Students living in Britain’s Gen-Z benefit capitals have blamed handouts for making them lazy and the ability to be signed off sick with conditions such as ADHD and autism for not bothering to look for a job after they graduate.
They say unemployment benefits let graduates to develop a ‘why do I have to work’ attitude when they can ‘stay at home and get the money’
Rather than being a way to get back on their feet, Universal Credit and PIP are instead being seen as a way of ‘enabling’ them not to seek work.
A recent analysis by one think-tank found that more degree holders than ever are claiming benefits, with one in three who are saying they are too sick to work.
According to The Centre for Social Justice, 707,000 people with a degree were not working and living off state benefits last year – a 46 per cent rise from pre-pandemic levels.
The Daily Mail spoke to students in Bradford, Birmingham and London this week – where there are among the highest numbers of 18-24 year olds claiming benefits – in a bid to find out where things are going so wrong.
Some young adults claimed that plummeting mental health among the student population, along with rising awareness and diagnoses of ADHD and autism can explain the apparent lack of ambition among some of Britain’s graduates.
In a bid to ease the burden of transitioning from academia to the workplace, some students are even calling for measures to be implemented to make sure they get a job when they finish their course.
Victor Enejo, 25, who joined the University of Bradford last September to study Applied AI and Data Analytics, says some students fail to develop the skills employers expect.
He said: ‘You can come to university and pass through, but there’s a difference between passing through and actually learning.
Ilina Gersanu, 21, a management student at the University of Bradford a lot of people are getting degrees without thinking about getting a job afterwards
Victor Enejo, 25, an applied AI and data analytics student at the University of Bradford, said some students lack the vision of knowing exactly what they need
‘When you are a student, you are supposed to learn some skills. But some students lack that vision of knowing exactly what they need.’
Kenneth Okonya, 38, also studying applied AI and data analytics, said: ‘If graduates know that benefits are there, they might just want to sit at home.
‘Benefits are a contributing factor in making graduates lazy.’
He added: ‘People think ‘why do I have to work when I could stay at home and get the money’.
‘I know benefits are needed, but they can also be an enabling factor. There should be something that makes graduates want to work and not stay at home.’
Ilina Gersanu, 21, who is studying a management course at the University of Bradford, said: ‘A lot of people want to go to university to get a degree, but don’t actually think about getting a job after.
‘I know people who have gone onto universal credit after graduating.’
Ilina, who wants to become a primary school teacher, admits she worries about getting a job after completing the course.
She said: ‘Qualifications are good, but you need experience to get a job, which is hard.’
Jessica Robson, 38, and Tom Mason, 32, are staff at the University of Bradford. Tom is visually impaired and questioned how sickness claims had increased given his own experience
Kenneth Okonya, 38, applied AI and data analytics student at the University of Bradford, believes ‘benefits are a contributing factor in making graduates lazy’
Shana Tonye-Denize, 17, is a student hoping to do a law degree in September. She said the stress of university is a risk for people’s mental health
Jay Stewart, 22, has recently graduated but doesn’t currently have a job. He says he is fortunate to have support which means he does not need to claim benefits
Lisa Bain, 58, is in the school admin team at the University of Bradford and thinks ‘whatever degree you come out with, you should be employable’.
‘I think some students think they have to be employable in the subject they trained in and don’t consider all sorts of other positions,’ she said.
‘I also think the recruitment process now is so far removed from how it used to be. Everything is electronic and AI, so you’re not always even sat in front of someone, which makes it harder.’
On the rise in the number of people claiming sickness benefits, she said: ‘There’s a broader definition of sickness now.
‘I think the spectrum of sickness has grown.’
Tom Mason, 32, works with students in healthcare and is visually impaired. He questioned how sickness claims had increased given his own experience of the benefits system.
He said: ‘I get PIP and I had to go through an in-person interview in 2013 which picked apart everything and it was quite degrading.
‘The system must have changed since then, because I don’t see how else there can have been an increase in cases.’
Jessica Robson, 38, said her degree in psychology had not led directly to a job in that field – which is a reality that many students face.
She said: ‘I worked in admin for ten years before moving to this role working with healthcare students.’
Mark Hamilton, 55, a mature student at Bradford College, said: ‘A degree does not guarantee you work now, which is a problem with the amount of debt that you can get into.
‘I used to work in Asda and it’s amazing how many people who are stacking shelves have just completed a degree.’
Lisa Bain, 58, is in the school admin team at the University of Bradford and thinks ‘whatever degree you come out with, you should be employable’
However, Mark Hamilton, 55, a mature student at Bradford College, said ‘a degree does not guarantee you work now, which is a problem with the amount of debt that you can get into’
Birmingham hairdressing students Rue Griffiths (left), 18, and Macey Dawes, also 18, say experience is forcing more graduates out of potential jobs
When asked about the rise in the number of people claiming sickness benefits, he said: ‘I think there’s a lot more awareness around mental health and diagnoses like ADHD and autism are more common.’
