Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

Unemployed but not entitled to any benefits

137 replies

BinBandit · 01/11/2022 12:26

I've struggled to find out any info online so wondered if anyone can help with this.

My DS has recently graduated and struggling to get any work (that's a whole other thread!). As he's never worked he isn't entitled to job Seekers. He has too much in savings to qualify for Universal Credit. We supported him through Uni but he did take the loans and saved them so this would give him a start when he graduated. He's a quiet lad so didn't spend much.

Anyway, he's expected to live of those which is fair enough. Benefits are there for those who need them and he has savings. The assumption is that we will continue to However, I can't seem to find out any info about whether he and/or how he can register as unemployed and get some help with looking for a job or whether he would get NI credits by registering somewhere.

We believe that he probably has ASD issues (Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder?) which we are now looking to get a private assessment for and this is obviously not helping with the job hunting so we think he may be looking for work for a while. We'd all like him to have more independence but whilst he has no income, he can't really commit to using his savings for that as originally intended, as what will happen when those run out?

OP posts:
HelloMrBond · 01/11/2022 12:29

There’s stacks of jobs out there, how about unskilled jobs such as warehouse picking or McDonald’s?

ChocHotolate · 01/11/2022 12:30

Surely when his savings run out (or fall below the threshold) then he may be eligible for benefits?

WorrieaboutFIL · 01/11/2022 12:31

When they go below £6k he will be able to apply for universal credit surely? In the meantime he should take up volunteer work, anything to help him build his CV. Or further qualifications. He might be entitled to disability payments but finding a career should be plan A as it's not a great life on benefits and very precarious.

5yearplan · 01/11/2022 12:31

Could he sign up to an agency,
at least for a temporary job? I bet as soon as his references come through he would be working. (That’s what I did when I had been out of work for some time.)

SleepingStandingUp · 01/11/2022 12:33

He saved his loans to help him when he's graduated. He's graduated. Now he uses those savings to help him. Let him live with you rent free and pay for his food etc if you can afford to, tell him how much he needs to give you each month if not. But that's what that money is for surely, to help him love not as a deposit on his first home etc.

What was his degree on? What jobs is he applying for?

Ebananascroogey · 01/11/2022 12:35

I can't be much help on the money front, but I've known people use the National Careers Service & say they were brilliant in helping with things like identifying suitable careers & putting together cv's etc if that might help? nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/

Lmgify · 01/11/2022 12:42

Can’t he try to find a minimum wage job whilst he’s trying to establish his professional career? Or an admin post in the field he wants to be in?

madnesss · 01/11/2022 12:44

He could always just pay his NI

JamSandle · 01/11/2022 12:47

Sign up to a temp agency and start temping. Id cast a wide net with them as not sure if some are quite full but they can be a great way to get into work.

NairobiGal · 01/11/2022 12:52

I thought you could claim universal credit if you had under 16k of savings? Might have got that wrong. Can't he get a job in a bar/restaurant/McDonald's kinda thing? There are loads out there.

toor · 01/11/2022 13:14

He saved his loans? He uses that then!

Original poster
BinBandit · 01/11/2022 13:17

HelloMrBond · 01/11/2022 12:29

There’s stacks of jobs out there, how about unskilled jobs such as warehouse picking or McDonald’s?

Yes, he has been applying to everything and anything from graduate schemes to night shift in Tesco.

And some answers to other points.

He's signed up to agencies but he obviously doesn't interview well since he struggles to speak and is anxious on top. He isn't lazy, he wants to work. He has a first class honours in Computer Science but spent most of his degree sat in his bedroom. No-one wants him to have a life on benefits. DH is past retirement age and I'm approaching it so we'd like to see him settled, we both grew up in poverty before benefits were even a thing and have both worked for over 40 years so have no knowledge of the system.

No-one is annoyed or thinks he should get benefits, it's whether he gets any associated help that we are interested in. We are not "scroungers" but being fiscally responsible has put him in a worse position as far as support is concerned. It's particularly the support that we are interested in.

He can apply to everywhere but is discounted for dishwashing jobs and upwards as he is overqualified but is equally not capable of getting through recruitment processes for "career" jobs either. If i could wave a magic wand and give him an ounce of confidence then I would.

