A Resolution Foundation report has suggested by tackling existing age-related inequalities, and making all ages pay the same national insurance contributions, the government could raise around £1bn a year by 2021-22.
Laura Gardiner, senior policy analyst at the foundation, said: “The chancellor should remember the bigger picture and deliver a Budget that tackles one of the biggest challenges Britain faces – our failure to deliver living standards progress for young people today.”
She added that the Philip Hammond should make young people the main beneficiaries by unfreezing benefits and rebooting universal credit. He has also been called on to boost spending for police and health.
The report, out last week, suggested that 56% of the gains from unfreezing age benefits next April would go to millennials, with a low-income family of four gaining £315 a year. The policy would cost £1.9bn in 2018-19, the think-tank said.
The benefit cuts could ‘drive up child poverty’ according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The Liberal Democrat leader also stressed the importance of favouring young people. Vince Cable called on the government to introduce measures to redistribute revenue in favour of those “who have been left behind for too long”.
