The Untold Battles

The Palace of Westminster in London. Ministers are drawing up sweeping changes to the welfare system that could scrap a key disability benefit for under-25s. (Photograph: Aethonatic, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 public domain) Ministers are drawing up sweeping changes to the welfare system that could see a key disability benefit for under-25s scrapped and replaced with a multibillion-pound package of support to get young people into work. The plans, first reported by the Guardian and followed up by The Times, are being worked up inside Whitehall as Andy Burnham's government prepares a major push to move more people on benefits back into work. At the centre of the proposals is the possible removal of the health element of universal credit for claimants under 25, worth £217 a month. Key facts Ministers are considering scrapping the universal credit health element for under-25s, worth £217 a month It would be replaced with a multibillion-pound support package including subsidised...

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, has branded the new under-25s welfare plan 'tough love'. (Official Cabinet Office portrait, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons) The Conservatives have announced sweeping new work requirements for unemployed young people, saying under-25s who are fit to work should be barred from claiming benefits straight out of school. The plan, announced on Thursday ahead of the party's conference in Birmingham this weekend, would replace Universal Credit for the age group with a compulsory six-month "Get to Work" scheme. Key facts The policy would apply to 18 to 24-year-olds who are fit to work and have not worked continuously for at least six months, for a minimum of 16 hours a week. Instead of standard Universal Credit, they would join a six-month "Get to Work" scheme and receive a "Get to Work Allowance" paid at the same rate. Payments would be conditional on daily attendance at a job centre, work experience...