Not going to Uni - Claim UC?

[wherehaveallthegoodfolkgone]

Hello,
DD is turning 19 this year and has just finished A levels. Decided not to go to uni - she was unwell during her college years and wants to spend time nurturing herself and multiple ways and I support her decision.
She has a tiny PT job that pays her £30 a week and she gets £80 a month from me and same from her dad (I'm single) .

It'll be about 6 months before she applies for jobs - meanwhile can she claim some income support or UC?
Would it hinder her chances of finding work later?
How does she go about it?
Thanks for any advice

If you want your daughter to have, effectively, an extended sabbatical before she has even entered the world of full time work, you will need to fund it for her.

Is this sarcasm? Exactly what benefits are for?!

Yeah, nah

To be fair to the OP, she did say her daughter wasn't well. But as others have also said, nurturing herself might be one thing, but possibly not at the taxpayers' expense.

Can she have a month off and then get into job hunting more seriously then? She'll have to try and be a bit proactive when it comes to work, especially as she isn't being productive or self sufficient doing a degree.

I think once the impetus or incentive to work or look for job disappears, she will find it harder to get back into it, especially being supported by you. She might get a bit too used to it, IYSWIM.

I don't really understand the ire. The 19yo will only get £338 per month on UC, nothing else. There will be regular meetings with someone who will check she's improving her CV and applying for jobs/more hours of work. Could be positive for her.

Has she got a child trust fund that age group had, that could maybe be used for it.

Absolutely

My dd went on UC after university and it was quite intense. She had a weekly meeting with her job coach who set her tasks and a weekly meeting with the National Careers service to help her change up her CV for the jobs she was applying for. She had to go through what she was going to say at interviews. You have to fill in a diary to log all the jobs you apply for. They also helped her find volunteering.

It was great for my dd because she has to apply for a certain number of jobs a week so it pushed her in to applying for jobs that she wouldn’t have thought of before. She ended up getting a job in a shop and that helped her get a job doing what she actually wanted to do.

She’ll get £267 because of her job.

I mean.. nurturing? Nurturing to me would be getting a job. A job is hugely positive. Particularly for a 19 yo. It can offer so much. Technically she can get UC but quite rightly they will expect her to get her job. The positive night be that they will help her.

And why would it be six months before she starts applyfor jobs if she's 19? Just think, she could earn thousands. Literally thousands, in that time, even working as a support worker or Tesco's or MacDonalds. And her CV would be full. From the start. How good for her would that be long term.

She doesn't need taxpayer handouts. She is your dependent, and lives with you.

Hey OP I think a bit more context is needed. I would say it's better for your daughter to go to uni or try some sort of career path or do sonething because it's much easier to keep up the momentum. What does she plan to do by nurturing her health? I took a year off after 6th form to go travelling, then I was supposed to start uni in London but cancelled my place a few weeks before the course started and went the following year to Bristol. It all worked out and I have me dream career and during those 2 years I worked as a waitress full time. But it's easy to become your environment, I felt quite depressed about living at home whilst my friends were at uni, moving forward with their lives. Alot of the people I worked with were drop outs/not going anywhere so it wasn't very inspiring. And it was not easy to keep up motivation. So I think more than anything your daughter needs a plan or something lined up for when she finishes her 6 months of nurturing. Also not sure how much nurturing she can do with £280 a month. Also you aren't really doing her any favours giving her an allowance. She needs to learn some life skills, budgeting, accountability, work ethic.

If she is genuinely unable to work more hours, she should apply for LCWRA and this will exempt her from the requirement to look for work.

Applying for that is even more soul destroying than being on UC. It can be hard to get unless the DD has lots of supporting medical evidence.

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If OP and DD want her to nuture herself during working hours (when others do it at weekends or evenings) then maybe OP and her father should financially support her?

The most nurturing thing she can do for herself would be to move forward with her life by getting a job. That will do wonders for her self respect and self esteem whereas festering on UC without even seriously looking for work will just lead to loss of confidence and resilience.

If she applies for UC, then she will be expected to look for work. Some work coaches can be brutal, so if she is wanting a breather to help her own health then the pressure could make it worse.

Of course, she could apply for UC and get sick notes to trigger a WCA... but if she is hoping she will be working more in 6 months then it wont be worth it as it could take that or even longer anyway. She could also be found fit for work and it would be back to work coach meetings anyway.

Could she increase her hours a little?

Well they kind of did. That is why this country’s welfare bill is what it is. Nurture away!

God I have really wound everyone up with completely the wrong word "nurture"
I don't want to go into her diagnosis as there are friends I know in real life who know the circumstances but suffice to say that she ended up in hospital with her illness that's caused some long term damage.

I'm very grateful for the responses highlighting the stress factor involved in claiming.
Not read all the messages because I see the nasty lot are out in full force , totally vile women -full of rage and judgement -so I'm signing off

This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve read tonight on here
nurturing herself - yeah okayyyyyyyyy

if she’s too ill to work she needs to go to the GP and then apply for appropriate benefits

if she is job hunting needs to sign on for JSA/UC whatever they dish out now

what an absolute load of bollox tho!

Personally I wouldnt encourage my child to sign on. She has money coming in. I know finding work is hard, but could you push her to job hunt or volunteer or something.

UC is something you fall back on. I did go on it a few years ago during Covid but that was after over a decade of only working. I understand how people just choose to live off it, it’s such an easy life, but I’m glad I spent my 20s building a work ethic.

I have a teen and honestly I would encourage building her work ethic in any way I can. UC should only be for emergencies,

Although it’s @wherehaveallthegoodfolkgone using that euphemism for skiving off and doing nothing, not the girl. It’s the OP asking about benefits (although we’ll be the ones paying).

Youll get more informed posts if you explain nurturing herself. Medically diagnosed issues fine........ cant be arsed, different ball game

When did the Money board turn so nasty?
She was just asking if her DD could claim anything, as she had no idea.

I wasnt being bitchy? Asked her explain nurturing.

By FYI op just use the entitled too calculator found via google. Dependant on medical need or not she'll likely get approx 400 a month minimum but with expectations. Ie job applications etc if she is already working, the medical aspect (ESA) likely wont be granted