by Mary Gilleece, The Daily Sceptic
As dire as Starmer’s control over his backbenchers is, and as high as the probability of autumn tax rises has now hit, the human tragedy of the PM’s welfare U-turn is worse. There is now no hope for the nearly half a million 16-24-year-olds who receive personal independence payment – PIP – or the one in eight young people who are not in employment or education. A whole generation of children are getting hooked on PIP benefits at a younger age – crushing their chance of employment and living well.
I work with such people and my heart breaks for all those entangled on PIP for a range of vague mental health conditions. (All the usual caveats around the state supporting people whose physical conditions require financial help apply, of course.)
In this instance I am thinking with a heavy heart of a 17 year-old girl with no qualifications, work experience, skills, prospects or ambition, called Jane (not her real name). She receives £72 a week in PIP payments, which though intended to liberate, have acted as a millstone on her ability to flourish into adulthood.
Jane did not return to school after lockdown, preferring to stay in her bedroom on her phone. At the age of 15 the local council provided a team (including me) to work with Jane to teach her life skills and encourage her to return to education. She received two-hour sessions five days a week. In spite of this dedicated one-to-one support from a team of very capable tutors, counsellors, art therapists and social workers, Jane has not learned how to tell the time, read a bus timetable or write a CV; she has not applied for any part time jobs, attended college, got a part-time job, learned how to cook nutritious food, established a healthy sleeping regime, undertaken regular exercise or made use of the local library or leisure centre facilities – in spite of being more than capable of achieving all of the above.
Read also: The tragedy of the welfare trap by Fraser Myers, spiked