HOW dare N Taylor (Evening News, November 2) suggest that youngsters are defrauding the nation.

The shortage of skills in this country is due to poor wages (even pre-tax), and the lazy way in which British companies operate within realms of new technologies.

On the Continent, in Japan and the United States, the work ethic is strong, and the graduates who work in these countries enjoy a fulfilling career worthy of their education.

When I was a school pupil, I didn't know of the welfare state. At age 11, when I first began to witness classmates playing truant, none of them had any knowledge of the welfare state.

My friends and I are now between the ages of 17 and 19, determined not to have to exist on benefits which are no way near enough to live on.

If the burden of paying for these multitudes of children is too much for N Taylor, why not move to a state where the tax is dealt with in a fairer manner, perhaps in the paradise we call Russia for example?

Incidentally, my father and his five brothers are members of the original generation of "Welfare Children", and they have grown up to be employed since leaving high school. Having developed a strong work ethic, they are now raising the next generation of these so-called "Welfare Children" to have the same high standards and dedication.

No wonder youngsters like myself feel the need to move away from the UK, especially when people such as N Taylor persist in making the lives of children an uphill struggle by tarring us all with the same brush.

Please try to have some faith in our youth, and we may actually pay for your pension one day, instead of moving to another country, to pay for someone else's.

MARK LAZENBY, Worcester.