Andy Burnham's case for welfare system reform

Andy Burnham has promised major changes to the welfare system as part of an effort to confront the crisis facing young people not in employment, education or training. Writing on 19 October 2026, he said: 'This will mean big changes to the way our welfare system operates.'

Under his proposal, the system would no longer start by working out which benefits a young person qualifies for, but with their ambitions instead. He paired that offer with a condition: a clear guarantee of support, matched by an expectation that young people take up the opportunities available to them.

Burnham argued that this leaves many people feeling shut out of society. He laid the blame with politicians, writing that the younger generation has been failed. 'Youth services were practically abolished. Children's mental health services were cut.'

What The Childhood Lottery found

The children's commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, published a report called The Childhood Lottery drawing on more than 160 datasets. She said the variation in children's experiences across England is 'staggering'.

• •In four local authorities, total spending on youth services per teenager is £0 - £421 less than in the highest-spending authority.
• •Some areas send nearly 90% of their looked after children to out-of-area placements, against almost 20% in the areas making least use of them.
• •The report identifies Middlesbrough as the most challenging place to be a child and Cheshire East as the least challenging.

De Souza made what she called the difficult decision to highlight the 20 places where it is hardest to grow up, while stressing the assessment was not a review of local authorities.

The scale of the Neets crisis

Burnham's pledge responds to figures showing roughly 1 million young people in the UK aged 16 to 24 are Neet. The Childhood Lottery sets out the pressures behind that number:

• •Over 1 million children (1,048,965) had active referrals to children and young people's mental health services in 2024-25.
• •55% of pupils do not achieve a good standard in their English and Maths GCSEs at the end of key stage 4.
• •Approaching half (44%) of looked after children are placed outside their local authority area, and 40% of care leavers are Neets, with a further 6% in unknown activity.
• •12% of children said they did not feel safe in their local area.

What comes next

Burnham pointed to two pressures on today's young people: the pandemic, which he said stole two years, and social media, which he argued is too often taking their confidence and sense of belonging.

The next step is a government report. Alan Milburn's final report with recommendations on Neets had been expected before the budget but is now due next month. Milburn has been explicit, telling the Guardian, that he wants some benefit payments to be cut to fund more employment support. Burnham has signalled that he will follow Milburn's recommendations on benefits.