Young people to no longer get main sickness benefit and PIP under Milburn’s welfare overhaul plan

The Independent reports Alan Milburn's proposed overhaul of benefits for young people and gives space to a disability charity's concerns. In S15 it says 45 per cent of young people are not in education, employment or training. Its own S6 puts the group at about one million people aged 18 to 24, and the BBC reports that as one in eight of that age group.

1. Makes a false claim

   Severe

   “the 45 per cent of young people who are not in education, employment or training (Neet) – around a million people”

   Why this matters

   The Independent states in its own voice that 45 per cent of young people are not in education, employment or training.

   The impression it gives

   A reader comes away believing that nearly half of all young people are out of work and education, a scale that makes a radical welfare overhaul look urgent.

   The context

   The article's own S6 says the group is one million people aged 18 to 24. The BBC reports this is one in eight of that age group, about 12 per cent. The 45 per cent figure contradicts both, so the article overstates the scale of the problem nearly fourfold.

   How we know

   • Elsewhere in the article“the one million people aged 18-24”
   • BBC News reported“one in eight 18- to 24-year-olds in the UK who are not in education, employment or training”Some under-25s should get fewer benefits, Milburn review to say (opens in a new tab)

   Written straight

   The government plans major welfare reforms in 2027 amid efforts to reduce the number of 18 to 24 year olds not in education, employment or training: around one million people, or one in eight of that age group.