Do young adults in the UK not want to work?

CollieFit

award a liveable , working salary and then try again.

*lightbulb moment*

I got it. Put an ad in the job centre offering the same position at YOUR income. You'll get hundreds of applicants and be able to hire someone FABULOUS... and you can live on the minimum wage instead, right? How does that sound?

So this person has worked hard and build up a small business and is now able to offer someone a job, and she gets a load of **** of people. Lovely.

rubixcyoob

Why would it not be acceptable to wear jeans to an interview for a slightly above minimum wage job?

Jeans is never acceptable for a job interview. Dress for the position you want is what I have always been told.

If a person is in the middle of education, or right out of education, they may only own smarter jeans and not have the funds to get new stuff for an interview, especially for certain work places.

rubixcyoob

The OP isn't "underpaying" but paying above the national minimum wage. Exactly what would you expect for a completely unqualified candidate??

I think OP is paying 'slightly' above the minimum wage. Where I am, people working full time at the legal minimum wage still fall below poverty thresholds. (there are a few; one is calculated as eg the difference in % of after-tax income spent on shelter, food and clothing compared to the national average)

The NMW is £6.19 at present for 21+ and £4.98 for 18-20. For a 40 hour week that's just under a grand a month.
With a personal tax free allowance of just under 10k per annum you'll be paying naff all in tax.

Yes that doesn't finance a millionaire's lifestyle, you might not be able to afford to run a car, you might not be able to party all the time and you might have to (God forbid) share accommodation, but it's not "poverty line"!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22887005

Specifically the line "The government prefers the measure of relative poverty - defined as when families have a net income that is below 60% of "median net disposable income" - as does Labour.

This amounts to £250 a week or less at the moment.".

Say the employer pays £6.50 "slightly above the NMW" - for a 40 hour week that is £260 per week, however most employers do not pay for lunch breaks. This leaves a person living below the poverty line, before tax.

CollieFit

The OP isn't "underpaying" but paying above the national minimum wage. Exactly what would you expect for a completely unqualified candidate??

I think OP is paying 'slightly' above the minimum wage. Where I am, people working full time at the legal minimum wage still fall below poverty thresholds. (there are a few; one is calculated as eg the difference in % of after-tax income spent on shelter, food and clothing compared to the national average)

The NMW is £6.19 at present for 21+ and £4.98 for 18-20. For a 40 hour week that's just under a grand a month.
With a personal tax free allowance of just under 10k per annum you'll be paying naff all in tax.

Yes that doesn't finance a millionaire's lifestyle, you might not be able to afford to run a car, you might not be able to party all the time and you might have to (God forbid) share accommodation, but it's not "poverty line"!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22887005

Specifically the line "The government prefers the measure of relative poverty - defined as when families have a net income that is below 60% of "median net disposable income" - as does Labour.

This amounts to £250 a week or less at the moment.".

Say the employer pays £6.50 "slightly above the NMW" - for a 40 hour week that is £260 per week, however most employers do not pay for lunch breaks. This leaves a person living below the poverty line, before tax.

And that's exactly why I said it's not poverty line. It's a rather bizarre definition of poverty. If the median net income were 100k they would argue that you are "poor" if you earning less than 60% of that and that's ridiculous.

I spent enough years doing home visits to the so called poor (both as a probation officer and as a social worker) just to find any number of new electronic gadgetry, large flat screen TVs, many ran a car, there was always enough cash for *kitten* and booze...

£71.70 per week for JSA, all your accommodation costs paid through housing benefit (only if you rent - if you own a house of course you're screwed!), zero council tax to pay... of course for such a lovely package some would rather stay at home and let the rest of us idiots pay for them.

SteveJWatson

award a liveable , working salary and then try again.

*lightbulb moment*

I got it. Put an ad in the job centre offering the same position at YOUR income. You'll get hundreds of applicants and be able to hire someone FABULOUS... and you can live on the minimum wage instead, right? How does that sound?

So this person has worked hard and build up a small business and is now able to offer someone a job, and she gets a load of **** of people. Lovely.

Why should the OP get any praise or otherwise - the main person to benefit a business owner when he or she has grown a business enough to be able to employ people is the owner of the business, her employee will earn her money through her surplus value, without her having to do any extra labour.

Thats basic economics. To do this and want praise off others for it is bizarre in the extreme.

SailorKnightWing

I spent enough years doing home visits to the so called poor (both as a probation officer and as a social worker) just to find any number of new electronic gadgetry, large flat screen TVs, many ran a car, there was always enough cash for *kitten* and booze...

Well yeah, of course you only saw people gaming the system. You met only ex-criminals and people with problems bad enough to warrant your services. You didn't meet any of the people who fell into poverty due to layoffs or poor circumstances that are desperately trying to get back into the workforce. That's like only going to a salmon farm and assuming all fish everywhere are pink.

Hildy_J

So this person has worked hard and build up a small business and is now able to offer someone a job, and she gets a load of **** of people. Lovely.

I don't agree with the exploitation of others for financial gain.... making someone else live on the minimum wage so you can fund the enormous mortgage on your tasteless 4-bed detached in some snotty village, your golf club membership, BMW and holidays abroad? Well one HAS to keep up with the neighbours, after all... Nah. Immoral.

