The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched the Youth Guarantee Journey today, offering tailored support to Universal Credit claimants aged 16 to 24 across England, Scotland, and Wales. This initiative targets young people born between 2002 and 2010, providing apprenticeships, work experience, skills training, and one-to-one coaching to help them prepare for work and move into employment more quickly.
What the Youth Guarantee Offers
Participants will continue receiving Universal Credit while working with Jobcentre staff to agree a personalised plan. Depending on their circumstances, they may be offered apprenticeships, work experience placements lasting two to eight weeks, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), CV writing and interview coaching, help with job applications, skills training, English, maths and IT support, and help towards travel and childcare costs while attending training or work experience.
Process and Milestones
Each claimant will receive an employment and skills review shortly after making a Universal Credit claim, followed by regular appointments with a work coach. After 13 weeks, they will attend a 'gateway' meeting to agree the next stage of their journey, which could include moving into work, starting an apprenticeship, undertaking work experience, or beginning further education or training that fits alongside their Universal Credit claim.
Some young people may also be referred to one of more than 100 Youth Hubs across Great Britain, where specialist advisers provide additional careers advice, confidence building, and interview preparation. Others facing more complex barriers to employment can receive support from dedicated youth employability coaches for up to six months, with continued help for six weeks after starting a job.
Rising Youth Unemployment
The launch comes as new research from the Resolution Foundation warns that youth unemployment has reached a worrying milestone. The number of 16 to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) has climbed above one million for the first time in 13 years. The think tank warned that even relatively short periods of unemployment when young can have "scarring effects" on future earnings, employment prospects, and wellbeing throughout adult life.
Cost-Effectiveness of Schemes
The Resolution Foundation's analysis concludes that targeted employment schemes offer far better value for taxpayers than broad tax breaks or wage subsidies. Among the options examined, the Foundation estimates a wider Jobs Guarantee could create around 17,500 additional jobs each year at a cost of approximately £37,000 per job, while expanding the existing Youth Jobs Grant could create about 2,800 extra jobs annually at a similar cost. By contrast, restoring employer National Insurance relief for under-25s would create only around 7,000 additional jobs a year while costing the Exchequer around £132,000 for every extra job created.
Policy Recommendations
The report also argues ministers should abandon plans to fully align the minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds with the National Living Wage, saying the policy risks pricing some younger workers out of the labour market despite increasing pay for others. It also calls for the Youth Jobs Grant to be expanded to 80,000 places a year, the Jobs Guarantee to be extended to more young Universal Credit claimants, and apprenticeship funding to be ringfenced for under-25s in a bid to tackle rising youth unemployment.
