Think tank tells Healey to fund free under-25 bus travel before any benefit cuts

John Healey has been urged not to cut benefits for under-25s in Wednesday's Budget unless he also pays for their travel, after research shared with the Mirror found that about 70% of young people not in education, employment or training have no access to any discounted bus scheme.

The New Economics Foundation, a think tank, told the newspaper that benefits for young people should not be cut without ensuring they can reach work, education and training. It wants the Chancellor to fund free bus travel for everyone under 25.

The research has not been published, and its figures appear only in the Mirror's report. Its warning lands three days before the Budget and weeks after reports, citing anonymous Whitehall sources, that ministers are considering scrapping the health element of Universal Credit for under-25s and redirecting the savings into employment support. No minister has confirmed the plan.

According to the Mirror, NEF's analysis found that 75% of young Neets live somewhere with no council-backed bus discount open to everyone their age. Among Neets aged 22 to 24 in England, the newspaper reported, 91% have no youth discount available to all.

The research also found, the Mirror said, that a third of young Neets live in poorly connected areas, rising to 42% in "left-behind" coastal areas. NEF's proposal for free bus travel for under-25s, alongside expanded services, would cost £1.1 billion upfront and rise to £1.5 billion a year in the long term, according to the newspaper's account of the think tank's costings.

The Mirror reported that the Chancellor had been warned he could leave young people "stranded" if support was withdrawn without help to get to work. It did not name the source of that warning.

A government spokesperson told the Mirror that help already exists for those who need it.

"No young person should be locked out of a job because they can't afford the bus fare to get there. Through the Flexible Support Fund, jobcentres can already help eligible young people with travel costs that might otherwise stand in the way of them moving into employment – and we've built this support into recent employment schemes we've launched with Amazon and the British Retail Consortium."

The fund is discretionary and paid case by case rather than as a general discount. Neither the government nor NEF has published figures on how much of it goes towards young people's travel.

The Office for National Statistics estimated in August that 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training between April and June this year, up 30,000 on the same period in 2025. The next estimate is due on 26 November.

Transport has already been identified as a barrier by the government's own reviewer. Alan Milburn, the former Labour Cabinet minister commissioned to report on young people and work, said in his interim report in May that transport had "emerged as a significant practical barrier". The Mirror quoted him as adding: "Transport is obviously not the only reason; but it is no coincidence that the city with the best youth transport offer has the best youth participation outcomes,"

The Commons Transport Committee, chaired by Ruth Cadbury, opened an inquiry in July into transport as an obstacle to young people finding and keeping jobs, following Milburn's findings. Milburn's final report, due by the summer under his terms of reference, has not yet been published.

Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, has set out his own position on youth unemployment, writing in the Times this month that it was "an economic catastrophe and a moral failure". He has said benefits should become "the backstop, not the starting point".

His government announced in July that most single bus fares in England outside London will be capped at £2 from 1 January 2027, replacing the £3 cap.

The Treasury has not commented on the NEF research.