Alan Milburn Warns UK Welfare System Fails Young People Trapping Them on Benefits

Former health secretary Alan Milburn, leading a major Government review into youth inactivity, warned that the state is failing young people by “transporting them into the world of benefits”.

“- Published The government spends 25 times as much on benefits for young people than it does on supporting them into work, the author of a major review into youth inactivity has said”

BBC

Milburn told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that “for every £25 that we spend keeping young people on benefits, we spend only £1 helping them get into work through employment support”.

BBC

The BBC said Milburn’s calculations are based on spending on 16 to 24-year-olds taking part in core employment programmes funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus, while welfare spending is based on key benefits like Universal Credit, Job Seekers' Allowance, Personal Independence Payment (Pip) and Disability Living Allowance.

The BBC reported there were 957,000 young people who were Neet in the UK from October to December 2025, equivalent to 12.8% of people in that age category, according to Office for National Statistics figures released in February.

Milburn said the problem was a “failure” by the state, telling the programme: “This is a failure. This is the failure of the welfare system, but it’s a failure, I’m sorry, of the school system, the skills system, the health system.”

Milburn also hit out at the impact of social media on young people’s lives, which he said had fuelled anxiety and “rewired” their brains.

Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said: “This is a failure of the welfare system, but it’s a failure – I’m sorry – of the school system, the skills system, the health system.”

London Evening Standard

The Mirror reported Milburn warned that young people’s sleep patterns and concentration levels are being hurt by social media, and that “that is having an impact on their ability to work”.

The London Evening Standard said Milburn described young people as “an anxious generation” and said “They are not snowflakes. People say it’s a soft generation. My view unequivocally is that it isn’t.”

The London Evening Standard added that every one of a group of ten 12- and 13-year-olds who engaged in his review said they went to bed between midnight and 3am because they are scrolling on their phones, The Times reported.

The BBC said Milburn described a complete “system reset” as needed, with the first part of his government-commissioned report into youth inactivity due to be published this week.

“Young people are being failed by 'shameful' welfare system Former health secretary Alan Milburn claimed his review found the state was spending 25 times more on welfare for young people than on measures to get them into jobs The state has failed young people in a “shameful” way by “transporting them into the world of benefits”, the leader of a major Government review has warned”

The Mirror

Milburn told the programme that welfare reform is “absolutely essential and needs to be done”, but said it must be “within the context of a wider set of reforms to state institutions”.

The BBC reported that when Milburn’s initial report is published this week he will conclude the problem was a result of a widespread failure on behalf the state, and he highlighted the disparity between spending on benefits and state-funded programmes to help young people into work.

The BBC said Milburn will also highlight the challenges young people face getting into work, concluding that the increase in mental health problems is real, while arguing such diagnoses should not mean young people are not expected or encouraged into the work place.

In the BBC interview, Milburn said “Labour is what it says on the tin.

It's the party of work. Work gives purpose. Work gives income. Work gives meaning.”