At Citizens Advice Wiltshire, we support thousands of people each year with a wide range of issues. However, our latest research highlights a troubling trend: young people (aged 15-24 years old) face systemic disadvantages in wages, benefits, and housing, creating financial hardship that can lead to debt, insecurity, and homelessness.
Our new report explores the key barriers young people face, why they struggle to access support, and what needs to change.
Key issues and findings
1. Benefits: Lower Universal Credit rates and stricter conditionality
- Young people under 25 receive a lower Universal Credit (UC) allowance than those over 25, making it harder to cover essentials like rent, food, and bills.
- Universal Credit sanctions disproportionately impact young people, as they are more likely to be subject to strict work-search conditionality.
- Mental health issues are a growing concern, with many young people seeking to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to help with long-term conditions.
2. Employment: Lower wages and fewer rights
- The minimum wage for young workers is lower than for those aged over 21, despite them often doing the same job, meaning they could be missing out on thousands of pounds of annual income, and making it harder for them to cover essentials like rent, food, and bills.
- Many young people rely on zero-hours contracts, which offer little job security and unpredictable incomes.
- The young workers we advised were more likely to face dismissals, with many missing out on employment rights due to short service periods.
3. Housing: A crisis for young renters
- Housing enquiries accounted for almost a quarter of all issues raised by the young people we helped last year, more than double that of other age groups.
- Many struggle to afford rent due to the Local Housing Allowance rates that don’t match rising housing costs, putting them at greater risk of debt, eviction, and homelessness.
- Housing benefit restrictions, in particular the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) limit young people's ability to secure independent housing.
- Youth homelessness is increasing, with many young people unable to access emergency support or social housing.
Our recommendations
We are calling on the government to take urgent action to end the youth penalty by:
- Scrapping age-based wage tiers so all workers, including apprentices, are eligible for the same minimum wage.
- Providing all workers with day-one employment rights, including protection from unfair dismissal and sick pay.
- Investing in skills and careers support to prevent long-term youth unemployment.
- Increasing the minimum wage
- Abolishing the lower UC rate for under-25s, ensuring all claimants receive the same standard rate of financial support.
- Unfreezing the Local Housing Allowance to align with actual local rental prices,
returning it to at least the 30th percentile to help those struggling with increased rental costs. - Scrapping the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) to help young people secure independent housing.
The government has pledged to increase worker protections and end wage discrimination, but no commitments have been made on Universal Credit rates or housing support. Without intervention, many young people will continue to struggle financially, accumulate debt, or experience homelessness.
Young people deserve fair treatment in the workplace, a secure home, and financial stability. It's time to remove these structural barriers and give them the support they need to thrive.
Download below your free copy of our new research report: The Youth Penalty.
Published March 2025
