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

OK. So you want state pension and all other benefits phased out.

in that scenario the tax payer would save money and could put the saving into a private pension. Is that morally ok.

I think it makes them take responsibility. Off you go to the job centre then. Work with the work coach. It's society. They need to join it. You risk colluding with their worklessness if you fund their staying at home no work no education.

The state pension is paid for by NI contributions, lack of proper planning by successive governments has meant the current amount paid out is large compared to those paying tax. If you do away with the state pension for those within even the smallest funds it will almost certainly be worth living your life and retiring with nothing to get pension credit AB’s the associated benefits.

There is not an expectation or law that states parents should support their children once they reach 18. The fact they have to when they go to uni is another grad tax in effect.

Most parents with means will support their children, we are, but they would definitely claim if we weren’t as well off. I read somewhere that paying your child’s uni fees was classed as a gift and could be taxed as such. I wonder when we’ll find out that supporting your child/children is a taxable gift. Nothing would surprise me with this bunch.

How long ago did previous generations 'manage'?

I claimed Supp Ben between leaving school in summer 1978 and taking up employment the following October.

My eldest is financially responsible and has £20k plus saved up. If he'd lost this job he'd try damn damn hard to find employment again. We'd help him as well. In the meantime he'd return to tutoring.

And would he claim Job Seekers while looking for work?

That's not the position many people are in. Not everyone can save 20k when they are in employment. Lots of people try hard to get work - it doesn't mean they get a job quickly. You really seem to hate the thought of anyone claiming benefits on any level.

You would help him - some families can't help their adult kids

He wouldn't qualify with 20k in the bank

Benefits are money taken from working people to give to those who cannot work

Not a rainy day fund to assist people’s convenience, divorces and ‘mental health breaks’

None of those scenarios apply to the post that I was responding to - what was being discussed was someone who might lose their job. What does that have to do with divorces. Mental health breaks and "convenience"..

Living on 316 - 400 pounds a month hardly translates to a rainy day fund

Ps. I worked full time for over 25 years - I do know how the system works

Benefits are for people who are unemployed. If people cannot work due to health reasons they can claim disability benefits

Was waiting for a bite on that!!

He would.

New Style Job Seekers is not means tested. It does however require claimants to have paid, or been credited with, National Insurance Contributions in two qualifying years. Those are currently 2023/4 and 2024/5.

You do know haw many people claim Universal Credit while working don't you.

I wasnt trying to bite. I had forgotten about contribution based JSA

2.2 million as far as I'm aware

Yes - less than half. Most don’t work.

When you’re lazing around at mum and dad’s all day it’s just spending money.

I see this IRL all the time

I posted this right at the beginning of this thread and I've just had a text from my dd to say that she has had a job offer this morning.
Using the CV the National Careers service helped her with and the interview techniques from her coach. It's the job of her dreams.

I meant I was waiting for a bit on my baited hook!!

Knowing a few people who laze around on UC doesn't represent an entire population of benefits claimants

I rarely see a person on benefits that isn’t on them long term and lives a chaotic lifestyle.

That will be a different set of benefits to the £300 a school leaver can get.
If a person is on long term benefits they will be more than just a "job seeker".

No, they’re on UC long term and ‘looking for work’. Alongside PIP, of course - always PIP, for ADHD and autism.

Do you mean young people or anyone? I know lots of people who are on UC and who are studying. I also know people who have kids who claim UC because they aren't in work and their partner does and claim either to get NI credits - none of these people live a chaotic lifestyle.

I have worked with plenty of young people who do live chaotic lifestyles - but there are multiple reasons for that - not just being on benefits

Does that bother you? If I were someone in a professional job working with people on benefits and had the attitudes you seem to have about benefit claimants, I would consider doing something else

37% of the people on Universal Credit were in employment in December 2024

Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 9 January 2025 - GOV.UK

ETA: 42% of UC claimants have ‘no work requirements’, leaving at least 58% of claimants with work requirements, means 21% of claimants are unemployed with no legitimate reason, which is just under 1.6m people. Of those 37% who were in employment we don't know if it's full time or 16/30 hours.

Even assuming this 21% "only" get £300/month and not a penny in other benefits (no childcare support, free prescriptions, housing support etc), just bare £300/months, it costs taxpayer just under £5.7b pa. These are £5.7b which could have been spend on education, police etc.