Thank you for the helpful suggestions, particularly that link from @Ebananascroogey

OP posts:
Jusmakingit · 01/11/2022 13:17

He saved three years worth of student loans , but you helped him through uni anyway? Was he actually entitled to the loans if you helped him anyway? What did he graduate in , surely as newly graduated there may be an entry job for his profession to apply for? Universities usually hold careers fairs etc to help students make connections/contacts to apply for jobs once they graduate.

Summertime16 · 01/11/2022 13:21

does he have any work experience? If he applying for jobs at tesco etc he needs to tailor his CV to suit the job.

It's an employees market out there at the moment. May not be the job you want but it's a job.

What about a graduate scheme etc

Asher33 · 01/11/2022 13:22

Jusmakingit · 01/11/2022 13:17

He saved three years worth of student loans , but you helped him through uni anyway? Was he actually entitled to the loans if you helped him anyway? What did he graduate in , surely as newly graduated there may be an entry job for his profession to apply for? Universities usually hold careers fairs etc to help students make connections/contacts to apply for jobs once they graduate.

There's a non means tested part of the student loan

ittakes2 · 01/11/2022 13:23

If it was me while he had savings I would encourage him to volunteer to work in an industry / business he sees a future in and the experience will hopefully give him a foot in the door.

Original poster
BinBandit · 01/11/2022 13:25

Of course he is entitled to loans, it's a loan that he will have to pay back. The fact that we fed and housed him and he had very little other expenditure is irrelevant. He missed all the job fairs etc through Uni as A. He was supposed to be doing a masters but couldn't get a placement so was unable to continue so graduated late and B there is no way on earth he could go up to company desks and chat about careers anyway.

He is clever, honest, reliable and hard working but that doesn't appear to be of any use when trying to get a job!

OP posts:
PineappleWilson · 01/11/2022 13:26

As a graduate he can still use the careers service at his old university so ask him to get in touch with them. They can suggest ways of finding suitable careers, maybe do mock interviews, psychometric tests etc. with him.

OneRingToRuleThemAll · 01/11/2022 13:29

There are jobs out there that suit autistic people. I'm autistic and work from home for the local council. I do desk based work and never have to pick up a phone.

StressedToTheMaxxx · 01/11/2022 13:30

Could he perhaps try volunteering to get him used to interviews, working etc, along with giving him a reference?

JudithHarper · 01/11/2022 13:31

If you want to claim National Insurance Credits but are not claiming benefits, just contact your local job centre.

www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility

Sopharaway · 01/11/2022 13:33

I was also unemployed when I hadn't worked enough in the previous couple of years and had too many savings to claim benefits. I'm also disabled.
I think I applied for jobseekers allowance, just for the NI contributions, went to the jobseekers appointments and was referred for disabled help to Remploy (doesn't exist anymore but there probably are similar programs) which I found helpful for CV/interview practice. I found a job I really liked and suited my skills.
If things still work in a similar way, apply for benefits even though he's not entitled to anything but NI contributions and the jobcentre will still help.

Audioslaw · 01/11/2022 13:35

He's probably not being discounted for being overqualified but have I read this correctly that he's never had any type of job before? Even part time at uni? This could be why his CV is being overlooked.
He should keep applying but also look for some volunteer work so that there is something on his CV. It's quite unusual these days for someone to reach 21 with no work experience to list.

lapasion · 01/11/2022 13:36

PineappleWilson · 01/11/2022 13:26

As a graduate he can still use the careers service at his old university so ask him to get in touch with them. They can suggest ways of finding suitable careers, maybe do mock interviews, psychometric tests etc. with him.

I was going to suggest this too. My old uni has a jobs site that’s just for alumni. Might be worth a try.

It has been a few years but my experience with job centres wasn’t great. Their goal is to get you off benefits as soon as possible and they won’t care about things like degrees. They’ll likely try and get him into unskilled work, which isn’t so difficult to get nowadays. It would be better if he found a job, even if very part time, and got a bit of real world experience for his CV. It doesn’t have to be customer facing there are lots of options. He could then think a bit more about what he wants to do long term.

LemonSwan · 01/11/2022 13:36

He needs to go into the overqualified roles saying I know I am overqualified but no one will hire me because I have never had a job. I am not going to stick around forever but I need to earn money and have a job. Please help.

People like brutal honesty.