Taxes and the Unemployed Child

Taxes and the Unemployed Child

This is the first year I can’t claim any of my kids as dependents. Boy, what a difference--$4,000 less you can take off your income right off the bat, no Earned Income Credit. Our return is cut by about three-fourths of what we we’ve gotten every past year. The rub is that my youngest isn’t independent by any stretch of the imagination. He has a paper route, has for five years, yet prospective employers don’t see the customer relations he has had to build, the billing he has to do, the dependability he has to show to get those papers out on time in all types of weather as useful job experiences. I’ve felt the prejudice myself. I used to run a daycare, which requires any number of useful skills, but few employers recognize that fact.

A paper route is great for younger kids needing spending money, not for older ones trying to support a car, plans for the future. My son has put in any number of job applications, most online these days. We both hate them. They don’t allow the job applicant to explain anything that might not fit snuggly into their one-size-fits-all questions. He has had a few interviews—not anywhere in proportion to the number of applications—no job offers.

A child at this life-change milestone still needs the same physical support younger children need—food, clothes, medical—and a great deal more emotional support when, one rejection after another, they begin to feel that something’s wrong with them. Few parents would kick out such a child to survive the best he can. Thankfully, medical insurance continues through the parent, but most eye care or dental benefits through the parent’s job disappear once your child leaves school.

School

If your child goes to college, he or she is still considered a dependent. My son went for a year but doesn’t know what career he wants. Even if he wanted to continue, he’d need a job for expenses. Unfortunately, having a degree no longer guarantees a job let alone a better one. I strongly recommend to my kids that they be very sure they know what they want and exhaust every other recourse before putting themselves in debt for a degree. Odds of their salaries making the burden of heavy debt worthwhile are slim these days.