Working-age benefits could be sliced by almost a quarter if Con-Dem reforms are carried through over the next Parliament, an independent think tank warned yesterday.

Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that the total social security bill for benefits and pensions had remained “virtually unchanged” since 2010 after inflation was taken into account.

It is set to reach £220 billion in 2015/16.

Reductions totalling £7bn in benefits for working-age people have been offset by £7bn in increased spending on pensioners, the IFS found.

“Conservative plans mean deep cuts that would take the state back to a level before the NHS and the welfare state existed,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

“Even those who have paid their National Insurance contributions for decades will find they will not get the support they need and deserve if they lose their job, have an accident or become ill.”