Families where generations have never worked because they don't want to cut the benefits 'umbilical cord' Youngsters do not see employment as worthwhile, a M&S boss has said Some unwilling to cut benefits 'umbilical cord' by getting a job, she added Many young people company employ are from families who have been on benefits for generations, she claimed Comes months after Government announced its 'work for benefit' scheme Figures suggest over a million people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) and 941,000 unemployed Revealed over 50 families were living off Â£70k benefits before cap in April Jobless for generations: Young people do not wish to cut the benefits 'umbilical cord' and embrace full time employment, an M&S boss has said Unemployed young people are unwilling to cut the benefits 'umbilical cord' by holding down a job, a Marks and Spencer boss has said. Britain's welfare system stops youngsters aspiring to have careers while employment is 'frowned upon' in certain families, a human resources boss for the retailer has said. Speaking to a Lords inquiry into youth unemployment, Tanith Dodge said some young people she interviewed for the company's Make Your Mark apprenticeship scheme could not decide whether employment was worth their while. She added many on the scheme were from families who had been on benefits for a number of generations. Ms Dodge also compared this country's welfare system to 'treacle' and said it made life without work too attractive. This week, the Office for National Statistics revealed there were 2.39million unemployed people in the UK from July to October 2013. 866,000 people had been unemployed for over one year and 444,000 people had been unemployed for over two years, their figures showed. 941,000 young people aged between 16 and 24 are unemployed, figures suggested. In the month of November 323,300 18 to 24-year-olds claimed Job Seekers Allowance. According to Department of Education statistics, the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who are classified as NEETs (not in education, employment and training) was 1,066,000. Speaking to the panel yesterday, Ms Dodge said: 'When we talk to some of these young people, their biggest barriers are the first few weeks when they go back to an environment where nobody works.' The Make Your Mark scheme aims to develop workplace skills of people aged 16-25 in a four-week unpaid internship. As part of the scheme, Ms Dodge said the retailer has set up support groups for their younger employees to discuss working so they donâ€™t feel alienated when they returned home to their jobless families. In an article in The Telegraph, Ms Dodge explained: 'If they [young people] have grown up in a family where everybody is on benefits and they are given the opportunity for work experience, they do not know if it is going to work out. They have to come off benefits and that is a deterrent for some young people as they do not want to cut the umbilical cord. Her critique comes months after the Government announced plans for long-term welfare claimants to take up community service for their benefits. Outspoken: Tanith Dodge said many of the young people on the M&S apprenticeship scheme come from families that have claimed benefits for generations The so-called 'work for benefit' scheme will see hundreds of thousands of claimants completing work such as cooking meals for the elderly, cleaning graffiti and picking up litter under new strict conditions. Chancellor George Osborne announced the scheme at the Tory party's autumn conference. He said: 'We are saying there is no option of doing nothing for your benefits, no something-for-nothing any more. They will do useful work to put something back into their community; making meals for the elderly, clearing up litter, working for a local charity. Others will be made to attend the job centre every working day. Ms Dodge also said she was in favour of Universal Credit - a Department of Work and Pensions reform which will see several benefits merged into a single payment. The plan, spearheaded by Iain Duncan Smith, would ensure those in work were always better off than people on benefits. Earlier this month, it was revealed that more than 50 families were receiving benefits which amounted to almost Â£70,000 a year. Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions showed some families were given the sizable income before the department introduced a Â£26,000 cap in April. Fifty-one families had their payouts cut by at least Â£400 a week. This means they were previously receiving at least Â£900 a week - the equivalent of Â£46,800 or Â£68,000 a year before tax. Plans: At the Tory party conference in September, George Osborne revealed plans to make the unemployed do community work for their benefits Last month the Office for National Statistics confirmed the number of unemployed people in Britain had fallen. More than 30â€‰million people were said to be in work for the first time in British history. David Cameron claimed that the Governmentâ€™s economic plan â€˜is workingâ€™ as unemployment fell by 99,000 in the three months to October, reducing the jobless rate from 7.6 per cent to 7.4 per cent, the lowest level since 2009. There were drops in almost every region outside the South â€" especially the West Midlands, the North West and the East. It has been estimated that another Â£12bn a year of cuts to welfare will be needed after 2015 in order to avoid accelerating spending reductions in other government departments.