Charities urge rethink on plan that could drive up youth homelessness
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Government proposals being voted on today (Monday) will see £800 a year cut from housing benefit paid to parents or guardians where there is a young person under 25 seeking work. Current rules make a deduction only if the young person is in employment.
The move comes at a time when over 600,000 young people are unemployed and not in education and when rising housing costs are forcing more to remain in the family home. The latest figures from the ONS show one in three men under 34 now lives at home, along with one in six women.
Homelessness charities Crisis and Shelter are warning that this will put additional pressure on low income families already struggling to keep a roof over their head. Young people seeking work, who receive a much lower level of Jobseekers Allowance than those over 25, will have no way of making up the £800 deduction.
The proposal which would come into force later this year under the new Universal Credit is likely to cause tension in the poorest households. ...
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