I found it quite hard when DD went to Uni at 17. The child benefit stopped in the summer when she left school, and I had to make up the shortfall on her rent for her student flat from savings as she only qualified for the basic student loan and not the bursary, which is parental means tested with quite a low threshold, which means you basically get nothing if one parent is working. I remember the old days when a student grant did at least cover your accommodation costs. But it's unrealistic to expect everything to be free. And it's not until a benefit stops your realise how much you miss it!
Our neighbours don't work and get the full range of benefits but this includes quite a large wedge of child benefit and child tax credit which I now know (from what my neighbour has since told me) that they rely on quite heavily. When I mentioned to my neighbour before lockdown that she will probably miss the child related benefits when her twin boys turn 16, she looked at me like I was mad and told me that they can't stop because she needs them to get by. I was a bit embarrassed and thought that maybe this was because her kids had found a college or training place or something (I think you can get them until 19 or 20 in some circumstances) or because they would be claiming benefits in their own right. Both boys have already left school. So I let it drop and with everything that has happened I forgot about it.
This morning she told me through the fence that she has had a letter from DWP saying that her CB and CTT benefits are going to be stopping and she doesn't know how she is going to get by. Apparently she and DH get jobseekers allowance, housing benefit and council tax paid under the umbrella of UC. And I am presuming that her boys will now be able to claim benefits in their own right which would help make up some of the shortfall.
I know that really this is none of my business but she was crying and saying they have just signed a new contract with virgin media and how will they pay the electric bill now. I suggested that she go online and try and get some advice because I don't really know enough to advise her. It's my own fault for mentioning it all those months ago I suppose.
She clearly needs to talk to someone so I am happy to be a listening ear at a socially appropriate distance if there is no-one else but I am a bit useless when it comes to giving any advice because I really don't have much experience as I been in the same job since I was 24.
To be frank I am a bit shocked that she seemed to think that she would continue to get these benefits forever and it wasn't until she told me how much CTT she gets each month that I realised that it is a large chunk of their income gone which they have presumably come to rely on.
As I said, if anyone knows of any online help that is available right now then I will pass the information on (I can text her) but I am a bit shocked that she didn't anticipate this as even with my fairly basic knowledge I knew that the CB wasn't going to continue forever and accepted and planned for that.
Presumably the way forward is to try and look for work as even on a basic wage you could then claim WTT. But I appreciate that in the current environment that isn't going to be easy.
Clearly people rely quite heavily on child related benefits more than I ever realised.