Marks & Spencer's chief claims: 'Young people conform to a life on benefits'

(Martin Rickett/ PA)

A Marks & Spencer chief has claimed young people fail to take up apprenticeships because it would mean cutting the benefits "umbilical cord".

Tanith Dodge, director of human resources at M&S, described the UK's benefits system as "treacle" that is stopping youngsters from getting ahead in life as they conform to a life on welfare.

She also suggested that they should break away from communities stuck in the jobless cycle, stressing that many M&S apprentices come from families that have been out of work for decades and having a job could make them feel "alienated".

“They live in a community where when they go back at the end of the day it is frowned upon,” Dodge told a House of Lords inquiry into youth unemployment.

“If they have grown up in a family where everybody is on benefits and they are given the opportunity for work experience, they do not know if it is going to work out.”

“They have to come off benefits and that is a deterrent for some young people as they do not want to cut the umbilical cord,” she added.

Her comments come after the Government announced plans to reduce benefits for the under 25s, including housing and other handouts, in a bid to get Britain's youth "learning or earning".

The Prime Minister took a hard line against welfare during the Tory party conference in Manchester earlier this year, criticising the notion that millions of Britons "leave school, sign on, find a flat, start claiming housing benefit and opt for a life on benefits".

"We should give young people a clear, positive choice: Go to school. Go to college. Do an apprenticeship. Get a job. But just choose the dole? We've got to offer them something better than that," he added.

"With your children, would you dream of just leaving them to their own devices, not getting a job, not training, nothing? No, you'd nag and push and guide and do anything to get them on their way. So must we. This is what we want - everyone under 25 earning or learning."