Housing benefit

[Captain Planet]

Housing benefit recipients who are under 25 currently receive an average 0f £90 a week. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

David Cameron is to set out plans to scrap housing benefit for the under-25s, in a speech that will make clear pensioners are to be protected from a second wave of welfare reform.

The government wants to cut as much as £10bn from the welfare budget by 2016, and is looking at setting regional benefit levels and cuttingbenefits from striking workers. Cameron and the Treasury set the £10bn target for new welfare cuts in last year's autumn statement and the PM will go into detail in a speech on Monday.

The chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, distanced theLiberal Democrats from the plans, though stopped short of denouncing them. He described them as Cameron's own plans and argued the coalition's priority should be to bed in universal credit – the new single working-age benefit due to be introduced from 2014.

Both the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, and the Liberal Democrats have been highlighting middle class welfare, such as the universal access to winter fuel payments, as a better target. But Cameron believes he made commitments to the electorate not to touch pensioner benefits, and would suffer electorally if he dumped them now – even if he delayed the changes until after the next election.

He has pointed privately to the experience of Tony Blair, who suffered politically when he promised not to introduce changes to tuition fees, but then legislated for such a change on the basis that it would not come into force until after the next election.

Instead, he will propose that 380,000 people under 25 are stripped ofhousing benefit and forced to join the growing number of young adults who still live with their parents. He will make exemptions for those that have been victims of domestic violence. The savings – which will mean an average loss per person of around £90 per week – are likely to be in the order of £1.8bn.

Labour accepts that the housing benefit budget is out of control and last week the party welcomed proposals of cuts from the left-of-centre thinktank the IPPR, but in the contest of a massive housebuilding programme.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Cameron argued: "We are spending nearly £2bn on housing benefit for under-25s – a fortune. We need a bigger debate about welfare and what we expect of people. The system currently sends the signal you are better off not working, or working less.

''A couple will say, 'We are engaged, we are both living with our parents, we are trying to save before we get married and have children and be good parents. But how does it make us feel, Mr Cameron, when we see someone who goes ahead, has the child, gets the council home, gets the help that isn't available to us?''

"One is trapped in a welfare system that discourages them from working, the other is doing the right thing and getting no help."

Asked if he would take action against large families paid large sums in benefits, he replied: "This is a difficult area but it is right to pose questions about it. At the moment the system encourages people not to work and have children, but we should help people to work and have children."

Cameron also wants more done to cut jobseeker's allowance for those refusing to seek work actively. The government has already tightened up requirements in this area, but the PM wants to go further. "We aren't even asking them, 'Have you got a CV ready to go? '" Cameron said.

He is also looking at restricting child benefit to those who have more than three children and forcing a small minority of unemployed people – an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 – to take part in community work if they fail or refuse to find work or training after two years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/24/housing-benefit-under-25s-welfare?newsfeed=true

[The Somalian]

Youngers are pissed

[Kurtis]

heard about this

my first thought was, how about people who have been in care? as soon as you turn 18 youre put out on your own, usually get a place to stay, how they gonna pay for that if they aint got a job?

[Guest PROFIT MARGINS]

so any poor c*nt that has been kicked into the streets and needs housing that isn't over 25 is fucked

Nah this is some bullshit taking it out on the youngers when u got all these Tracey's popping out kids just so they can get a new telly and copp a couple extra bingo cards on the weekend...

And some one asked if we are proud of Britain smh

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Im all for people earning there money

But there is a big gap between having housing benefits and jumping into a skilled job/paid work

Going on like some people are not doing 2/3 jobs and still needing housing benefits

On top of that living a life were you have to do work so much, means no time for study/education, which just traps you in that low standard of living life forever

Yet again showing there out of touch

Yes a lot of people do exploit the system, but how about the people who avoid paid millions in tax, or claim bullshit things from tax payers as expenses etc

f*ck off

[Kurtis]

also, adding to that

youth unemployment is at 1m

what do they expect to happen?

