Students being told to sign on for benefits straight out of university as living on welfare handouts seen as a 'lifestyle choice', says Helen Whately

Minor mental health conditions should not be an excuse for young people not to work, the shadow work and pensions secretary told the Tory conference.Helen Whately revealed students are being advised to sign on for benefits as soon as they finish university and that claiming benefits had become a ‘lifestyle choice’.The Conservatives have made the need for welfare reform a central feature of their annual party conference in Birmingham this week as they seek to draw a dividing line with Labour.Ms Whately told a fringe event at the conference, hosted by the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, that some people have ‘become accustomed generation after generation now to living a life on benefits’.But, should the Tories win back power, they would not ‘just accept you sitting at home’.‘In the past amongst young people who weren’t in work that used to be around 10 per cent, so we’ve had this big, big change of young people coming forward and saying my problem is a health problem,’ Ms Whately said.‘We’re not denying all the challenges that young people, particularly the Covid generation, face with for instance struggling with mental health or neurodiversity.‘But what we’re going to be saying is that’s not a reason not to work. And we are going to make reform to our welfare system to make sure that you are better off in work than on welfare.’ The Conservatives have made the need for welfare reform a central feature of their annual party conference in Birmingham‘There is a problem of young people who are coming out of school or indeed coming out of university and just going straight onto benefits getting pretty light touch interactions with the job centre, sitting at home, claiming the benefits, and that becomes a way of life,’ the shadow minister continued.‘And in fact I talk to employers who say once a young person has been living on benefits, out of school, out of education, not doing anything for many months, then it’s very hard to get them to become a productive part of my workforce.’She added: ‘The situation that we have now of young people coming out of school and just drifting onto benefits. In fact, some not even going to school, then just going straight onto benefits.‘I’ve heard about students being told at university: “You need to get ready to sign on to benefits. That’s the thing to do because it’s going to be hard to get a job.” And that is not a good way to start your adult working life.’Research by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) earlier this year found that more than 700,000 university graduates are out of work and claiming welfare benefits.Analysis of official figures found 707,000 graduates aged 16 to 64 were out of work and claiming one or more benefits in 2024, an increase of more than 200,000 since 2019.The number of those claiming Universal Credit was 400,000, while almost 240,000 of the 700,000 said they were off work due to sickness, the think tank added.Under Tory plans unveiled last week, school leavers will be banned from going straight on to Universal Credit, and will instead have to undergo intensive work coaching.This could include daily attendance at their local job centre, work experience placements and interview preparation training. Those involved will also be offered help looking for work.Those who fail to find or accept work after six months will be placed on a new Subsistence Allowance, paying 70 per cent of the basic Universal Credit rate. Handouts would be paid on to a card that could not be spent on drinking, smoking or gambling.And Ms Whately warned that young people who do not turn up for such Job Centre sessions will not receive benefits under a Conservative government.She added: ‘You’re going to be expected to turn up... and if they don’t turn up for the support sessions, [they] won’t get benefits. It’s that simple..’The shadow work and pensions secretary added: ‘The system needs to be fair to the taxpayer, we’ve got to make sure that work always pays.‘We’ve got to value contribution from people, and that has to play a part in our welfare system. And the fact that welfare has to be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice.’