Adult son advice please

Your son is an adult and ypur income is irrelevant. He can claim Universal Credit and will have to sign a commitment to look for work. He will also get a job coach. How good the job coach is will unfortunately be luck of the draw. A good job coach will help him find work eeven if it starts with a bit of work experience. But as far as claiming goes ... If hes over 18 and not studying, he can claim UC. He has to do it online. If you have concerns that he may be dyslexic , help him out with filling in the information, remembering that he is in terms of social security rules, not your dependent. Who ever said he cant claim UC was speaking a load of rubbish. Ypur income is completely unrelated!

What about him taking some kind of voluntary work ?
He could then get used to the being out and busy and also use this on his CV as proof of what he can do.
If he can find some voluntary work in something he might enjoy then it could perhaps lead to a paid job in the future.
Proving that he is willing and capable of work of some kind would be his best bet.

I know my local supermarket is short of staff as students return to schools/uni........could he try for a supermarket job just to get a foot in the door?
If he has potential they will quite likely promote him in time...it often works that way.
At this stage I would say anything is better than nothing as far as work goes.

Pen50 you have my sympathy. Is it just the two of you living together? Is he open to talking calmly about his future with you? Can you encourage him by telling him what his good points are? Eg speaks well, good manners, good mental arithmetic, caring or whatever. Help him write a new CV and have a concerted effort between the two of you to find him a job. If he will cooperate that is. Also if the two of you are house sharing ask him to do something each day towards the home ie make a meal, shop, hang washing, ironing. Then praise him for it to boost his confidence. I hope things improve and he is able to get out of the rut he is in. Chat to him whether he feels he is depressed and whether he feels he has come to terms with losing his dad. Suggest counselling may help. Let us know how things go.

Maybe I’m being suspicious, but is he actually applying for things and going for interviews? He may have an issue which is stopping him.

What about a foundation course at a further education college? It's a twelve month course and there may be time for him to enrol for this term. My friend's daughter did this to gain enough points for university admission. It is hard work - because it's the equivalent of A levels and is chargeable (student loan) -but it will enable him to to kick start. Both my children have excellent jobs due to their degrees. If he chooses a degree wisely, it could be just what he needs. Mine did computer science and maths degrees and there is plenty of work for those graduates.

I hope the situation improves soon. This must be a worry to you. You are not alone. Several people we know have AC still living at home who have slipped through the net at some point.
Luckily they do receive benefits and have found voluntary work. I hope your son finds something soon.

My own AS has been unable to find another job since being made redundant over a year ago. He has a family and they are beginning to feel it. It does nothing for self esteem does it!

I used to teach unemployed adults sent by the jobcentre. A few examples I remember well are:

first, an older man who couldn't cope with being inside a large building. He'd often been abandoned at school by a mother who just took off and was then 'rescued' by social services, fostered temporarily and returned to her. He found work outside as a gardener.

second, a young father who reacted to any public stress (even mild) with meltdowns and acute migraines. He had trouble attending appointments, taking tests, speaking to strangers etc. but was happy at home. Eventually, he became the non-working house husband and his partner worked full time.

Of course he is entitled to Universal Credits! your income has nothing to do with it; at his age he is an adult and entitled to claim. I think that either someone has misinterpreted the rules or has not completed the claim fully. I would suggest that he tries again , with you helping him, once he he claiming then he will be entitled to assistance with finding work. The Jobcentre can also refer young people to various projects which help those who are , shall we say, more challenging? I know of people who have found out that they have a learning disability from attending these courses so it's worthwhile from that point of view.

Pen50 Your son is entitled to receive benefit. It seems as if he'll need your help and support in accessing it. You are not expected to finance him as he's an adult.

In your situation I would seek advice from CAB, your family GP and your local college (without him in tow) to find out what help you can access for him. Whether he cooperates is another matter.

Not every young adult can cope with the job seeking or education demands expected of them. Perhaps some voluntary work or behaviour therapy may be beneficial for him.