I say STICK IT to the man.

ironanimal

Sorry, but the minimum wage is just not worth it - especially for an out-of-work graduate.

Who needs long hours AND no money? I'd rather have £50 less a week and live on benefits, personally.

You get what you pay for, ref: peanut/monkey calculation.

To put this in perspective, the minimum wage in London has a living allowance added to it, so it's about £7.20 or so - can't remember the actual number.

Renting a 1 bedroom apartment costs between £250-300 in London, for the most part, with very few landlords setting their prices lower. 7.2*40 = 288. Best case scenario, you would have about £50 a week to spare for bills, food, clothing etc.

Unless there are good progression opportunities, working at minimum wage in the UK is pretty futile in terms of getting on.

CollieFit

Do you know how hard it is to claim JSA?

I have no recent experience of attempting to claim JSA but have claimed once for a period of 2 weeks. Like you I didn't receive anything, in my case because I withdrew my claim when I was accepted on a Masters course.

However, the bare chested chaps with the considerable suntan, strolling in casually from the park while carrying on drinking their beer that were before me in the queue still stick in my mind. There I was with my file of paper work, wanting to provide "evidence" of my efforts to seek employment as it had said in the letter,... and there they were, pissed by noon and NOBODY even bothered to ask them what efforts they had made to gain employment... they just got paid and strolled out with the cash - no questions asked.

CollieFit

Sorry, but the minimum wage is just not worth it - especially for an out-of-work graduate.

Who needs long hours AND no money? I'd rather have £50 less a week and live on benefits, personally.

You get what you pay for, ref: peanut/monkey calculation.

To put this in perspective, the minimum wage in London has a living allowance added to it, so it's about £7.20 or so - can't remember the actual number.

Renting a 1 bedroom apartment costs between £250-300 in London, for the most part, with very few landlords setting their prices lower. 7.2*40 = 288. Best case scenario, you would have about £50 a week to spare for bills, food, clothing etc.

Unless there are good progression opportunities, working at minimum wage in the UK is pretty futile in terms of getting on.

Why always use London as an example when rents are nothing like that anywhere else in the country?

If you can't afford to live in London then don't live in London!

ironanimal

Do you know how hard it is to claim JSA?

I have no recent experience of attempting to claim JSA but have claimed once for a period of 2 weeks. Like you I didn't receive anything, in my case because I withdrew my claim when I was accepted on a Masters course.

However, the bare chested chaps with the considerable suntan, strolling in casually from the park while carrying on drinking their beer that were before me in the queue still stick in my mind. There I was with my file of paper work, wanting to provide "evidence" of my efforts to seek employment as it had said in the letter,... and there they were, pissed by noon and NOBODY even bothered to ask them what efforts they had made to gain employment... they just got paid and strolled out with the cash - no questions asked.

I recently attempted to claim, but in the 3 hours of meetings their only concern was working out exactly how little they could pay me. They actually slashed my potential claim by about half because I honestly told them I was studying for a qualification ONLINE, despite having to pay for that myself and it not being subsidised or anything. Only once did one of the staff actually attempt to get me into work - only to find that I'd applied for every position she had on file previously.

CollieFit

So this person has worked hard and build up a small business and is now able to offer someone a job, and she gets a load of **** of people. Lovely.

I don't agree with the exploitation of others for financial gain.... making someone else live on the minimum wage so you can fund the enormous mortgage on your tasteless 4-bed detached in some snotty village, your golf club membership, BMW and holidays abroad? Well one HAS to keep up with the neighbours, after all... Nah. Immoral.

I say STICK IT to the man.

Wow. Running a business and offering an income to others is now immoral exploitation? Just wow... :huh:

Have you ever considered you folk can only afford to say "stick it" because the rest of us have to pay for that?

ironanimal

Sorry, but the minimum wage is just not worth it - especially for an out-of-work graduate.

Who needs long hours AND no money? I'd rather have £50 less a week and live on benefits, personally.

You get what you pay for, ref: peanut/monkey calculation.

To put this in perspective, the minimum wage in London has a living allowance added to it, so it's about £7.20 or so - can't remember the actual number.

Renting a 1 bedroom apartment costs between £250-300 in London, for the most part, with very few landlords setting their prices lower. 7.2*40 = 288. Best case scenario, you would have about £50 a week to spare for bills, food, clothing etc.

Unless there are good progression opportunities, working at minimum wage in the UK is pretty futile in terms of getting on.

Why always use London as an example when rents are nothing like that anywhere else in the country?

If you can't afford to live in London then don't live in London!

Pray tell, how can I save and move elsewhere without a wage that facilitates it?

Slacker16

So this person has worked hard and build up a small business and is now able to offer someone a job, and she gets a load of **** of people. Lovely.

Actually, she gets a load of **** because she doesn't realize that the job market is, well, a market. That is to say a place of haggle and negotiation.

I'm sorry but employers need to make the jobs they offer attractive to prospective applicants and a job with barely above minimal wages and whose only perk is training just isn't a very sweet plum. The only people who will apply will be those who have no other choices, and they will rarely be the most professional or enthusiastic ones.

