£2BN Youth Jobs Plan

Chancellor to unveil Kickstart Scheme to help the under-25s

- Torcuil Crichton

Rishi Sunak will today announce a £2billion plan to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs for young people across the UK.

The support for youth unemployment will be part of a package of measures in the Chancellor’s coronavirus mini-budget that are designed to help Britain bounce back from lockdown.

The Kickstart Scheme – modelled on the previous Labour government’s youth employment programmes – will give the under-25s a chance of getting Government-subsidised jobs for six months.

Under the plan, employers will be able to offer a six-month work placement for young people aged between 16 and 24 who are claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.

But the Government will only fund 25 hours a week at the national minimum wage of £8.20 an hour for under-25s, with employers topping up wages as they see fit.

Speaking ahead of his speech, Sunak said: “Young people bear the brunt of most economic crises but are at particular risk this time because they work in the sectors disproportionately hit by the pandemic.