The “Youth Guarantee” must focus on “earn or learn”
Young people who refuse to work risk having their benefits cut, the Work and Pensions Secretary has said.
Liz Kendall told the BBC the government would offer young people the chance to “earn or learn” under new proposals to be unveiled on Tuesday.
“In exchange for these new opportunities, young people will have the responsibility to seize them,” she said.
Official figures released earlier this week showed that almost a million young people were deprived of education, employment or training between July and September.
As part of new measures to reform the social protection system, a “Youth Guarantee” for 18-21 year olds aims to train young people or reintegrate them into work.
Kendall said with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday that the proposals would lead to an overhaul of the apprenticeship system so that “more people have the chance to train” and young people have “the opportunity to earn or learn.”
When asked if those who don't accept these offers will lose their benefits, Kendall said, “Yes.”
She said it would transform opportunities for young people.
“If you are unemployed when you are young, it can have lifelong consequences in terms of your job prospects and earning potential.”
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In an article in the Mail on Sunday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised the benefits overhaul would crack down on “criminals” who “game the system”.
Kendall told the BBC she thought there were people who could work but refused to do so, but added she thought those people were “in the minority” among the applicants allowances.
Economic inactivity has increased rapidly since the pandemic. There are now 9.3 million people who are neither working nor looking for work, an increase of 713,000 since Covid.
Nearly three million people are out of work due to health problems, an increase of 500,000 since 2019.
Asked about the increase in benefit claimants in recent years, Kendall said some people had “self-diagnosed” mental health problems, as well as those “diagnosed by doctors” – but added that there had a “real problem” with mental health in the UK.
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Kevin Hollinrake said there were “incentives in the system” for people to leave work and claim benefits.
Under the previous Conservative government's plans to tighten eligibility for disability benefits, an estimated 400,000 long-term work stoppers would have lost their payments.
The Work and Pensions Secretary refused to confirm whether these people would retain their benefits under Labor's proposals.
“We will make these savings, we will put forward our own reforms,” she declared.
Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake said the growing number of people out of work due to ill health was “a phenomenon caused largely by the pandemic”.
He said the previous government “dealt with this problem” and welcomed Labor's focus on the issue, but added: “I want to make sure they do the right things rather than just talking about a good game.”
