dole for a student?

LegacyUser

heres the story:

My sister is in hospital and has been for the last 3 weeks. It doesnt look like she will be coming out very soon. She has a kid who my mother minds monday to friday, and on weekends and evenings i take over to give my mother a break for a couple of hours.

I am in college doing 10-5 monday to friday, and my role of a god father takes up the weekend, so i have little time to work at the moment. I work for my dad, so getting the time off is ok...

When my sister gets out of hospital, im going to be taking my niece on the weekends for a few hours to give her a break.

I drive a car and so on, i dont drink at all, and i just quit smoking (wee!) I dont think i can afford to stay in college and run a car with the way my life is going at the moment, so im thinking of signing on. I've never signed on, and i always told myself it would be a last resort, and id only ask for what i need to live on for the week (70 would be more than enough)..

Do i have any grounds on getting benifits?

Nevyn

If you are in college then you are not advailible for work so no you can't claim unemployement benifit or assistance.

Your Mam should look at speaking to a socail welfare about the situation if she is caring for the child.

There are part time flexi jobs out there temping in offices ect that you could do.

Blush_01

I don't think the issue is that he doesn't have work Thaed, but that he doesn't have the time for everything he has to do.

Talk to your college about the student hardship fund, if your situation is so bad that you have to consider dropping out. Alternatively, get a small loan. It's frightening to think of what my loans total at the moment, but such is the price of college and living away from home. Your parents can sign as guarantors so the bank has security, and you can even defer payment until after college, if you want to, and if the loan is small enough.

To be honest, your main financial issues seem to centre around the car. If you have a loan for it, maybe extend it by a few hundred euro and also extend the period of the loan.

I know it sucks to not be able to sign on as a student in tough situations like yours, but unfortunately even though the majority of students work in part time jobs, they aren't considered to count.

Also, sorry to hear about your sister. Hope she's on her feet again soon.

0utshined

Blush_01 wrote:

I don't think the issue is that he doesn't have work Thaed, but that he doesn't have the time for everything he has to do.

This is true, but he has to look out for himself and his long term future as well. He says his mam looks after his niece during the week which is cool but it sounds like anytime his mam is not looking after his niece he is and from the tone of his post it's because he wants to, which is admireable, not because he has to.

To address the question, no you are not eligible for the dole. Have you looked for the maintenance grant? You work for your dad and time off isn't a problem... so how about telling him you can't not work and look after his grandkid because you can't afford it? Or even just work 1/2 nights during the week and one day at the weekend? Is there other family that can look after the kid at all to give your mum a break?

Bottom line, I think your mum would rather you sort your future than give her some time off.