British PM Suggests Removal Of Housing Benefit For Under 25 - Bernama

June 25, 2012 13:07 PM

British PM Suggests Removal Of Housing Benefit For Under 25

LONDON, June 25 (Bernama) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday revealed a radical welfare reform to axe housing benefits for those under 25 years old, Xinhua news agency reported.

Cameron said in an interview with a local daily that the existing benefits, worth 90 pounds (US$140) per person per week on average, was giving the wrong incentives and called for more actions to prevent families from relying on state handouts.

The suggested shake-up would see the removal of most of the 1.8 billion pounds in housing benefits paid to some 380,000 Britons under 25 each year, forcing them to support themselves or live with their parents.

The prime minister also demanded to stop the 70-pound-per-week dole payment for individuals deemed not to be trying hard enough to get work, a move that could see a hard core of unemployed Britons being forced to do community work after two years lest lose all their benefits.

Cameron said the current welfare system gave the signal that people were better off not working, or working less.

The proposed changes to the welfare system are due to be announced by the Prime Minister in a speech on Monday.

Cameron's hard line on benefits could further exacerbate strains between the prime minister and his Liberal Democrat coalition partner Nick Clegg, after a recent split over proposals to axe the examination system of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs).

-- BERNAMA

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