Milburn review youth welfare benefits changes, Digi Mart USA News (United Kingdom): Young people would lose their main sickness and disability benefits under government plans to reduce the welfare bill, according to proposals put forward by Alan Milburn. Milburn has been conducting a review into the one million people who are not in employment, education or training (Neets).
Under the proposals, adults under 25 would lose access to that support and instead receive a new youth allowance paid at the standard rate of universal credit. The former health secretary admitted the transition would not be “pain-free”, but insisted it was the best way of helping young people find work and build a “good life”.
Milburn is expected to publish his verdict on the Neets crisis next week. Speaking to The Times, he said some people could receive less financial support at the start of a benefit claim than under the current system.
He argued that the priority should be young people’s longer-term life chances rather than their immediate short-term finances, saying the current system prioritises the latter and that this was the wrong choice.
The government plans to bring forward major welfare reforms in 2027 amid efforts to reduce the 45% of young people who are not in education, employment or training, around a million people. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said an overhaul of the benefits system will require the government to “invest up front in young people”.
Under Milburn’s plans, employment support would be expanded. He said the menu of opportunities must increase and that young people would have a personal adviser who would coach them until they found a job, an apprenticeship or a college place.
Disability charity Sense said it supports efforts to give more young disabled people the opportunity to work while protecting those who cannot. Its director of influencing, Harriet Edwards, said the charity was deeply concerned that some young disabled people could lose out if the proposals proceed without proper funding for specialist employment support.
She called for clarity on who would qualify for the new support, who risks missing out, and what practical help would be available, urging the government to act as soon as possible.
