Chancellor announces “youth guarantee” of paid work
2 mins read
Tuesday 30 September 2025
Young people on Universal Credit out of employment or learning for 18 months will be offered guaranteed paid work.
The new youth guarantee initiative hopes to support young people into regular, long-term employment.
Government must consider barriers young disabled people face
Una Summerson, Head of Policy at Contact, says:
“We welcome the government’s drive to reduce youth unemployment. It is right to ensure every young people has access to education, training or a job . However, we are worried that the government hasn’t fully considered the barriers disabled young people face.
“We are keen to understand more how the scheme will work for this group. Young people whose needs are too high to allow them to access either training or employment, but who may be capable of carrying out some tasks, will be left with a greatly-reduced Universal Credit figure if the government goes ahead with plans to remove the health element for under 22s.
“There will always be some young people for whom employment isn’t possible, particularly with lack of funding and support for special educational needs (SEN). Provision needs to be made for young people in this situation. Retaining entitlement to the health element in Universal Credit for young people is an effective way of achieving this. The Pathway to Work Green Paper acknowledges that the government needs to ‘consider what special provisions need to be put in place for those young people where engagement with the youth guarantee is not a realistic prospect’. It hasn’t yet made clear what form these ‘special provisions’ will take or which young people will be eligible.
“Contact does not accept that there is any justification for slashing financial support for any young disabled person aged under 22, regardless of the extent that they can or cannot engage with the youth guarantee.”
Tell your MP to speak out against the cuts to Universal Credit for young people.
