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The majority of people being hit with Universal Credit sanctions are under 30, according to new analysis by Labour.

Figures released by the party show more than 70 per cent of Universal Credit sanctions have landed on young claimants.

And they are the ones who will bear the brunt of the botched roll-out of the scheme - which campaigners are calling for to be scrapped.

Margaret Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “This is further evidence of the impact of the Tories’ punitive sanctions regime. Rather than supporting young people into secure, well paid jobs, the Tories are hitting them with sanctions.

“Universal Credit is causing poverty and hardship wherever it’s rolled out, especially for young people.

(Image: Getty Images)

“The Government must do the right thing and stop the rollout of Universal Credit.”

Out of a total of 473,000 decisions to apply a sanction under the Universal Credit live service, over 334,000 (70%) have been applied to claimants aged under 30. Nearly a fifth of all sanctions have landed on claimants aged just 18 and 19 years old.

Labour is demanding the Government looks at the overwhelming evidence and “stop the rollout of Universal Credit.”

The party says it is committed to a root-and-branch review of the social security system to ensure it lifts people out of poverty.

(Image: REUTERS)

Laura Dewar, is a policy officer at Gingerbread - a charity that supports single paretns.

She said: “We’ve heard from young single parents who want to work and provide for their children, but are being subjected to sanctions under Universal Credit that punish them for factors outside of their control, such as a lack of flexible work or affordable childcare.

“Sanctions are being used to police a tick-box approach to job-seeking and leave parents in debt, anxious and struggling to feed their children. We urge the government to recognise that sanctions don’t work for single parents, and to focus on providing support to better enable single parents to enter work.”

Sign our Universal Credit petition The Mirror are demanding a halt to the expansion of Universal Credit and for a review to take place. We say there are three options: Redesign UC to be fit for purpose

Axe it in favour of the old system if UC is unfixable

Introduce a brand new system Sign our petition to stop the rollout of Universal Credit across Britain and to replace it with a fairer system by signing our petition.

Earlier this week it was revealed millions of families could be left up to £200-a-month worse off when the new system is introduced in July.

And former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Universal Credit would remove £3 billion from the social security budget on top of cuts to child tax credits and benefit, which he helped introduce.

He warned that child poverty was rising “inexorably” and is expected to hit five million in 2022.

“It is now time to abandon the national roll-out of the disastrous benefit-cutting Universal Credit,” he said.

A DWP spokesperson said: “Sanctions are only used in a very small percentage of cases when people fail to meet their agreed commitments in return for benefits.

“Universal Credit provides additional, tailored support to help people into work, and evidence shows that as a result people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer.”