Young disabled people deserve to be supported both financially and to find good quality, long-term employment, where appropriate.

One shouldn’t be funded by taking away the other.
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/the-governme...

Third: UC health isn't a 'trap'

You're allowed to work while receiving UC health. And getting UC health actually makes working more affordable, because of the 'work allowance'

(see explanation in blog)

Second: cutting benefits won't help them find work.

These young people already go through an assessment to see if they could work. Taking money out of people’s pockets doesn’t make them less disabled.

But we do know it could make their health worse, as they're forced to cut back on essentials.

First: this cut would push thousands of disabled young people into poverty

Losing over £420 a month is huge. And young people already get lower rates of the UC standard allowance, housing element and, if they're under 21, the minimum wage.

The government argues that too many young people are claiming disability benefits. They say that this 'traps' them in unemployment.

Rather than paying the UC health element to under-22s, they argue that the money would be better spent investing in employment support for young people.

We disagree🧵

Read more in our report ⬇️
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...

We're calling on the government to:
❌ Delay the cuts until a real assessment of the policy has taken place
📋 Provide greater clarity and legal protections within the severe conditions criteria
🤝 Ensure that future reforms of disability benefits involve proper consultation with disabled people

To sum up: The UC bill will have far reaching consequences, many of which haven’t been properly debated or understood.

What’s clear is that cutting UC health is going to hurt disabled people - at a time when disabled people are already struggling to make ends meet.

Who will be impacted by the cuts to UC health?

⏱️ People who become disabled after the cut-off point
🤒 People whose condition worsens over time
📩 People who lose UC health and have to reapply
🔞 Disabled children who become adults

We’re also concerned that people with severe, life-long conditions might miss out on protections.

📝The legal wording of the bill restricts the criteria - so people with fluctuating conditions or a private medical diagnosis might not be eligible. This is problematic.

The government argues that cutting UC health will incentivise people to work. But this unlikely...

♿ People on UC health have work-limiting conditions
🏢 There are limited accessible jobs
🎫 Being on UC health gives access to one of the most work-supporting benefits (the work allowance)

Increases to the UC standard allowance aren’t doing enough to offset the cuts either.

Over the first year, a single person over the age of 25 on UC will gain just £364, while new claimants will lose out on £2,472 because of the cut to UC health.

This isn't a 'rebalancing' of the UC award.

Cuts to disability benefits matter. Disabled people are already struggling to afford their essentials and avoid debt.

In 2024 alone, we helped 110,000 disabled people and people with long-term health conditions access crisis support 📈

That’s an average of more than 400 people every working day.

From April 2026, the Universal Credit health element will be cut almost in half and then frozen. Almost three quarters of a million people will lose out on £3,000 a year.

This will create a two-tiered system of support and disabled people will suffer.

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