Unemployed but not entitled to any benefits

[BinBandit]

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?

If he hasn't had a job since graduating then his university careers advice service should still be available to him.

Data centres can be great for first IT jobs- they can involve overnight shifts so are less popular. These jobs seem to have potential to work well for people with ASD- quieter environment, structured/ process/ technical orientated work that can need problem solving skills.

Has he done any work placements as part of his studies? Would seeking work experience be an option?

Best of luck to him; and hope he finds something that's a great fit, and helps him to build confidence

A few thoughts:
If your son signs on as unemployed I think he might get NI credits even if not entitled to any benefits (need to check this but certainly used to be the case).
This company might be worth considering:
jobs.igt.com/IGT/job/Manchester-Software-Eng-%28Dev%29-II-M171HH/860720601/
A relative works for them, largely working from home and the initial assessment process involved specific coding tasks to be done at home, not sure about interview.
Another possibility might be the NHS as a large employer of IT people. It would be worth your son checking NHS jobs for any local vacancies.

He should be paying back the loan he took out, that's not savings, it's borrowed money accruing interest. That was a very poor financial decision.

Have you looked here: www.gov.uk/access-to-work
Your son may be able to get a lot of help including negotiating work schedules or extra time to learn skills. I have worked with some of these organisations and been surprised at how much help is available.

Tell him to look at otta.com/?utm_source=google_brand_uk&utm_term=otta&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAjwh4ObBhAzEiwAHzZYU6zc-P8AfgbB5lC_wKvLzCSSnIaIOy7T5XdMcEjYAUPpYH_qu8IgWRoCJuwQAvD_BwE

It's a techy recruitment agency. It's different from normal recruitment agencies
.

he doesn't have to pay it back until he is earnings something like 25k ( sorry can't remember the exact figure ! ). If he never earns the threshold it just gets written off after 20 years so I guess in that case it would be a good financial decision as he gets lots of free money. I have a friend who graduated in the mid nineties and has never paid a penny back in loans, recently inherited loads of money and still no requirement to pay any back.

I haven't read the whole thread so apologies if this has been said but he can claim Universal Credit as soon as his savings fall below 16k.

Yes this. That wasn’t actually a clever financial move. Really really a bad idea actually.

It was different in the 90s. Interest is absolutely insane on student loans and that was before inflation. I darent look tbh.

Really it ends up being a ten percent additional tax for the majority of the rest of your working life and you don’t even touch the interest.

They changed it, it's 30 years now then you pay 9% over £27k. And they could change it at any time, they already have.

OP needs to be very careful that he doesn't end up spending all that money with nothing to show for it.

His savings are not really savings, they are loans that he didn't really need and will need repaying.
Unless he is likely to get a good job very soon (pay back loan rapidly), or likely to stay in low paid work all his life (would never repay anything) these loans aren't going to help him, but could stop him getting benefits.
Martin Lewis has solid information about getting student loans, and not worrying too much about it as a debt, it becomes a graduate tax to pay them back only when the graduate is earning enough.
It may be that this accumulated loan is not doing any good for your son, as it could have done for someone potentially going straight into a mortgageable situation and using the lump sum as a deposit.
I would look into repaying a substantial amount of these loans, to be in a more realistic position.
It is like someone looking after £30,000 for a friend as a favour... If that meant they weren't able to claim benefits to which they were entitled, they would need to advise their friend to make other arrangements for storage of that money.
Anyone saying your son has "saved" this money and this is capital that should be taken into account to disqualify him from benefits is being disingenuous.

Has this been suggested

If he has a computer degree, he puts his CV on LinkedIn with his computer skills & see if he gets any bites from agencies, employers, freelance

Has he applied for any graduate jobs in computers/tech/data science ?

Has he applied for any Government tech jobs ?

Mcdonald is not his forte

My autistic daughter has started working in McDonald's- they are a disability employer. She's really coming out of her shell. Before starting work recently she wouldn't go in a shop on her own.

Maybe he could give that a try. Also, approaching charities as a volunteer and asking about whether they need any help with IT stuff/social media.

www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/employers-recognising-autistic-potential

And if he has savings, perhaps you could look at a private ASD assessment.

I think if he struggles so badly he can't go up to a job fair table and speak then he really will struggle getting even a basic job. Speaking is a key part of any work interaction.

As he's qualified for IT then I would say an entry level service desk job would be suited to give him social interaction skills but I guess the main thing is to work on those social skills first to even get to interview stage

Can you sit with him and go through interview techniques, increase his confidence? How did he manage at uni? He must have had to interact with others? Give presentations?

OP how is your son doing?
Has he found anything?

Thank you for asking. It's been a very up and down few months. He got festive hours at Tesco doing night shifts (less people and shop is shut) and they've kept him on on a temp basis doing a couple of shifts a week. He was initially really really stressed about it all but managed to get a bit of info on Christmas Day when he'd had some wine. He was basically struggling to know what to do when he'd finished his work but couldn't go and ask and thought he'd be in trouble. I ended up going in and speaking to the manager who told me that they were actually very pleased with him (hard working, reliable etc). They said they would put some support in place and he's gradually become less stressed with it all. He has now been formally diagnosed as autistic (private diagnosis) with impactful communication difficulties. We are trying to find some general support but there is nothing available in the area and nearby areas only support people in that area which is fair enough.