In London, American Maximillian Thompson, 21, who is currently studying at Queen Mary University of London, said a lot of people are finding it difficult to get a job after graduating.
‘I know a lot of people have a degree and graduate and aren’t able to find a job and have to do a full 180 and switch around,’ he said.
‘Personally, I’m very nervous about being able to find a job after college. It’s crazy, I go to one of the top schools in the United States, I worked jobs at school and have great grades and extracurricular things but I can’t even get a job at a Chick-fil-A or serving ice cream.
‘I think everybody is really struggling right now and it’s very difficult.
‘I think people are very quick to say, ‘all the people going on benefits, it’s laziness, it’s freeloading’. I don’t believe in that at all it’s just things have really changed.
‘And personally for me as an upcoming graduate I’m definitely very nervous about finding a job and supporting myself.’
He added: ‘I can really speak to that [people claiming they are too sick to work] because I have a lot of mental health, I have very strong depression and anxiety and I’ve been in the hospital a couple of times and it’s difficult.
‘I’ve been told by my therapist I can take a semester off school, and I want to, but in this environment I need a job. I feel like I don’t have enough space or enough time to focus on my mental health where I feel like I should be because I’m so nervous about [jobs].
‘As someone who struggles with mental health it’s like school and work is hard, juggling all of that is really difficult.’
Shana Tonye-Denize, 17, is a student hoping to do a law degree in September.
‘I feel like everyone I know who’s looking for jobs actively have told me the same thing, that you apply for a job but they don’t get back to you. Some people apply to like 200 jobs and they get maybe one response back and it’s a rejection or something.
‘It’s very hard to end up getting into a certain career because of it. For example, I want to go into law but obviously, there’s only so much I can do right now to get into a law career.’
She added: ‘I’m going to university this year but even like now where I am mental health is not really spoken about. Especially with like exam stress, they’re like ‘oh you just need to thug it out, or just deal with it’, so I can imagine that in university it’s even more stressful than it is right now.
‘Because obviously it’s the last step before you enter the career you want to go into but most people, they don’t even get to go into a career even though they’ve studied like three, four years for their degree and because of that, it’s like they’re doing all of that for what?
‘Now they’re in debt for probably the rest of their lives because they can’t get a job that goes into the career they’ve done their degree on. So it’s like what even is the point?
‘That’s why a lot of people aren’t going to university anymore, because you’re going into debt, you’re risking your mental health and the likelihood of you going into a job based on your degree is really low, so it’s just a bit rough.’
George, 31, who did not give his surname, is from Leicester but currently lives in Bethnal Green. He has a degree in property management but is retraining as a carpenter
American Maximillian Thompson, 21, who is currently studying at Queen Mary University of London, said a lot of people are finding it difficult to get a job after graduating
Jay Stewart, 22, who has come to visit friends from Sydney, Australia. He has recently graduated but doesn’t currently have a job and says he is fortunate to have support which means he does not need to claim benefits.
‘I think it’s quite concerning [that so many graduates are on benefits], especially for people my age when it comes to not being able to get proper employment with what essentially is what you’re kind of bred to do throughout your entire younger life,’ he said.
‘It’s like ‘oh you’ve got to go to school, get a degree yadda yadda yadda’. But when you’re graduating and then nothing’s happening after that it’s kind of like ‘how can I trust that that’s the right way to go?’ and ‘if that’s what I’ve been told to do my entire life, what am I supposed to do now?’.
George, 31, who did not give his surname, is from Leicester but currently lives in Bethnal Green. He has a degree in property management from Birmingham City University but is retraining as a carpenter.
‘Certainly the cost-of-living crisis hasn’t helped. I have just gone back into education myself…to try and find a job which was a bit more steady and stable so I’m doing carpentry.
‘That’s the goal for me at least. With regards to other people I think it’s tough. When I was looking for work straight from university I was struggling, I sort of picked up any old work that I could.
‘I graduated with a property degree and it took me three or four years to try and get a job in that field. That was back in 2016, but yeah it’s hard.’
Asked whether he had friends in a similar situation, he said: ‘Personally, no, I think everyone managed to find their way into what they wanted to do, but I feel, especially for the younger generation, it is a little bit more difficult.’
University college Birmingham student Macey Dawes, 18, said experience was forcing more graduates out of potential jobs.
The hairdressing student said: ‘When you go on Indeed there’s not actually any jobs going around and the ones that are you need experience for.
‘No ones going to hire you if you haven’t got the experience, and you can’t get the experience because no one is hiring.
‘I’m studying hairdressing but I work in retail. I’ve had friends who can’t get a job because they don’t have any experience.
‘Even for bartending. You need experience for that but nowhere is letting you do it so you can’t get the experience to start it. It’s stupid, it’s probably why the rates are so high.’
Rue Griffiths, also a hairdressing student, said she got her job purely because she knew the hiring manager.
The 18-year-old added: ‘I think retail is the only place that will hire without experience.’