We need an audit of welfare traps to fix our broken system

Andy Burnham has pledged to provide “timely” mental health support for young people Jeff Mitchell/PA W elfare reform should be the defining mission of Andy Burnham’s government. In this newspaper he lays out the problem in clear terms: the sheer waste of youth. It is, as he rightly says, a moral ­failure as well as an economic catastrophe. And one which he is now in a position to address. The welfare debate has been trapped between two clichés: “strivers v scroungers” and “cuts are cruel”. The reality is something more nuanced and invidious. As The Times Welfare Inquiry has revealed in its first week of disclosures, millions have had their work incentive eroded or erased. We interviewed a nurse who loses 77p on every extra pound she earns : not much incentive to take on more shifts. These welfare traps mean that, when new jobs are created, millions on welfare have little incentive to increase their hours. Most commented 1 Scotland plane crash: boy, 16, and flight instructor, 80, killed Scotland 72 comments Mr Burnham cites promises of 200,000 jobs from retailers and hospitality businesses. But creating vacancies is not the same as getting people off benefits and into work. A fatal disconnect has emerged in our economy: new jobs are not shortening British dole queues. Employment has risen by 1.3 million so far this decade, while the number on out-of-work benefits has risen 57 per cent, to a record 6.7 million. The number of young people not in employment, education or training (Neets) has also risen relentlessly. Unless this ­disconnect is recognised and repaired, the creation of new jobs won’t help. Immigration is the ­result, not the cause, of this. Four in every five new jobs goes to a Briton, not a foreigner. The problem is that Britons are leaving the workforce faster than they are joining. Just over half of children on disability benefits never join at all. Top stories 1 US inflation hotter than expected as Iran war stokes fuel costs Economics The prime minister pledges to provide “timely” mental health support for young people. It’s badly needed: The Times Welfare Inquiry reported that about 420,000 children were waiting an average of ten months for a first NHS mental health appointment. Meanwhile, £1bn a year is being spent in disability payments to teenagers with ADHD and autism. An obvious swap is there to be made: providing young people with the care they ask for. Mr Burnham’s aim that benefits should become “the backstop not the starting point” is so obvious it should hardly need saying. But one in nine British children leaves primary school on disability benefits (paid to parents) — mostly learning and behavioural disorders. Most graduate to adult disability benefits paying £8,800 a year from the age of 16. This compares well to a graduate premium. Advertisement This is what Whitehall officials call “the pipeline” because studies show that just over half are Neets by the age of 30. Every day just under 500 children are added to this “pipeline” and a thousand are signed off into a sickness benefit which — as Mr Burnham rightly says — is a case of assessment, payment then goodbye. As we ­revealed last week, almost 1.8 million have been waiting an ­average two years for their reassessment. It’s a system of cheque and forget. Top stories 1 Why we’re dressing like introverts, instead of screaming for attention LUXX 2 Why an all-inclusive cruise is the ultimate single-parent getaway Cruises 3 How Lisbon’s coolest neighbourhood is shaking off its staid past Lisbon 4 17 of the best hotels in the Bahamas Bahamas The work incentive for the low paid, the great Achilles’ heel of the UK economy, can only be ­repaired at national level. Ditto the welfare system. To fix a problem, you must first see it. The prime minister has done this in recognising the shameful neglect of those on sickness benefit and the scandal of children starting adult life on benefits. His next steps could be to demand an audit of the number and nature of welfare traps, to ­promote understanding about the damage the years of neglect he rightly talks about have inflicted on the work incentive. Mr Burnham’s words are to be warmly ­welcomed. Guaranteeing every young person a route into work is a fine ambition. Ensuring that work properly pays — that effort is always rewarded — would be an even better one. Without the second, the first risks becoming another promise that the welfare system cannot deliver.