Perhaps he is a loner who is now depressed and needs medication? Weed does weird things apparently to teenage minds.

How very strange, I have never met anyone who has not even been able to do voluntary work.
He must present as being very negative at interviews.

He might consider cooking for you both and cleaning your shared home. This at least would allow him to have some self respect.

He can learn a modern language while he is at home and that would look good on his CV . If the language was Urdu or other spoken by a minority group he could be employed as a translator. If he is slightly autistic he might be happier speaking in a foreign language than communicating in his intuitive native language.

I have had a row with my son and we have both said and done things to cause upset. I look after my GD overnight on a Wednesday and all day Thursday every week to help out with childcare costs. I tried to get him to discuss how we move forward this evening but he dropped GD off, put her to bed and went home without a word. Should we refuse to have GD until he treats us with more respect and at least gives us time to discuss an end to a repeated pattern of stubbornness and juvenile behaviour. We love having our grandchild who is almost 3, but feel totally taken for granted and can't work out how to resolve things

OP- it might be worth getting a DBS certificate and quote the number on applications. One of my friends has an ongoing interesting situation. One of the lads in his class at school had "borrowed" his name and I think adopted this name by deed poll, this individual has a long criminal record. Friend is involved with a children's charity; everytime he needs DBS renewing there is a performance and he needs to produce extra paperwork. However he always puts on job application forms that he is not the XX with convictions for Z who lives in Y and quotes his DBS certificate number. However I am not sure how you get a DBS if an employer or charity isn't involved.
The other thing is that DS has a friend who trained as a teacher of English as a foreign language has been working in China for several years and seems to be doing very well. Comes home reguarly etc. He is roughly the same age as your DS. Would he consider this option?
Also it might be worth getting an Ed Psychologist assessment in case there is hidden dyslexia/dyspraxia. DS2 who has very high IQ was not diagnosed until he was 17- so no benefit for GSCE or AS levels but OK for A levels and University. He has an MA but has struggled to find a decent job recently.

Have you tried The Prince's Trust? He is coming up tothe maximum age for some things but others go up to 30. You can find details here
www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/programmes

My son was in the same position, he got UC despite our household income being in excess of £80k so I think your son must be misunderstanding the form. My son did not get help with housing costs as he was living with family nor did I expect him to, I just wanted someone other than me to nag him into getting a job!
He was forced to go for interviews and worked as a kitchen porter, picking and packing, cleaning buses etc for 6 months and then got a temp to perm job with a large distributor, he's been there for a year now and is much happier. never been late and never had a day of sick plus he volunteers for any overtime going, a dream employee I would say.

My son easily got a job in Starbucks and soon became manager.He had no A levels.

As suzie says I think household is open to interpretation. He is not part of your household as in husband/partner, dependant. In this case as an adult I would say he was for want of a better word a lodger.
As I said in my previous post DS gets UC and lives with us. I don't remember having to give any personal details on his application.

pen there must be something wrong with how you are interpreting the form surely. If your son were living with a partner, then her income would be taken into account in assessing his income but you are not his partner are you? Your income is irrelevant. If you were claiming housing benefit or council tax benefit ( or whatever its now called) then your benefit could be affected because you have a non- dependent living with you. Please do talk to someone about this because I’m sure I’m right

The UC application asks a question about household income. It defines household as including anyone who's related to you.

Perhaps the loss of his father has badly shaken him?

There is a scheme where you can be a language assistant in Spain. The pay is OK and you can supplement it with private lessons. Meddeus or the British Council.

Something doesn't feel quite right here OP. I don't mean to be critical but at 25, should he be responsible for himself?

I think the changes at 25 are to do with housing benefit, not benefits paid to job seekers.

I don't know where you live but if you have high immigrant numbers teaching ESOL might be an option if your son has the CELTA qualification? If no paid work he could volunteer.
I think you could be right that benefits change at 25.

He would still be entitled to a lower level under 25. Where is there a question about your income on the UC form?