Do all 18 years old go on UC if they cannot find a job

[Crystalovertherainbow]

Do the family needs to show their income or the new adult is considered their own financial unit now , even if they live with the parents and their UC is given them

I'm really not sure what you mean. If someone who is 18 needs to claim UC that's their right as long as they are entitled. Babysitting isn't something an 18 year old should be doing unless they are police checked and have experience and have the transport to get from A to B. Most parents these days will put their child into nursery rather than pay babysitters - particularly as some parents get free childcare hours

This just isn’t a way I want to navigate life. I’m sorry for you for whatever experiences you have had that have led you distrust everyone.

Gig economy jobs are often very low hours and people need to claim UC as a top up. Uber - deliveroo. They pay people an absolute pittance. It's quite telling the amount of people on this thread who think 18 year olds should be doing crap jobs

Also. Someone baby sitting. Cash in hand - which is basically fraud if its not declared. No NI credits and generally something people do as a hobby - zero job security at all there

I used to work with young homeless people. They had to claim benefits to get their rent paid and supported accommodation rent is set so high it was basically impossible for them to work.

If some people on this thread have teens that will never have to claim - fine. But that's not reality for a lot of people

You live in a completely different world to me. Dd is 17, she has waiting lists of people wanting her to babysit. As do a large number of her friends. On a Saturday night when nurseries are closed. If this isn’t completely normal where you live, then that’s never a place I’ve lived in.

I'm actually astonished at some of the replies. Just because some people have lots of money and look down their nose at people claiming benefits doesn't mean all families are in that position - of their 18 year old being able to say no I wont claim benefits - because someone on mumsnet might judge me

Sexual assaults, starting at age eight, and the ability to read history and the news.

It's given me a gift called the security mindset. Instead of assuming that everything will be OK, I start from the assumption that people are out to scam or otherwise hurt me and work from there. If more people had the security mindset, there'd be a lot less fraud.

There are lots of professions, including childcare, cyber security, and law enforcement, where distrust needs to be the default state. Distrust by default is at the heart of child safeguarding.

I feel sorry for the people who walk through life trusting everyone and getting burned.

Well said 👏👏

I live in the West of Scotland. So that's the reason you are trying to push babysitting on people - because your daughter and her mates do it. Maybe some people live in areas where people don't have much money spare to go out on a Saturday night far less pay a babysitter

Also, why are people making up that some parents don’t want their children to claim because they’re ’too good for benefits.’ ?

just totally made up.

nobody, obviously, would think that.

the reasons given mostly is that some parents (obviously not all) can fund their children to an extent that they can develop a work ethic first rather than benefits being the first port of call.

You'd be amazed. I worked in quite a posh university for a while in catering. The majority of the students were from a different planet and "too good for benefits" was absolutely a thing. Even working in the college bar carried a stigma.

Right. This is kind of the point I’m making. Babysitting is my own lived experience. I did it. My kids do it. My go to has never been straight to benefits. My point is to think. Be resourceful. What is available in your area. What are the go getter teenagers doing. Do that. If it doesn’t exist, move. We’re talking 18yr olds here.
I picked babysitting as an example. I could have picked something else. If I’d said car washing you would have responded that you don’t have a bucket.

I am hoping that my children would be going to University when they turn 18, but let’s say they did chose to look for work, then I would be supporting them. As is my responsibility. That doesn’t just disappear overnight because they’ve reached the magical age of 18.

Are you teaching them that it’s shameful to claim benefits?

I’m not teaching them anything about benefits.

I don’t understand what you mean by “too good for benefits”.

Either you need them or you don’t.

Being entitled to something doesn’t mean you need it.

Surely less people claiming benefits is a good thing?

So the children of working class parents who can’t afford to fund their children through what could be a year long plus job search can’t develop a “work ethic”?

What’s the difference between being funded by mwummy and dwaddy and being funded by the DWP?

Your daughter is making money from a baby sitting job. That's not a career and it's not earning her 300 pounds a month is it? If it doesn't exist - move, life isn't that simple for some people - particularly people on low incomes. Car washing? That's what you think is go getting? Someone washing a car rather than claiming UC?

omfg. I actually give up. I literally specifically said - obviously not available to all. Ironically, I’ve got to get on with work.

I've been on benefits on and off a few times in my life. Including after I graduated and when I've been made redundant. There are times when people might need benefits as a safety net - it's got nothing to do with having a work ethic or not. It's about keeping a roof over your head at some points.

I remember the Guides and Scouts sending us out to do door-to-door car washing for charity.

It was eye-opening to discover that the task that my dad would pay me a couple of quid for, my neighbours didn't want me to do, even in Guide uniform and for charity. This is because people don't trust untrained and uninsured door-to-door car washers. And in the current year, you can get trafficked enslaved migrants to wash your car for £6 with a jet lance and all the proper equipment, and get the same trafficked enslaved migrants to valet it for £20.

If door-to-door carwashing actually worked as self-employment, my doorbell would never stop ringing because I've got a car on the drive and work from home most days.

As it is, I get people ringing my doorbell selling door-to-door. I don't buy from them because I don't trust them. Why would anyone else trust them?

The State have decided that they will support people over 18 (if they do not continue their education), that indeed it is no longer entirely the responsibility of their parents. At what age would you stop supporting them if they are unable to find work? 25? 35? Never?

While I don't aspire for my children to claim benefits I strongly believe they should be taught about them. Indeed, my sons learnt about it first hand when I was made redundant and navigating the whole miserable system for the first time.

My adult son claims UC. He has a degree. He has been unable to find work that pays enough for him to support himself completely. He has 3 jobs. At 26 I'm not going to support him.

Thank you for realising your privilege. It’s not an easy thing to do.

You should also apologise to everyone you insulted in this thread. Your poisonous rhetoric is contributing to the division we desperately need to rid our nation of. Absolutely everyone deserves empathy x

Most of the students came from money and had high confidence that they'd get a job either through the "milk round" or through family connections. Working class students stood out a mile and the gap in understanding about money, social capital, and cultural capital between the posh ones and the working class ones was a chasm.

Oooh! Ok. I'll call and ask! Thank you.

Also during COVID I remember laptop only remote jobs. People doing basic data entry. Do something. Don't live off someone's elses income.

See with respect.
Some 18 year olds don't have a laptop. Some people live in families who rely on foodbanks. The benefits system is there for a safety net

If people need it and are entitled to it they should not be made to feel shame over claiming.

Are you going to tell every single person on UC to get a laptop and do data entry? Well that's odd. Because in my entire life I've never seen the UK at full employment. There are always going to be people who need to claim benefits

You think nearly 2 million people are sitting around idle, gleefully running their hands together as they enjoy claiming benefits?