YOUNG people will not be able to go “off track” with a life on benefits if they have been offered work under new plans from Labour.
Shadow welfare secretary Liz Kendall says the next generation face losing handouts if they do not take available work or training.
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Around 850,000 18-to 24-year-olds are not in education, work or training, up 20,000 in a year.
Almost one in eight youngsters – driven by young men – make up the cohort which is the highest since 2016.
A thousand new careers advisers will be deployed to schools.
There will also be a new Growth and Skill levy to get young people the help they need to find a job.
And Ms Kendall says to young people: “Young people. We value you. You are important. We will invest in you and help you build a better future with all the chances and choices this brings.
“But in return for these new opportunities, you will have a responsibility to take up the work or training that’s on offer.
“Under our changed Labour party, if you can work there will be no option of a life on benefits.”
Last week, The Sun reported on the surge in youngsters claiming mental health problems
It has become a major drag on the economy, a report warned.
It found people in their early 20s are more likely to be out of work because of ill health than those in their 40s.
More than a third of 18-24s say they have had symptoms of mental disorders — more than any other age group despite being the least afflicted segment two decades ago.
Worryingly, the number of young people without a job because of ill health has more than doubled in the past ten years from 93,000 to 190,000.
The Resolution Foundation paper finds this is more concentrated among less-educated youngsters, with 79 per cent of those that are jobless having only GCSE level qualifications.
