A life without work: 1.5m Britons haven’t had a job since they left school

Almost 1.5 million people in Britain have never done a day’s work in their lives, official figures reveal.

The total includes around 800,000 aged between 25 and 64 who have never had a job of any kind.

A further 600,000, aged under 25, are not in education or training of any sort.

The figures will fuel fears that governments have cultivated a ‘Shameless’ generation dependent on the State.

The number of people aged 16 to 64 who have never worked ¿ excluding under-25s in education ¿ is now around 1.4 million in the UK

Shocking figures: The number of people aged 16 to 64 who have never worked - excluding under-25s in education - is now around 1.4 million in the UK

They include the long-term sick and disabled and housewives who have never worked, though officials say most stay-at-home mothers have at some time been in employment.

Ministers said it was shocking evidence of endemic worklessness, with whole communities suffering from a culture of welfare dependency.

The Department for Work and Pensions figures emerged as George Osborne defended plans for further cuts in welfare spending, telling MPs all those who are capable of work are obliged to do so.

The Chancellor plans to slash a further £4billion from the welfare bill next month, on top of £11billion cut already announced.

Labour accused Mr Osborne of a ‘nasty’ attack on society’s vulnerable.

There was also mounting tension in the Coalition over the cuts. Mr Osborne was hauled to explain his plans before the Commons after Lib Dem MP Bob Russell tabled questions forcing a debate.

The backbencher said it was ‘unethical’ to try to blame welfare cheats for the financial crisis facing Britain.

The figures, apparently released to underline the urgency of the need for welfare reform, put the number of people aged 16 to 64 who have never worked – excluding under-25s in education – at 1.4 million in the UK.

This includes 600,000 so-called Neets – under-25s not in education or employment – and 800,000 aged 25 to 64.

A further two million 18- to 24-year-olds have never worked but are in full- or part-time education.

Mr Osborne told MPs that the welfare bill had risen 45 per cent in the last decade and now accounted for one-third of Government spending.

‘The system is not protecting those who genuinely cannot work, nor is it helping those desperately looking for work to find a job quickly,’ he said.

It was ‘impossible’ to conduct a proper review of Government expenditure without looking at benefits.

He said: ‘We are looking to do it in a way that actually reforms welfare – to help those millions of people who have been trapped for a decade or more on out-of-work benefits into work, help those with aspirations to improve their income.’

Mr Russell accused the Chancellor of pursuing an ‘immature turf war’ with Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

He said: ‘The innocent people in all this are those least advantaged people
in society, of whom 3.9 million are children living below the poverty line.

‘While these two are having their turf war and jockeying for position and headlines, people at the bottom of the pile could lose out even more.’

Last week, figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed there are almost four million households across the country – about one in five – where no one is currently working.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: ‘This is a shocking waste of human talent and a dreadful legacy. It cannot be right to leave so many people to in all likelihood spend their whole life on benefits without challenging  and pushing them to do something better.

...AND HERE'S WHAT THE JOBLESS SAY THEMSELVES

Living on benefits: Claire and Peter Davey with their eight children

Living on benefits: Claire and Peter Davey with their eight children

Claire Davey is nearly 30 and has never had a job as she claims she has to raise her eight children.

She receives £815 a week in state handouts. Her husband Peter, 35, gave up his administrative job as he found he could make more living on benefits.

Yet they say they still need a bigger home. ‘It’s really hard,’ said Mrs Davey earlier this year. ‘We can’t afford holidays. The price of living is going up but benefits are going down.’

At their four-bedroom home on the Isle of Anglesey the family, have a 42in flatscreen TV, a Wii and three Nintendo DSs – as well as a Mercedes people carrier and an 11-seater minibus.

Of their income of more than £42,000 a year Mrs Davey said: ‘I don’t think I’m selfish. It doesn’t bother me that taxpayers are paying for me to have a large family.’


Jobless: Harry and Tracy Crompton have 10 children and live in a seven bedroom house

Jobless: Harry and Tracy Crompton have 10 children and live in a seven bedroom house

Tracey Crompton, 42, has never had a job, despite having no medical
complaints that prevent her from working.

She and her husband Harry, 52, who has not worked for 15 years, and their ten children live in a seven-bedroom house in Hull and get £32,656 in benefits a year.

Mr Crompton says he is unable to work due to angina and irritable bowel syndrome.

‘I’m not satisfied with the benefits we get – I want more. I haven’t been able to work because I’ve had to bring up the kids,’ Mrs Crompton said.

‘If the kids need something I go and get it. If I need something, like a new pair of shoes, then I’ll get it. We don’t go without.’


'There's nothing out there': Unemployed teenager Jamie Cole is a Neet - not in education, employment or training

'There's nothing out there': Unemployed teenager Jamie Cole is a Neet - not in education, employment or training

Jobless Jamie Cole is a Neet – not in education, employment or training. After dropping out of school aged 16, before his GCSEs, he signed on the dole. He gets roughly £90 a week which he treats as pocket money.

The 18-year-old lives rent-free at his IT worker father’s council flat in King’s Cross, North London and spends his days at the park.

He once trained as a plumber, passing an NVQ vocational qualification.

He said: ‘I enjoyed it but I stopped. I just didn’t fancy it. What’s the point? I get up around 1pm and we hang out, play football and just enjoy life.

‘I have tried to get a job, don’t get me wrong, but nobody helps you, nobody cares. I go to the Job Centre, but it’s the credit crunch and there’s nothing out there.

‘I signed on. It’s much easier.’ He added: ‘I deserve every penny of the dole money because I have to have food, don’t I? It’s not my fault there’s a recession.

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