Over 2,000 young adults in Sunderland swell benefit claims

Department for Work and Pensions statistics show 5,659 people aged between 16 and 24 in the city were on Universal Credit as of August 13.

This was 2,095 more than the 3564 who were claiming the benefit in early March, before the country went into lockdown, bringing large parts of the economy to a halt.

The figures include people in work and on a low income or those not working because of health or caring commitments.

Sunderland’s young people joined the ranks of 49,869 others in the age group across the North East who were seeking support in August – up from 31,947 in March.

Across Great Britain, the figure almost doubled to 938,000 over the first five months of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Intergenerational Foundation charity says younger people will be left to pay the bill for protecting older generations for decades to come after suffering a “massive blow” to their income and job prospects.

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