Child full-time education wants a part time job

BeenaBee

I find myself here asking for advice as i’ve struggled to find any helpful information elsewhere around my situation.

My 18year old is home educated (has been since age 14) Home Education qualifies the requirements for child benefit and UC child element, I am in receipt for both and also pip due to my health conditions.

Today my son told me that he has been offered a part-time job position and that the employer is happy to schedule his working hours around his tuition/studying. He will work 20-22 hours per week and continue with his education.
He wants to work to save money for driving lessons and a car in the future.

I worry if he accepts this part-time job offer will it affect UC child element and Child benefit.

Does anyone know anything regarding this or Has anyone been in this situation?
If yes, what was your outcome with UC and Child Benefit?

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

Rosie_Scope

Hi @BeenaBee, I'm not too familiar with this area myself I'm afraid, but I just wanted to reply to boost your post up in case another member has some experience with this.

If you're not able to find what you need here, it may be worth speaking to a trained benefits adviser as they'll have a better idea of how things might work with your claim. If you'd like to do that, Turn2Us have a search tool you can use to find local help: Turn2Us - AdviceFinder

Our Helpline are also very friendly and may be able to advise you on this or point you towards someone who can. They're available through phone or email from 10am-5pm every day except Sunday. You can find all the details here: Helpline | Disability charity Scope UK

Hope you're able to find some answers soon, I know it can be stressful trying to find the right information when things are a little complex!

ChrisR777

Surely your son getting some work experience to put on a CV, surely that's the most important thing? Jobs are hard to come by these days.

Holly_Scope

Hi @BeenaBee firstly, congratulations to your son for securing a part time role 🎉 It's a really tough market so he's done amazingly! Just having a read through on child benefit, and I think it might be problematic. I've added the section from the government website and made bold the line under "training where you cannot get child benefit" that I think applies:

Check if your child’s training qualifies

You can get Child Benefit if your child is doing an unpaid ‘approved training’ course.

Approved training includes:

• in Wales: Foundation Apprenticeships, Traineeships or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme
• in Scotland: the No One Left Behind programme
• in Northern Ireland: PEACEPLUS Youth Programme 3.2, Training for Success or Skills for Life and Work

Training where you cannot get Child Benefit

You cannot get Child Benefit if your child is:

• on an apprenticeship (unless it’s a Foundation Apprenticeship in Wales)
• doing a course with an employer’s agreement - for example in order to get a job with that employer, or to get skills for a job they’re already in
• doing a training course that is part of a job contract

Link to website: Child Benefit when your child turns 16 - GOV.UK

I can see my colleague has provided some benefit advisor links, so it might be an idea to verify with them for certainty. Would you let us know the outcome? It'd be good to know the answer to this and might help others in a similar predicament. ☺️