We are calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to Make Work Pay and to take the opportunity to fix a cruel quirk that leaves people living in supported accommodation worse off in work. Will you join us?
On Wednesday 3 September 2025, Centrepoint rolled out a ‘Wheel of Misfortune’ on Parliament Square to demonstrate the barriers young people in supported housing face while trying to escape homelessness and start work.
This stunt – the first of many for our campaigning - was directly outside Westminster in Parliament Square, bringing the campaign to the heart of the government. MPs were given the opportunity to spin the wheel, hoping to be given optimistic future scenarios for young people entering work. However, as MPs quickly learned, these ‘fortunes’ are in fact ‘misfortunes’ due to the cruel quirk in the benefits system that punishes young people in supported housing, leaving them facing a financial cliff edge.
Campaigning to Make Work Pay in Parliament Square
Why is this significant?
Many young people are forced to choose between taking on more hours and progressing in their careers - but losing out financially - or turning down hours at work, risking unemployment and falling into rent arrears.
This moment in the campaign was a significant step in gaining the attention of MPs and ensuring this urgent issue was taken seriously. Thousands of you have raised your voice to advocate for Making Work Pay for young people facing homelessness.
We estimate that 30,000 young people are impacted by the cruel quirk in the benefit systems that means young people in supported housing are worse off in work.
Centrepoint has been campaigning and advocating for the government to Make Work Pay for many years now, yet this moment stood out with 11 representatives from MPs who came to stand alongside charity partners Homeless Link, YMCA, Crisis, St. Mungo’s and New Horizon Youth Centre.
What is the Make Work Pay campaign?
We need the government to make two changes to the benefits system:
- Increase the Housing Benefit disregard from £5 to £57
Reduce the taper rate from 65% to 55%
By doing this, Centrepoint estimates the government could save the Treasury nearly £13 million. It is vital that the government urgently acts on this issue and fixes the system ahead of the Autumn Budget.
What is the benefit trap?
Young people in supported housing lose vital benefits when they work more than a certain number of hours. This leaves them worse off financially and stuck in what’s known as the ‘benefit trap’.
This is because of a quirk in the benefit system where people in supported housing are still receiving Housing Benefit for their rent but are on Universal Credit for their living costs. The way these two benefits interact means that people hit a ‘cliff edge’ after which they become worse off as they increase their hours. This puts people already facing homelessness at risk of coming into debt when paying back their rent if they decide to work longer. So, many drop out of work.
What have we achieved so far?
Through this campaign, thousands of you have come together to advocate with young people living through the benefit trap right now. We’ve already achieved so much:
Over 8,000 people have written to their MP about the issue
Over 10,000 people have called the UK Government to fix the benefit system
An open letter signed by over 140 charities part of the Youth Chapter Collective wrote to the Chancellor on this in Autumn 2024
Over 6,000 people have signed Faye’s open letter, a young person with lived experience, to the Chancellor asking her to Make Work Pay
Over 10 MPs have asked written questions to Parliament
Over 357 MPs have been contacted by campaigners about this
Released multiple policy briefings to the government suggesting effective solutions
Will you share about this campaign on social media?
Help call on the government to Make Work Pay at the upcoming Autumn Budget by sharing this post on social media.
