PM plans benefits crackdown on under 25s

Prime Minister David Cameron will use a major speech tomorrow to delineate radical welfare reforms, one of which includes banning the housing benefits of under 25s.

The controversial move would see the removal of most of the £1.81bn in housing benefits paid to 380,000 under 25s – averaging around £90 per week – forcing them to support themselves or live with their parents.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, the Prime Minister said: “We are spending nearly £2bn on housing benefit for under 25s – a fortune. We need a bigger debate about welfare and what we expect of people. The system currently sends the signal you are better off not working, or working less.”

The crackdown also includes removing £70-a-week dole payments for individuals deemed not to be trying hard enough to find a job. They could also lose all their benefits if they refuse to do community work after two years of unemployment, under the government’s new scheme.

According to The Mail on Sunday, the Prime Minister also intends to limit the child benefit to a couple’s first three children.

Justifying his actions, the Prime Minister said: “A couple will say, ‘We are engaged, we are both living with our parents, we are trying to save before we get married and have children and be good parents. But how does it make us feel, Mr Cameron, when we see someone who goes ahead, has the child, gets the council home, gets the help that isn’t available to us?’ One is trapped in a welfare system that discourages them from working; the other is doing the right thing and getting no help.”

Rajeeb Gurung