Jobless young people should lose benefits if they don’t look for work, voters warn

A majority of British voters believe young people should be required to look for work or face losing their benefits, exclusive polling for The i Paper shows.

Fifty-six per cent of adults surveyed by BMG Research say receipt of benefits should be conditional on young people actively seeking work, education or training.

A further 29 per cent say they should be encouraged to do so, while just six per cent believe no expectation should be attached.

Among Labour voters, fewer than one in three – 32 per cent – favour encouragement over a requirement.

Of those who back conditionality, nearly half – 49 per cent – say benefits should be stopped entirely if a young person refuses to take up work, education or training.

A further 40 per cent favour a reduction in payments. Only eight per cent would support a warning with no change to benefits, and two per cent say there should be no impact at all.

Lucy Stevenson, a pollster at BMG, said the findings reflected a widespread public view that state support carries obligations.

“Only a small minority think benefits should be available with no conditions attached,” she said.

“The harder-line instinct is driven largely by Conservative and Reform voters, while Labour supporters who back conditionality tend to favour reduction over outright removal.”

The polling comes in the wake of a major independent review into youth unemployment, published last week by Alan Milburn, the Government’s unemployment tsar.

Milburn’s interim report found nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training (Neet) – a figure he warned could rise to 1.25 million within five years without urgent action. It was also found that nearly half of Pip claims among young people were for autism and ADHD.

The report estimated the cumulative annual cost of Neet was spending £125bn and was also critical of the current incentive structure within the benefits system.

Milburn said the incentives for out-of-work young people to remain on benefits rather than take up employment were “perverse”, pointing to the Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) category of universal credit, which carries no requirement for a claimant to seek work.

“It is little surprise that only 1 in 100 young people in the LCWRA group move into a job each month,” the report states.

Milburn also suggested that the current pilot of the jobs guarantee scheme – which offers six-month subsidised placements with employers including KFC and John Lewis – could be widened to include young people with health conditions, who are currently excluded.

He further indicated that young people should be offered a trial period in employment before their benefits are reduced or removed.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, responding to the Milburn review, said he had commissioned senior officials to examine how the Government could go further in its support for young people “particularly young people with health conditions”, working alongside employers, charities, disabled people’s organisations and young people themselves.

Milburn’s final report, which will set out detailed recommendations for reform, is due later this year.

BMG Research surveyed a representative sample of 1,511 GB adults between 26 and 28 May 2026. BMG is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.