Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has said a "complete reset" of the welfare system is needed to support current levels of 16-24-year-olds not in education, work or training, warning that some young people may no longer be entitled to their current benefits.
With the number of so-called NEETs surpassing one million earlier this year, a "landmark review" of the issue by Alan Milburn is scheduled to be published on Tuesday, which is widely expected to put forward sweeping changes in light of the youth unemployment surge.
Review proposes youth allowance
The former Labour health secretary was commissioned to conduct the review after fears of a backbench rebellion led Sir Keir Starmer's government to scale back on some of its welfare proposals.
Mr Milburn has indicated that his proposals would result in less financial assistance for young people if implemented, with pushes to move them away from health-related benefits and onto a new "youth allowance" paid at standard Universal Credit rate.
When asked whether he agreed that some individuals should lose the welfare support they currently receive, he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show: "There will be people in the future who will not get what they would get today."
"When people come up for reassessment, they go on to a new system but, as I say, people are reassessed today under the current system."
Watershed moment and government response
Andy Burnham has described the politically sensitive report as a "watershed" moment, but has not committed to accepting its recommendations in their entirety.
The Prime Minister insisted that funding the reforms would not require "more money" but rather "spending differently" within Government, when questioned about the substantial upfront investment required.
Mr McFadden argued that ministers must pursue reforms not "in spite of being Labour people," but "because we are Labour people," following concerns over whether the Government would be able to secure the support of its own MPs for changes.
"If you're 20 right now and you sign on to long-term sickness benefits, you've got more chance of marking your 30th birthday and still being on them than having a steady job in between," he said.
Opportunity guarantee and political reaction
Mr Milburn has argued that young people deserve a "legal guarantee" of work, training or employment support. He assured the BBC that the government will "avoid the elephant trap" of young people pursuing legal action if no opportunities were available to them, saying: "we are going to have a duty on Government to provide opportunities."
"We're calling it the opportunity guarantee, so there should be a guarantee for a young person because at the moment the only guarantee they've got is to a very simple thing, to get a benefit."
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said the creation of a legal entitlement "might sound a nice thing to do" but "doesn't make sense".
However, other aspects of Mr Milburn's approach were cautiously endorsed by the Conservative frontbencher, stating that his emphasis on moving away from "handing out cash for relatively mild conditions" and towards employment support was "the right direction of travel".
"We think he should do it for all ages, not just under 25. You should not have a different system for a 24-year-old and a 26-year-old," she told Sky.