That being said, making an appointment (professional or personal) and not showing up is just rude.

Do you know how hard it is to claim JSA?

Thank you.

When my parents and I emigrated (Canada, not UK), we were on social assistance for a year and a half before my parent's degrees were recognized and jobs were found.

In that year and a half, there were four instances (that I know of) where we simply didn't get our monthly check because of clerical errors (never any errors in our favor though, funny that). It usually took 1-2 months for clerical errors to be fixed. My parents were overjoyed to find work simply because getting assistance was such a pain.

I suspect a lot of people who are on social assistance long-term supplement that income in one way or another.

Hildy_J

However, the bare chested chaps with the considerable suntan, strolling in casually from the park while carrying on drinking their beer that were before me in the queue still stick in my mind. and there they were, pissed by noon and NOBODY even bothered to ask them what efforts they had made to gain employment... they just got paid and strolled out with the cash - no questions asked.

If you think the half-dressed alcoholics who live in the park have it better than you - then you really, REALLY, need a reality check. :noway:

CollieFit

However, the bare chested chaps with the considerable suntan, strolling in casually from the park while carrying on drinking their beer that were before me in the queue still stick in my mind. and there they were, pissed by noon and NOBODY even bothered to ask them what efforts they had made to gain employment... they just got paid and strolled out with the cash - no questions asked.

If you think the half-dressed alcoholics who live in the park have it better than you - then you really, REALLY, need a reality check. :noway:

You don't half jump to conclusions don't you.

Strolling into the job centre drinking alcohol doesn't necessarily mean you LIVE in the park or are an alcoholic.

Nowhere did I imply that they "had it better" than I did at the time.

This was in context of a conversation about how hard it is to get JSA, and my example of my impression that AT THAT TIME there semed to be very little pressure exerted onto people to provide any proof of seeking employment whatsoever. I stated that that MAY have changed since then.

twinketta

award a liveable , working salary and then try again.

*lightbulb moment*

I got it. Put an ad in the job centre offering the same position at YOUR income. You'll get hundreds of applicants and be able to hire someone FABULOUS: qualified; enthusiastic; and responsible - to shovel the shet... and you can live on the minimum wage instead, but STILL be the boss with your own office and a swivelling, leather chair? How does that sound? Everybody wins!

But, there is something a little wrong in that argument. I pay myself £1250 a month (that includes a dividend) I work from 8am until 11pm 6 days a week. It is my business and my choice. But I would rather not pay myself a hefty salary and prefer to keep the capital in the company so it can progress. (I do have a swivelling faux leather chair though)


So I am not asking anyone to work harder than me and I am not asking them to do unearthly hours.

CollieFit

award a liveable , working salary and then try again.

*lightbulb moment*

I got it. Put an ad in the job centre offering the same position at YOUR income. You'll get hundreds of applicants and be able to hire someone FABULOUS: qualified; enthusiastic; and responsible - to shovel the shet... and you can live on the minimum wage instead, but STILL be the boss with your own office and a swivelling, leather chair? How does that sound? Everybody wins!

But, there is something a little wrong in that argument. I pay myself £1250 a month (that includes a dividend) I work from 8am until 11pm 6 days a week. It is my business and my choice. But I would rather not pay myself a hefty salary and prefer to keep the capital in the company so it can progress. (I do have a swivelling faux leather chair though)


So I am not asking anyone to work harder than me and I am not asking them to do unearthly hours.

But.... tell us....

Do you have "an enormous mortgage on a tasteless 4-bed detached in some snotty village, a golf club membership, a BMW and holidays abroad????" :laugh:

twinketta

Also, for those that have commented that this thread is ageist... I really do not understand how it is perceived that way.

I am looking to employ a young adult. If I were ageist, surely I would look for an older person and disregard the younger population.

I have 2 sons in there early 20`s both now working and I know they both put in a lot of time and effort to find work.

Incidentally, they both had to move from this area to find employment.

twinketta

award a liveable , working salary and then try again.

*lightbulb moment*

I got it. Put an ad in the job centre offering the same position at YOUR income. You'll get hundreds of applicants and be able to hire someone FABULOUS: qualified; enthusiastic; and responsible - to shovel the shet... and you can live on the minimum wage instead, but STILL be the boss with your own office and a swivelling, leather chair? How does that sound? Everybody wins!

But, there is something a little wrong in that argument. I pay myself £1250 a month (that includes a dividend) I work from 8am until 11pm 6 days a week. It is my business and my choice. But I would rather not pay myself a hefty salary and prefer to keep the capital in the company so it can progress. (I do have a swivelling faux leather chair though)


So I am not asking anyone to work harder than me and I am not asking them to do unearthly hours.

But.... tell us....

Do you have "an enormous mortgage on a tasteless 4-bed detached in some snotty village, a golf club membership, a BMW and holidays abroad????" :laugh:

Haha I wish. I live in a flat, drive a Peugeot, no golf for me as I am too busy working. I had a week at Disney this year and 4 days holiday to France the year before.