By New Worker
correspondent
PROTESTERS
gathered in Parliament Square last Saturday 1st April, to demand the Government
restore housing benefit rights to young people between the ages of 18 and 25.
The protest was timed to coincide with the
cut coming into force, which will leave an estimated 10,000 young people at
risk of eviction and homelessness.
Homelessness has doubled in Britain since
2010 under the Coalition and Tory governments, and the new measures will make
the situation a lot worse.
The Tory policy assumes that young people
have the option to continue living with their parents but in many cases that is
just not so. Some have been brought up in care and do not have parental homes
to go to. Others may have been thrown out of the family home, for example for
coming out as gay or lesbian.
Some have left homes where they were
abused, and some young people are themselves parents and trying to rear young
children.
The Tories claim that exceptions are made
for young people who are ‘vulnerable’, but that is a very elastic term and is
applied by local authorities that are desperately short of funding and looking
to reduce costs as a priority.
Many could end up on the streets,
resulting in an array of other issues such as crime, prostitution and addiction
amongst other things.
No comments:
Post a Comment