Axing health benefits for under-22s could push many into poverty, warn charities

Áine Fox, Press Association Social Affairs Correspondent

Proposals to make health welfare benefits unavailable for people aged under 22 could push many into poverty, campaigners have warned as they urged a “progressive approach to reform” of the system.

Dozens of charities have written to ministers and the author of a review into youth unemployment to say that while they accept change is needed to reform welfare, it must focus on support and opportunity instead of “the failed punitive approaches of the past”.

Organisations including Action for Children, housing charity Shelter, food bank co-ordinator Trussell and disability equality charity Scope have signed the letter.

In July, not long after taking office, Prime Minister Andy Burnham ruled out “crude cuts” to benefits but promised to “get really serious” about reducing the welfare bill.

He said young people had been “quite seriously let down” by a lack of support into work, and indicated he wanted to “increase the conditions required to receive benefits”

In their letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and adviser Alan Milburn, the charities said: “We welcome your commitment to tackling the growing number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (Neet) through a fair and sustainable approach to change.

“We are also encouraged by the Prime Minister’s recognition that crude cuts to benefit levels are not the answer to reducing social security spending.”

They said that while change “is needed”, it “must be built around the principles of support and opportunity, rather than the failed punitive approaches of the past”.

More than 40 signatories, including Save the Children and Barnardos, said evidence had shown that “cutting benefits worsens health and deepens poverty, while strict conditionality and sanctions is particularly counterproductive and harmful for disabled people”.

A Government proposal published last year for consultation under Sir Keir Starmer suggested delaying access to the health element of universal credit (UC) within a reformed welfare system until someone reached the age of 22.

The document said that in September 2024, there were 66,000 people aged 18 to 21 in the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) category, meaning they do not need to look or prepare for work.

Research by Scope has estimated that 94% of households with a young person under 22 claiming the UC health element would be in poverty if the support was removed.

The analysis found that almost half (49%) of households with a young UC health claimant are already in poverty, and removing the entitlement from current claimants would push a further 45% below the poverty line.

The charities’ letter to Government said that as of March there were 184,000 people aged 16-24 receiving UC health across the UK, which they said represented 6% of recipients.

They added: “These are young people with severe and complex needs, often living with multiple physical and mental health conditions and overlapping disadvantages including poverty, homelessness and childhood trauma.

“For young people cared for at home, the health top-up provides much needed family income to meet living costs and support care arrangements.

“Other young people living independently or in supported accommodation depend on it to meet their basic costs.

“We also know that significant numbers are engaged in education, and any loss of income would undermine their ability to sustain that participation.”

Lucy Schonegevel, from Action for Children, said: “If ministers want better outcomes for disabled young people, the evidence points to earlier intervention, tailored support and genuinely meaningful job and volunteering opportunities, not sanctions or cuts.”

James Taylor, from Scope, said: “Any cuts to the health element of universal credit will only push more young disabled people into poverty, not jobs. It won’t remove the barriers they face getting into and staying in work, such as inaccessible recruitment, negative attitudes or a lack of tailored support.

“Alan Milburn’s review could be a real turning point. But the Government must listen to young disabled people, rule out cuts and sanctions, and invest in the long-term personalised support they need to build the futures they deserve.”

The Government has been contacted for comment.

The letter came as Reform UK unveiled plans to make long-term benefits claimants clean up their local high street or face being stripped of benefits.

The party’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said the policy would be part of a series of changes to welfare and benefits under a Reform government that would stop some claimants “taking everyone else for mugs”.

The proposal was announced alongside others that Mr Jenrick said would cut £50 billion from the welfare bill.

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