A surge in young people going on benefits has seen the equivalent of 2,000-plus under-30s signing onto Universal Credit (UC) every day, a new analysis warns. The number of people in this age group who are out of work and on UC has hit 1.08 million - 66,000 more than when Labour took office, according to a study by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
This "youth welfare surge" reflects a "deeper crisis in the wasted potential of young people," the think tank claims. It points to worsening mental health among young people and increasing dependency on sickness benefits.
Ahead of the Autumn Budget, the CSJ is pushing for the withdrawal of UC health support and personal independence payments from people with "milder anxiety, depression or ADHD". These and other measures would save £7.4billion by 2029-30, it states.
Joe Shalam of the Centre for Social Justice said: "The Prime Minister is right that having a million jobless young people is a moral and economic disaster. But unless ministers grasp the nettle of welfare reform, Britain risks writing off a generation."
Former Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: "Before lockdown, we had the lowest numbers of workless households since records began. Since then, the scale of the disincentive to work has grown dramatically.
"We cannot allow another wasted generation to be trapped in dependence rather than independence and achievement."