
My friends son did something similar and consequently has spent 10 years on benefits and become quite unable to grasp the value of earning money of his own. The longer it goes on I just cant see him ever working now.
The college have let your son down. Please put your time in looking for alternatives for him and a part time job in areas of interest. If he is interested in cars could he not transfer onto a mechanic course with placements etc.
At 18 he is still a kid in many ways and you could end up supporting him for another decade.
If he pursues benefits he will be sent on courses anyway or made to do work placements for large companies that pay minimum wages. He could end up in a cycle of minimum wage jobs which would not fund a car at his age anyway. I hope he gets some support he must feel quite desperate and lost.

He can claim UC and this does not depend on parents' income. However he won't be entitled to anything towards housing costs. He'll just get the standard allowance of £342.72 a month. This includes the coronavirus uplift of an additional £20/week introduced in April. There is not yet any guarantee that this uplift will continue past next April.

It would be better if he had something else lined up before leaving school but I agree with other PP - scraping through his A levels with poor grades could leave him worse off as he'll then be ineligible for apprenticeships, training etc. at below degree level.

When I left full time education, I had to contribute towards the household bills and pay rent. Why would an adult in your house not be doing the same? You don't get out of responsibilities so you can buy a car??

To be honest he cannot even claim UC at his age ( I'm assuming he's 17 ?). He would need to be in a specific group of young people to claim which as far as I can see he does not meet the criteria.

My response would be fine, don't forget to factor in that you'll need to pay £50 a week board and lodgings. He can't get anything more than equivalent of jsa at that age.
Doing so immediately will limit his chances of finding meaningful work. Statistically there's a link between being on the "dole" from school and not proceeding into continuous work.
I'd probably advise a meeting with the college regarding the ALevels. If he's in his second year, why not just sit the exams anyway? Or Sit as AS levels?
I'd also ask him to look into apprenticeships. They're paid at about £100 I think, so money but also qualification and experience.

If he's struggling with A Levels, would he be better to change to study more vocational qualifications? Or look for an apprenticeship? I wouldn't have an issue with a Y13 dropping out of doing A Levels per se, but I would expect them to have a tangible plan about what they wanted to do, rather than just what they didn't want to do.

@Babyroobs he’s 18 in a few weeks.

Shit pay but working knowledge. But better pay than UC.

I’m not going to lie I’d be really embarrassed if my son was on benefits at this age. Mine went on to UC when he came out of uni. Got sanctioned because a job interview clashed with his job centre appointment.

[quote CornishTiger]@Babyroobs he’s 18 in a few weeks.[/quote]
Ok so yes I think he could claim then. I think the government are putting quite a lot of help in to young people finding work. There are these new schemes where companies can sign up to offer 6 month placements to young people. My 19 years old ds has managed to find factory work but Uc have given him two appointments with his work coach in two weeks so there is not the option not to be doing 35 hours work search to earn the UC !! I thought maybe due to the current job situation there may be less pressure but it doesn't seem that way. If he is going to claim Uc he needs to be aware of the requirements.

@MereDintofPandiculation

Shit pay but working knowledge. But better pay than UC.

I’m not going to lie I’d be really embarrassed if my son was on benefits at this age. Mine went on to UC when he came out of uni. Got sanctioned because a job interview clashed with his job centre appointment.

I am a little worried about this. My ds has been sent a job centre appointment at very short notice and and it is tomorrow. He has since found work and is working 11 hours tomorrow going from one job straight to another so won't be able to go to the appointment. Hopefully he won't need to claim any more but both jobs are zero hours so not guaranteed work.

If he’s hard working and determined perhaps. He should go to the job centre before claiming anyway and find out about apprenticeships. If he’s interested in the trades there are a lot of options, it’s a good career if you work hard. Don’t need ALevels for it, is hands on with a few days at college a few days on site. He’ll learn more on site anyway.

I wouldn’t agree to my kids stopping 6th form to go on JSA with no other idea what they wanted to do though, but if they had a plan that didn’t include JSA then yes I’d support them. What does he want to do? Where does he see himself in 5 years? I worked in a secondary school and there are scary statistics for Year12-13 kids not in education, employment or training, NEETs they’re called. Very bad life outcomes, more likely to get involved with drugs/crime. If he wants to quit ALevels should only leave if he has something to go to instead.

If it were me, I would ask him to stay at 6 form until he gets a job/alternative course/apprenticeship. Get him to write up a plan of what he wants to do and where he sees himself in 5 years time. It’s the sitting at home with no goals that would bother me more than the financial side. It’s easier to find a job when you’ in a job or on a course than it is for someone sitting at home doing nothing. Work creates work.

definitely wouldn't allow this, he needs to have an apprenticeship, btec or job in place before he quits college.

For benefits:
How does he know how much the insurance will be without having the car? In a years time if he didn't have a job or savings where would the upfront payment come from?

How will he pay for mot maintenance, tax (if required) tyres,petrol etc?

Will you be losing out on your own benefits, will he be able to make this up for you if required?

If he got sanctioned what would he do for money?

When you say you 'definitely wouldn't allow this' - OP's DS is 18 in three weeks and then he will be an adult. She has no power to make him stay at school.

At this age you can't just tell them 'no', you can only really advise and decide how much support you'll give to their choices.

It would depend how much he wanted to live at home in that case.

Yes, that comes under 'decide how much support you'll give to their choices'.

Are you suggesting OP gives her DS a 'my way or the highway' ultimatum for his 18th birthday? Do you have any idea about the type of place he would likely end up living?

No but you can say you will only receive the basics, food and roof over his head if wants to do anything else he will have to pay for it.

My husband did this. Was on the dole for a year.. Now aged 27 earns 50k a year in a prestigious role.

I'd be giving a time ultimatum at least and if he wants to be an adult on benefits then I definitely wouldn't be supporting him spending it all on car insurance. Whose going to buy everything thing else he needs for the car and also everything he needs for himself? If he gets sanctioned whose going to pay for the car insurance that month?

Would you be happy for your child to willingly be on benefits and have nothing in place regarding work or apprenticeship, especially in the current climate?

Have you bothered reading my previous posts on this thread RevolutionRadio?