Young people on benefits will be offered job opportunities in industries such as construction and hospitality to tackle rising youth unemployment. The government will fund 350,000 training and work experience placements and guarantee 55,000 jobs in areas it says are in highest need from spring 2026.
The funding comes from the £820m Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the Budget last month to finance measures aimed at getting young people off Universal Credit and into work. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the plans would help out-of-work young people “make something of their lives”, while the Conservatives blamed the Budget for driving youth unemployment up.
The number of 16-24-year-olds not in employment, education or training (NEETs) has been rising since 2021, with the latest figures showing nearly a million young people are not earning or learning. The government had already said in September it would provide guaranteed work placements for 18-21-year-olds who had been out of work or education for more than 18 months, with those who refuse without good reason facing benefit sanctions.
New training and work experience opportunities for young people on Universal Credit will cover sectors including construction, hospitality, and health and social care, the Department for Work and Pensions announced. The government-backed jobs will be focused in these regions: Birmingham and Solihull; the East Midlands; Greater Manchester; Hertfordshire and Essex; central and eastern Scotland; and south-west and south-eastern Wales.
Around 900,000 young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work will be offered a “dedicated work support session” followed by four weeks of “intensive support”. An employment coach will then refer them to one of six pathways: work, work experience, an apprenticeship, wider training, learning, or a workplace training programme with a guaranteed interview. The government expects more than 1,000 young people to start a job in the first six months of the scheme.
“Every young person deserves a fair chance to succeed. When given the right support and opportunities, they will grasp them,” McFadden said, describing the funding as “a downpayment on young people’s future.” Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately criticised other Budget measures, saying: “The Chancellor’s tax hikes are driving up youth unemployment, snatching a career from a generation of young people.” She called the scheme “nothing more than taking with one hand to give with the other.”
Further plans are expected when the government publishes its national youth strategy. Reeves has also said the government will fund apprenticeship training for under-25s at small and medium-sized businesses “completely free.”
There were 946,000 young people who were NEET in the UK in the three months to September, equivalent to 12.7% of 16-24-year-olds. A quarter cite long-term sickness or disability as a barrier to work or education, and the number claiming health and disability benefits is rising. The government last month launched an independent review into the growing number of young people not working or studying.
