New benefit launched to help 16-24 year olds into work

A new benefit to support 16 to 24 year olds, or up to 25 for care leavers, into work after being unemployed is now open for applications.

Job Start Payment is £250 to help with the costs of starting a new job. The payment rises to £400 if the person has a child.

Young people are among those who job prospects have been hardest hit by this pandemic. The Scottish Government has introduced a range of support to help young people access job opportunities. Such as an additional £10 million for a range of measures to recruit and retain apprentices. Combined with our commitment of at least £50 million for youth employment and the Youth Guarantee, we will ensure no one is left behind.

Job Start Payment builds upon this – making sure that the money needed to start a job isn’t something that stops a young person taking up an offer.

Job Start Payment was due to launch earlier this year but due to the pandemic it was postponed. Although we continue to work in different ways due to coronavirus restrictions, we are delighted that we are now able to introduce this payment.

In preparation for the launch earlier this year, we ran 13 stakeholder roadshows across the country, attended by over 700 people. As this was some time ago, we’ve produced this Guide to Job Start Payment video as a refresher that you can watch in your own time.

We would welcome your support and help promoting this new benefit and in getting the message out to young people that you support and work with.

We have created a toolkit of stakeholder resources to help you with this, including flyers, factsheets and social media posts. In our stakeholder resources section there are also details of how to get in touch if you would like to order print materials or if you would like us to create any bespoke communications products to help you promote Job Start Payment.

How can young people can apply?

Visit mygov.scot/job-start-payment to apply online or call freephone on 0800 182 2222 to complete an application over the phone or to request a paper application form.