Exclusive: Britain is facing an “economic catastrophe and moral failure” because a generation of young people is being written off to a life on benefits, the prime minister has said. Andy Burnham writes for The Times that the time has come for Britain to “invest in the success of our young people” rather than “pay for failure through the benefits system”. Setting out his vision for the fundamental reform of welfare, he said the present scheme provided “an assessment, a payment and, after that, a goodbye”, with no support, skills or help getting a job. In future, Burnham promised, the government would offer a “clear guarantee” of support, starting in schools, to address the almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training, known as Neets. Every young person would be guaranteed a technical pathway, work placements, apprenticeships and the skills they needed to find a job, Burnham said. However, he cautioned that this would be matched by an expectation that young people would take up the opportunities available to them. He added that under the new system, benefits would become a “backstop” rather than the “starting point” for young people. His comments come a week after the launch of The Times Welfare Inquiry, a six-month investigation into how the welfare state is working and failing.