Unemployment: Young People

The Department is committed to ensuring young people have access to the support they need to move into sustainable employment. DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities, working alongside partners such as the Kings Trust, Local Authorities, National Careers Service/Career Wales, local colleges and Youth Trusts.

As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are developing a Youth Guarantee to ensure young people aged 18-21 can access high-quality training, apprenticeships, or personalised support to find work. As a first step, we are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers across England which are testing innovative, locally led approaches to improve support for young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. This includes strengthening local coordination, through local leadership, and outreach to better connect young people with opportunities. We will use learning from these trailblazers to inform future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of Great Britain.

We have also announced that we will offer a guaranteed job to young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This forms a key part of the government’s Youth Guarantee, and further details will be announced at the Budget 2025.

In Northern Ireland, all DWP policy areas are transferred, including employment support. This is the responsibility of the Department for Communities.