In a pilot scheme, jobseekers in some areas aged 18 to 21 without basic maths or English will be required to have training in these skills or will lose benefits.
We agree that jobseeker's allowance claimants aged under 25 should be referred to the programme after a maximum of six months.
The repercussions of these cuts can be seen already, with recent figures showing that the number of women aged 25-49 on jobseeker's allowance is now at its highest since records began in 1997.
Barnsley has 8.6% unemployment compared with 6.5% across the UK, and it has more than double the number of people aged 18-24 on jobseeker's allowance than the country as a whole.
Jobseeker's allowance (JSA) for someone aged under 25 is £56.80 a week.
Kate Connolly, Berlin To qualify for jobseeker's benefit, you must be aged under 66 and be unemployed for at least three days out of seven.
The initiative will also apply to adults aged 25 or over claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for two years or more.
Jobseekers will be hand-picked based on two criteria: the first group will be aged between 18-24 and will have been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for 20-24 weeks. 20-24 weeks
Last month's official figures showed that the number of people aged between 18 and 24 claiming jobseeker's allowance had quadrupled in Wales.