[Guest PROFIT MARGINS]

TRAP INNIT

[Kurtis]

and they also wanna reduce job seekers and change the whatchamacallit from the rate of inflation to wage increases aswell

[JOHN DOE]

TRAP INNIT

altho this is prob a joke

this is what it will lead to - CRIME

[Kurtis]

then they get locked up

then they cant get a job in this overly competitive market

so they do crime again increasing the burden on taxpayers

lather rinse repeat

[Esquilax]

TRAP INNIT

altho this is prob a joke

this is what it will lead to - CRIME

Struggle on 90 quid a week or sell drugs for triple that

They must be dumb, must be

Kids are gonna be spat out of university with absolutely nothing, a whole generation of hobos

[KayGee]

While there are no jobs this won't work, the idea behind it is right but the reality will be horrendous.

[Guest PROFIT MARGINS]

How's the idea right tho?

Penalizing a generation because of their age is just bullshit

[local]

bunch of f*ckin hippies

not that this is their intention....but a slow deconstruction of the welfare state is exactly what this country needs

lol at all of your mindsets

[Esquilax]

Protect the old protect your position in gvmnt

http://www.idea.int/vt/by_age.cfm

More under 25s need to mobilise themselves as voters, myself included

[KayGee]

These kids are leaving school and getting a flat/house paid for, they don't work why would they when they get a warm house, food and a little spending money. All for sitting on their backside all day.

[KayGee]

Of course there needs to be filters and exceptions but the average person should have good reason to need the benefit.

[Mr. Martinez]

bunch of f*ckin hippies

not that this is their intention....but a slow deconstruction of the welfare state is exactly what this country needs

lol at all of your mindsets

mate most of your immediate and all of your extended family will be just as homeles caz

[Mame Biram Diouf]

These kids are leaving school and getting a flat/house paid for, they don't work why would they when they get a warm house, food and a little spending money. All for sitting on their backside all day.

lol @ thinking it is that easy

I know people who have been on the housing list for over 8 years and have not been giving anything yet

Dont let the daily mail fool you

[Guest PROFIT MARGINS]

bunch of f*ckin hippies

not that this is their intention....but a slow deconstruction of the welfare state is exactly what this country needs

lol at all of your mindsets

I'm all for making sure only those that need it get it and all these wastes get off the system those under 25 included

But like i said u can't just right off a whole generation like that their will be a lot of guys that need it fucked over if this does come into play

[Kurtis]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18575453

[Captain Planet]

These kids are leaving school and getting a flat/house paid for, they don't work why would they when they get a warm house, food and a little spending money. All for sitting on their backside all day.

I get your viewpoint but it is deeper than that and ar the same time you cant just take away a system that has been in place for so long and so integral to peoples lives

There will be mayhem

Might as well build walls around the ends like in that French film

Edit: What Bane said basically

[KayGee]

These kids are leaving school and getting a flat/house paid for, they don't work why would they when they get a warm house, food and a little spending money. All for sitting on their backside all day.

lol @ thinking it is that easy

I know people who have been on the housing list for over 8 years and have not been giving anything yet

Dont let the daily mail fool you

Not always easy but I know kids that walked straight into housing, if your out and you need somewhere your gonna get places pretty quickly. Also depends on areas.

[local]

@carlos: no1 in my family rents

@profit: if this whole generation plans on renting their whole lives away, then they're written off anyway

realistically u wana be jumping on the housing ladder by 25

[Guest PROFIT MARGINS]

These kids are leaving school and getting a flat/house paid for, they don't work why would they when they get a warm house, food and a little spending money. All for sitting on their backside all day.

lol @ thinking it is that easy

I know people who have been on the housing list for over 8 years and have not been giving anything yet

Dont let the daily mail fool you

Not always easy but I know kids that walked straight into housing, if your out and you need somewhere your gonna get places pretty quickly. Also depends on areas.

You have met a lucky few don't go thinking everyone is as fortunate

Saturday I went to see my friend who has just had a baby she is in a hostel in tottenham desperately waiting on a yard.