He said: “What we should do is give young people the best opportunity to earn and learn, rather than immediately going on to a health benefit.
“We can’t go on like this, not least because under the current system [people] stay in poverty often for decades and sometimes in perpetuity.”
Disability charity Sense said it supports efforts to give more young disabled people the opportunity to work while protecting those who cannot.
But director of influencing Harriet Edwards said that without “proper funding for specialist employment support”, some young disabled people “could lose out”.
A Government spokesman said: “We will always ensure there is a safety net for the most vulnerable and those who are unable to work.
“But the Prime Minister has been clear that we need a wholesale change in the way we support young people to grow up in this country, where we invest in their success rather than paying for failure.”