Parliamentary reporter @TrinderMatt

YOUNG people have led a “staggering” surge in new benefit claims during the Covid-19 pandemic, a devastating new study revealed today.

Analysis of official figures by the Resolution Foundation found that the increase had contributed to a partial reversal in the decades-long decline in new applications. 

Nearly two-thirds of the population (64 per cent) are now living in a household receiving state support, up two percentage points from the pre-pandemic total in February 2020.