Andy Burnham will give households on benefits up to £4,500 a year if a youngster taking up an apprenticeship would otherwise leave them worse off.In a bid to remove a disincentive to work in the welfare system, the Government has announced a new bursary to target families on Universal Credit.It comes as part of a wider package of measures being unveiled by the Prime Minister on Tuesday aimed at tackling Britain's youth unemployment crisis.Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden insisted the welfare system should be a 'springboard to opportunity, not a barrier to it' as he set out Labour's plans. A report by a Whitehall advisory committee, published earlier this year, found the benefits system currently distorts the choices on education and training for those aged 16 and over.It showed that when a young person leaves full‑time education to start an apprenticeship, families can face a sudden loss in income.The benefit losses affecting parents when their child starts an apprenticeship were calculated to range from around £17 to £340 per week, according to the Social Security Advisory Committee.The new bursary, worth up to £4,500 a year per household, is aimed at addressing this shortfall and removing the barrier to a young person taking up an apprenticeship. Andy Burnham, pictured with Education Secretary Lucy Powell, visited Alstom Transport in Derby on Tuesday as he pledged action to tackle Britain's youth unemployment crisis Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden insisted the welfare system should be a 'springboard to opportunity, not a barrier to it' as he set out Labour's plansOfficials pointed to the report's findings that single parents with a disabled child could lose up to £340 per week in benefits when a young person started an apprenticeship. This exceeds the expected apprenticeship salary of £258 per week.The Department for Work and Pensions said the bursary would be funded through the Growth and Skills Levy, which is paid for by employers whose annual pay bill is more than £3million.A Government source said the bursaries would only be available to a 'small' group of people, numbering in the 'low thousands' whose families would otherwise be left worse off if they took up an apprenticeship.Around £30 million has been earmarked to fund the scheme. It applies to 16 and 17-year-olds who are registered as having a disability and are living in a single parent household.Ministers fear some parents are dissuading youngsters from taking an apprenticeship because they will lose £82 a week in benefits.The source said: 'This one-off bursary is about overcoming a short-term cost barrier to taking up apprenticeships for some of the most disadvantaged teenagers who may otherwise end up not in education, employment or training.'Apprenticeships offer great career progression. It’s an investment in their futures and guards against a life on benefits.'Latest data, published in May, showed the number of young people aged 16-24 neither working nor learning surpassed one million for the first time since 2013, reaching 1.01 million in the three months from January to March.An interim report by former Labour minister Alan Milburn, also published in May, warned the figure could rise to one in six by 2031 and that Britain risks leaving behind a 'lost generation' of young people ill-prepared for work.Small and medium-sized enterprises will also have access to financial support worth up to £8,000 for hiring young apprentices, ministers have announced. Mr McFadden said: 'Every young person deserves the chance to build a future they can be proud of, and our welfare system should be a springboard to opportunity, not a barrier to it.'By providing bursaries to those who need them most and fully funding apprenticeship training, we are making sure cost is not the reason someone misses out.'Coupled with up to £8,000 in financial support for employers, this is a serious investment in the next generation and in the future of our economy.'