His diagnosis has opened up the job search a bit in that he can try with disability confident employers but it's really going to take a very special employer that will see what he has to offer and take him on and support him. The priority now is to focus more on the employer than the job. Communication aside he is fit, healthy, bright, good with practical things as well as using his brain. Given that only 20% of people with autism manage to maintain a job, it's going to be a struggle and we'll need to play the long game. Just have to hope that Tesco keep him on for longer.

Part of his diagnosis was that he struggles to imagine a future so it is quite difficult to support without feeling you are pushing him when you don't really know what he wants.

He has said he would like to live independently in the future so the key to that is having an income and also some kind of interest that might help socially.

So yes, he is doing okay but not great and we have a slow climb to independence for him, the slight benefit is that it's easier for me to support him with other agencies when he needs it as previously it's hard to be supporting a 22 year old without eyebrows being raised when he had no diagnosis. As he wouldn't engage himself I think he then missed out on things that may have helped.

Have you looked into access to work? www.gov.uk/access-to-work

It’s also worth checking I’d there are any local organisations that support adults with autism. You may find something in the NAS directory. www.autism.org.uk/directory

Sorry, I completely missed you tried finding local support.

Hi OP. In case it's not something he's come across, suggest to your son that he looks into bug bounty hunting. In summary, companies offer rewards to individuals acting in an entirely freelance capacity to find security flaws or other bugs in their systems and applications. It is by no means an easy way to make money but it will keep his brain working and if it turns out he has a knack for it then it could be ideal for him. At the very least it will give give him something to focus on and the potential to generate some income. It's also something he can add to his CV if he does get bugs accepted. Just make sure he does his research before diving in but there are tons of resources out there to help him if he's interested.

Thank you both. As he's only had his diagnosis a matter of weeks we are still navigating what may be available. There are a few services, including the Uni that should be able to help in terms of jobs (although at the end of the day they can only do so much) so we are working our way through registering etc. Being self employed is also a thought at the moment and his dad and I could support with the communication elements maybe. It's still all pretty new.

Where we are really struggling is trying to find him something to help with his communication and anxiety he has around that. He does want to be better and he wants to make friends and to be able to speak to us and the friends he has. It's heart-breaking really. He is such a lovely soul (even if I say so myself).

The nature of his autism means that he will not engage with something if he isn't interested. Obviously he did what he needed to when studying and does at work but unusually for someone on the spectrum, he currently doesn't have any particular interest. In the past he was a voracious reader/ pokemon/lego/particular computer games etc but hasn't had a focus for many years.

My friend has been diagnosed with ASD and Adhd, and is finding Acxess to work very helpful. Encourage your son to apply.
What language/technologies is he confidently coding in?

According to his CV: Java and Python, as well as HTML/CSS and some Javascript and SQL.

He also said this: As part of my course, I worked on an individual
project investigating programming languages for use in GUIs and created a compiler that was able to translate code in a custom language into Python Tkinter. This involved creating multiple sub components for the compiler, including a scanner/tokenizer, recursive parser, and visitor.

I hope that makes sense!

And thank you for the link, I hope your friend finds something suitable :)

It may sound odd to some but my autistic dd found McDonald's were really good employers. It was a one branch franchise with a hands on owner so that may make a difference but the structure, routine (she asked and got set shifts) etc good for her

Yes, I've heard some good things about McDonalds. If his Tesco ends then that would be an option maybe but he'd have to be cooking rather than serving. At the moment we are hoping that his Tesco continues and although it's only 16 hours, he gets extra for night shift and also for weekend so he gets on average about £100 a shift and isn't paying tax yet but is paying NI (but not much).

Thanks for updating @BinBandit
Glad things have moved on a bit from where your DS was a few months ago.
I work in occupational health so deal with reasonable adjustments a lot.

You'll be aware that your DS is now covered under the discrimination act and entitled to reasonable adjustment. This starts during the recruitment process so he's entitled to adjustments at interview stage. This could be online rather than in person, seeing questions in advance to reduce anxiety. typing answers, someone to support his communication by reading out his typed words etc. It should level the playing field so your DS has an equal opportunity to demonstrate his skills and knowledge as someone without a communication issue.

The crucial thing is adjustments need to be tailored to the individual need. Too many workplaces offer a standard package ("standard "for whom)
So have a really good think between you about what would help support your DS in his communication, maybe get some personalised recommendations from the HCP who did the assessment so you know what your asking for if he gets offered an interview.

Local councils often have a supported employment service for adults with disabilities, not autism specific but worth a look if you've good info on your son's specific needs.

Apologies if you know all this but thought was worth highlighting.

Good luck