The UK must avoid a situation where “doing a day’s work is in itself seen as stressful” by young people, Liz Kendall has warned.
The work and pensions secretary has told ITV: “There is genuinely a problem with many young people, particularly the Covid generation, but we can’t have a situation where doing a day’s work is in itself seen as stressful.”
Kendall was speaking as a report from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) found 49 per cent of health and disability benefits recipients reported feeling they would never be able to work or work again, with 66 per cent feeling their health was likely to get worse.
Kendall said supermarket managers had told her some young people did not understand work was “just the nature of life and that isn’t stress or pressure”.
The minister was asked if people on benefits were “pretending” they were unable to work, to which Kendall replied: “So I think that there are many more people who want to work. I have no doubt, as there always have been, there are people who shouldn’t be on those benefits who are taking the mickey and that is not good enough – we have to end that.”
It follows recent warnings that the number of young people – 946,000 – currently not in employment, education or training (NEET) has hit the highest level in a decade and is enough to fill Wembley Stadium more than 10 times.
While a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in December found half of employers believe young people are not “job ready”, with the young generation struggling with “important social skills” or not knowing how to behave professionally.
Asked about the government’s efforts to reduce Britain’s benefits bill, Kendall admitted while some people were “taking the mickey… there are many more people who want to work”.
The DWP’s report found 27 per cent of benefits recipients felt they could work in future but only if their health improved. But this was 44 per cent for those with mental health conditions.
Kendall stressed: “I think what the survey shows today is that despite all the myths, a lot of people who are currently on sickness or disability benefits want to work.
“Many of them have either just lost jobs that they desperately miss, or really want to get back into to work once they’ve got their health condition under control.
“I have no doubt, as there always have been, there are people who shouldn’t be on those benefits who are taking the mickey and that is not good enough – we have to end that.”
Sir Keir Starmer and Kendall announced fresh employment reforms in November which they said would see job centres transformed, expanded mental health support, and access to an apprenticeship, quality training and education opportunities for all young people.
Kendall said the government is determined to “act and put that support in place”, rather than “writing people off” and “blaming them like the last Conservative government did.”
She added: “I’m under no illusions about the scale of the challenge that we’ve got.
“I believe more of those people could work. But even if we just start with those who say they can, we need to do more to get them back into work.”
The report on work aspirations is based on a survey of 3,401 health and disability benefit recipients, including those receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and those on the Universal Credit (UC) Health Journey.
Before the general election former prime minister Rishi Sunak called for an end to “sick note culture” and warned against “over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life”.
But now, the Telegraph reported, the Labour government has scrapped Tory plans for work specialists to assess fitness for employment, rather than GPs.
Work and pensions minister Baroness Sherlock confirmed in response to a parliamentary question that the government “has no current plans to reform the fit note… in terms of the content of the form or the healthcare professionals who are legally allowed to issue them”.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately commented: “After months of stonewalling, Labour finally admit they’ve canned sick note reforms.
“Our plan would have helped people stay in work and taken the pressure off GPs. It’s as if they don’t want to get the benefits bill down.”