UK to expand jobs guarantee scheme for 18-to-24-year-olds amid rising youth unemployment

The Department for Work and Pensions said a trial scheme to provide guaranteed jobs would roll out at the end of November, benefiting over 90,000 young people.

The British government announced on Saturday that it would expand a programme to provide guaranteed jobs to young people and extend it nationwide as part of measures to address the problem of youth unemployment.

The UK jobs guarantee scheme is expected to help more than 90,000 people into work by March 2029. (Representative Image)

Britain had 981,000 people aged 16-24 not in employment, education or training in the second quarter of this year, accounting for 13% of the age group as a whole.

The Department for Work and Pensions said a trial scheme to provide guaranteed jobs for every eligible 18 to 24-year-old on Universal Credit welfare would roll out across Britain from the end of November, helping more than 90,000 young people

From April, the scheme will be extended to support those eligible after only 12 months on Universal Credit rather than the current 18 months

The programme offers 25 hours a week of paid work for six months, funded by the government. It will now be available across all areas of England, Scotland and Wales

"The longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to get back in, and no young person should be left waiting on a scrapheap for an opportunity," Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said

Announcement comes ahead of a report next week by former minister Alan Milburn, a Labour Party ally of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, which will detail causes of rising youth inactivity and give recommendations for helping more young people into work