Government advisers call for review of rules that cause loss of household income when a child takes up job training
Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are abandoning valuable job training opportunities because of a little-known welfare “apprenticeship penalty” that can leave their families out of pocket by as much as £340 a week.
The problem is caused by benefit rules that classify a 16-year-old apprentice as an “independent worker” who no longer requires parental support. As a result, the parents’ child benefit and child and disability elements of universal credit are withdrawn.
Government advisers have warned ministers that parents are forcing children to drop out of apprenticeships once they realise the scale of the loss to household benefit income, and young people are turning down training schemes because it would impoverish their family.
By contrast, the family of a 16-year-old who opts to stay on in full-time education until 18 would see no reduction in benefit income, even if their child works part-time, as the child is regarded by the benefit system as a “qualifying young person”.
