Badenoch proposes new allowance for some jobless under-25s claiming Universal Credit

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch proposed changes on 1 October to Universal Credit support for some unemployed 18- to 24-year-olds in the UK. Under the party’s plan, those covered would join a work programme to receive an allowance and, if still out of work after six months, move to a lower payment. It is a Conservative proposal, not a change to current benefit rules.

The plan would apply to claimants who had not previously worked continuously for at least six months, according to the party’s announcement as reported by the Guardian. It would replace their Universal Credit standard allowance with a Get to Work Allowance tied to participation in assigned activities. The party has not specified that new allowance’s cash value, so the immediate effect on an individual claimant’s payment cannot yet be calculated.

Who would enter the Get to Work scheme?

The Conservatives say an 18- to 24-year-old who had worked continuously for at least six months, for a minimum of 16 hours a week, would be exempt. The Guardian reports that young Universal Credit claimants already exempt from work-related requirements, including for health or caring reasons, would also be exempt from the proposed scheme. Those exceptions matter when assessing the plan’s reach: it would not cover every young person receiving the benefit.

The party says participants would be assigned a Get to Work Manager. Its proposed activities include attending a jobcentre, work experience, training, community work schemes, job-search workshops and interview preparation. Taking part in assigned activities would be a condition of receiving the Get to Work Allowance. The proposal describes what participants would be asked to do; it does not establish how those activities would be delivered across the country.

What would happen after six months?

Someone still out of work after six months would move to a Subsistence Allowance set at 70% of the current Universal Credit standard allowance, the Conservatives say. The party proposes loading that payment onto a Back to Work card that would block purchases of alcohol and cigarettes and gambling. This is a proposed payment and spending restriction, rather than a rule currently applying to claimants.

The party has also said it would review how parents’ earnings and savings are treated when young adults live at home. It says young people without parental support, including those estranged from their families, would retain a safety net. The cited announcement does not set out the full rules for that review or explain how the promised protection would be administered.

Why the Conservatives are proposing the change

Badenoch told the Spectator that the system should ‘force’ people to leave what she called the benefits treadmill. She argued that it was unfair for people who were not working to earn more than people who were. Labour chair Bridget Phillipson responded that young people deserved good jobs, training and support, and called Badenoch’s claim to be on their side ‘frankly insulting’. Her response, as reported by the Guardian, did not address the scheme’s individual measures.

The proposal comes amid concern about young people outside education, employment and training. The House of Commons Library recorded 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 in that position in April to June 2026, or 13.0% of the age group. That was 30,000 fewer than in the preceding quarter but 30,000 more than a year earlier. The total had first passed one million since 2013 in the previous quarter, the Library said.

That figure is broader than the group targeted by Badenoch’s plan. It includes 16- and 17-year-olds, while the proposal concerns claimants aged 18 to 24. The Commons Library classified 40% of young people outside education, employment and training as unemployed and 60% as economically inactive in April to June. The Department for Work and Pensions explains that economically inactive people are not working or looking for work. Neither the headline total nor that classification shows how many people would qualify for the Conservative scheme.

What support exists and what remains unclear

The Commons Library says the government’s Youth Guarantee Journey already offers Universal Credit claimants aged 16 to 24 help from work coaches, including through jobcentres and Youth Hubs. In July, the Commons Work and Pensions Committee said 44% of young people outside education, employment and training were not claiming benefits, limiting the reach of programmes aimed only at claimants. It called for a cross-government youth employment strategy with a clear target and said existing Youth Guarantee schemes were too limited in scope and scale.

The Conservative proposal has not specified the Get to Work Allowance’s value or its projected costs or savings, according to the Guardian. The available account also leaves open how the programme would be funded, administered and put into legislation. Those details would determine its practical effect on claimants and whether the proposed activities and restrictions could be delivered as described.