Analysis in our latest #UKPoverty2026 report finds that very deep poverty - meaning annual household incomes fail to cover the cost of food, energy bills and clothing - is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years.
Here are some of the barriers facing young people at the sharpest end, and principles for policy to support them into work and/or training.
www.jrf.org.uk/work/unlocki...
The same old tired framing of those deserving/undeserving. Brushing off anxiety and depression as “normal” is a cheap shot. Bevan also said: “the capacity for emotional concern for individual life is the most significant quality of a civilised human being.” www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
A good read on plans to cut UC health entitlement and increase conditionality for ill and disabled young people on low incomes.
Personally, I think this will create additional barriers for many disabled young people. The harm done by deeper poverty can't be offset by a supportive work coach.
In @jrf-uk.bsky.social's new policy briefing, we outline 4 key policy principles to help young people furthest from the labour market into good-quality, sustained employment.
Read more (3/3)⬇️
www.jrf.org.uk/work/unlocki...
✅Young people with health conditions should be offered more support to move into work or learning.
❌Doing so does not have to be contingent on cutting their benefits or imposing punitive conditionality (2/3)
The Government’s Get Britain Working white paper and Pathways to Work green paper present competing visions for supporting young people furthest from the labour market into employment.
Read more (1/3)⬇️
7/ Good to see the green paper recognise some of the diverse challenges that young people face and its intention to tailor the Youth Guarantee offer to the individual's needs and aspirations. But this will be undermined by the changes set out in the green paper.
6/The young people we spoke to as part of developing this work are experiencing high levels of hardship and multiple unmet need, including health conditions. Social security is a vital lifeline, albeit an extremely inadequate one. And, no, they can’t live on £70 a week bsky.app/profile/bbcn...
5/ In April @jrf-uk.bsky.social will publish its work on how to unlock the potential of young people furthest from the labour market. But it's not too much of a spoiler to say that the changes outlined in the green paper will make it a harder task, and it's already pretty damn hard.
4/These changes combined will significantly impact young people who already experience unacceptably high levels of hardship. Cutting health-related UC will make it harder for them to move towards work and undermine the intention behind the Youth Guarantee. See bsky.app/profile/iain...
3/It also plans to raise the age for claiming PIP from 16 to 18, which will have some winners and losers but does not say who they are. However, it’s made clear that the aim of the would be to reduce expenditure.
Yesterday, the Government’s launched the #PathwaystoWork green paper. It plans to create a “clearer youth phase” by changing benefit rules for young people to support its new Youth Guarantee.
Key takeaways 🧵1/7
2/The green paper proposes delaying access to the health element of Universal Credit until age 22 to remove any “potential disincentive to work” and redirect those resources into an expanded Youth Guarantee.
