Hundreds of thousands of unemployed young people could see their benefits replaced with employment support under government welfare reforms.
Alan Milburn, the government’s youth unemployment tsar, suggested many young people who are not working, in training or education – including those diagnosed with conditions such as ADHD and anxiety – should see a shift in the state support they receive.
“Work beats welfare every single time,” he said while visiting the Netherlands on a “fact-finding mission” as he prepares to publish his final recommendations in a landmark report about young people and work later this autumn.
Asked whether he thought Andy Burnham’s government may need to put more cash forward to support younger people, Milburn said: “Yes, of course, absolutely.”
It comes as the number of 16- 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEETs) topped 1 million for the first time since 2013 earlier this year.
An interim report published by Milburn in May said rising ill-health among young people, limited vocational education, a hands-off benefit system and a weak labour market had been the key drivers behind the crisis.
The Netherlands has one of the lowest rates of youth unemployment in Europe (4.9 per cent) and is expected to become a blueprint for reforms in the UK.
In the Netherlands, local government subsidises wages and funds wraparound employment support via youth hubs at a cost of around €13.4bn (£11.5bn).
In Britain, support is generally for unemployment and centralised via the Universal Credit benefits system, and the Government currently spends around £8.1bn a year on welfare and out-of-work benefits for young people aged 16 to 24.
Alan Milburn spoke on a visit to a job scheme in the Netherlands (Photo: Nick Gammon)Research from the independent think-tank The Resolution Foundation found that if Britain’s Neet rate mirrored the Dutch rate, 600,000 more young adults would be in work.
Speaking at a technical college where young people in The Hague study hospitality and catering, Milburn said he was struck by the “primacy of work” in the Netherlands.
“The starting point is [the Dutch have] got an absolute mindset,” Milburn said. “It’s all about work. It’s all about getting young people participating, whether in education, training, or employment.”
Milburn pointed out that OECD figures put the UK at the top of the charts for anxiety levels among younger people, with the Netherlands coming second.
“Interestingly, the Dutch are number two [for youth anxiety], but that doesn’t translate into low levels of participation,” Milburn said. “Just because you’ve got a condition, or even just because you’ve got the diagnosis, [it] shouldn’t mean that you aren’t able to work.”
Milburn added that “tens of thousands of physically disabled people are disproving that thesis every single day”.
“They work because work’s good for people and gives them purpose and meaning, not just income,” Milburn added.
In August, The i Paper reported that Milburn was considering whether to recommend giving cash payments to particularly vulnerable young people who faced a high risk of becoming Neet, such as care leavers, teen parents and those leaving young offender institutions.
However, other young people could see their benefits change.
Nearly a quarter – around 250,000 – of young people who are not in education, employment or training (Neet) are estimated to have mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, according to Department for Work and Pensions data.
The number of young people claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for mental health conditions such as anxiety and neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD has also increased.
Around 440,000 16- to 24-year-olds claim PIP, with the figure having doubled over the last five years. Many of them list anxiety, ADHD or autism as one of their conditions.
A separate review, overseen by disabilities minister Sir Stephen Timms, is currently looking at how to reform PIP, and it is thought that it may become harder to access the benefit for ADHD and anxiety.
Milburn said he wanted to reframe the conversation about young people and work to “stop the notion that just because you either self-identify or are identified as having a condition, that this automatically means you are not able to participate in the labour market”.
The former Health Secretary also described fit notes, which allow a GP to sign someone off work, as “insane”. Earlier this year, the Government launched trial pilot schemes to test stopping or replacing GP-issued fit notes.
“You get a fit note. You enter the welfare system… you get a health and disability benefit. The stickiness kicks in,” Milburn said. “You then have a 50 per cent chance of [still] being on health and disability benefit in 15 years’ time.”
Milburn added Britain has been “underinvesting in young people” and faced “fiscal disaster” in the long term if it’s left without enough people paying taxes to support the welfare state.
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