Young Britons are forced to survive on under £3 a day due to miserly benefit rates, warns government adviser

Young people are being forced to survive on under £3 a day because of miserly benefit rates, the government’s own adviser warns today.

Ministers are urged to act on rules that unfairly punish jobless under-25s who must live independently because of the risk of abuse or violence and pay soaring rent levels.

Astonishingly, in some big cities, not a single room is available within the limit set for housing benefit payments, a stinging report reveals.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Paul Gray, the chairman of the social security advisory committee, warned that young people feared they were “being set up to fail”.

Mr Gray also sharply criticised the high numbers having their benefits docked for sometimes trivial reasons – highlighting how young people are four times as likely to be sanctioned as adults.

And he urged ministers to investigate evidence, revealed by The Independent, that almost half a million “hidden” young people are have been left without any state help to live and find work.

Mr Gray said: “We talked to lots of young people who said they are left, at best, with £20 a week to feed and clothe themselves

“The rate set by the government might be perfectly reasonable if someone is living at home with their parents – but is it really adequate if they are forced to live independently?”

“If we squeeze young people too hard in this way, what is going to happen to them. Will they end up going to foodbanks, or falling into a life of drugs and crime?”

Mr Gray said the central problem was the “shared accommodation rate” – a lower housing benefit payment to reflect the expectation that jobless young people should live together.

The SSAC’s research found that just 16 rooms were on offer below the set rate in Birmingham, just 4 in Cardiff, 2 in Leeds – and none at all in Bristol, Edinburgh and some inner London boroughs.

“There is virtually no accommodation available at anything like that rate in city areas,” Mr Gray pointed out. “It was set in 2015 – and is due to be frozen until 2020.

“There is a lot mistrust of authority among young people. They look at all the hurdles they have to jump through and say “we are being set up to fail”.

“We are encouraging the government to carry out a serious study into what accommodation is available – and, if it is not there, to do something about this.”

This week, the department for work and pensions (DWP) scrapped a trial scheme designed to help benefit claimants being wrongly sanctioned.

But Mr Gray joined those raising the alarm, saying: “Young people say they are sanctioned after being late for one or two appointments.

“If you are dealing with young people who may be a bit disorganised, it can seem that sanctions are being used indiscriminately.”

The report by the SSAC, which provides independent advice to the DWP on social security legislation, calls for:

* A new duty on Jobcentre work coaches to inform young people about “top up” grants and funds, to help those struggling to pay bills.

* New ring-fenced funds for work-related costs, such as buying equipment and clothing and to pay to travel to and from a job.

* The publication of evidence to demonstrate that young people living independently can meet “basic living costs” – and for ministers to “take action” if they cannot.

* Proper monitoring of the numbers of 16 to 24-year olds who are failing to claim the benefits and Jobcentre support to which they are entitled.

However, the report stops short of recommending higher housing benefit limits for young people living independently, as likely to be rejected.

A DWP spokesperson defended the rules, saying: “The majority of young people are better off living at home until they are able to financially support themselves, but there are special measures in place for people who don’t have that option, such as care leavers.

“Care leavers are exempt from the shared accommodation rate until they are 22, people estranged from their parents can apply for universal credit at the age of 16, and work coaches can provide tailored support into work to all young people.”