There was a clear, simple and overriding message delivered by George Osborne from the dispatch box yesterday; do not be young.

Do not be young and try and get a university education, unless you’re prepared to go it alone.

Do not be young and try to enter the workplace, unless you accept that you do not deserve a living wage.

Do not be young and homeless, because we will not support you with housing benefit.

The government tries to paint a picture of fairness to young people, stating that it is only right that they are ‘earning or learning’. But while the rhetoric gains cut through, the policies just do not add up.

So what are the options that face those aged 18-24 in Britain?

The government is already decimating our colleges with huge cuts for courses for those aged 19 and above. Now it has turned its focus to higher education by scrapping grants for the poorest 50 per cent of students and allowing fees to rise above £9,000.

With average debts already at £44,000 these changes will see an increase of about £12,000 in the amount owed at the end of their degree by the very poorest students. The era of £50,000 debt will very much be the reality for future graduates, while the grant cut is likely to damage participation amongst low-income students.

These moves come on the back of the abolition of the National Scholarship Programme for undergraduates and in advance of probable cuts to Student Opportunities Funding and Disabled Students Allowances in the months ahead.

The picture looks no better for young people entering the workplace. Whilst wages have fallen for all demographics since 2010, it is young people’s wages that have fallen the fastest. Furthermore, youth unemployment rates are three times higher than amongst older workers. So what does this budget look to do for those young workers?

In the year 2000 the gap between the full rate of the minimum wage and that earned by a 20 year old was 50p. It is now £1.37. Rather than seeking to narrow this gap, as Yvette Cooper has proposed, Osborne is adding a new rate for the 25s and over and widening this gap yet further. By next April a younger worker on the minimum wage will be paid less than 75 per cent of the full rate, compared to over 86 per cent 16 years ago. He calls it a ‘national living wage’ and yet he ignores the fact not only is it not liveable, its hardly national either as it excludes millions of the population.

The choice being offered either way is far from alluring: either go to university and saddle yourself with £50,000 of debt, or run the risk of being trapped at a rate of pay beneath that of your older colleagues for years to come.

But the Conservatives’ contempt for young people is nothing new. At the last election Cameron refused to take part in Bite the Ballot’s ‘Leaders Live’, and they cynically rushed in the introduction of individual electoral registration despite warnings from the Electoral Commission that it would primarily impact on students and those under 30.

So how do they get away with it? Whilst turnout amongst 18-24 year olds is very low; that is not on its own the determining factor. Conservative support amongst young people has remained largely static, irrespective of policy position, or whether they are in government for long periods, with them recording 27 to 30 per cent of 18-24 year olds’ votes at every general election between 1997 and 2015. As such the Tories can make young people bear the brunt of cuts time after time, without real electoral consequences from young voters themselves. So while Labour increased its vote to 43 per cent of 18-24 year olds in 2015, this led to victories from the Liberal Democrats in Cambridge and Cardiff Central, rather than from the Tories in Loughborough and Lincoln.

So what is the solution? It is far from easy, but what is clear is that we need a Labour leader who ensures that by doing this – rather than following the Tories in ‘silver vote’ policies like cutting inheritance tax – we can make a clear case to both younger and older voters alike that we need them to vote for Labour. In turn, that government will invest in the future jobs, homes and education that our country needs.

Parents and grandparents take note – this budget and the Tory government are hurting the dreams, aspirations and basic living standards of all our young people.

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Gareth Smith was the head of general election 2015 youth strategy and engagement for the Labour party. He tweets at @garethsmith2012

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Photo: UK Parliament