Alan Milburn correctly identifies that the nation’s 1 million young people not in education, employment, or training (Neet) represent a crisis of “youth detachment” deeply intertwined with mental ill health ( Cut benefits to fund work support for young people, says Neet review author Alan Milburn, 18 October ).

However, his proposal to cut welfare benefits to fund employment support both misdiagnoses the problem and points to a solution that will worsen it.

Framing welfare as something that is “plunging far too many young people into a life on benefits” ignores the fact that nearly half of Neet young people do not claim benefits.

The modern social security system is experienced as a regime of surveillance and scrutiny rather than a safety net. Paternalistic approaches that treat structural disadvantage as a personal failure actively drive vulnerable young people away from public institutions.…