Young people on benefits will be offered job opportunities in industries such as construction and hospitality in a bid to tackle rising youth unemployment.The government will fund 350,000 training and work experience placements, and will guarantee 55,000 jobs in areas it says are in the highest need from spring 2026.Funding will come from the £820m announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Budget last month to finance a raft of measures aimed at getting young people off Universal Credit and into work.Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the plans would help out-of-work young people “make something of their lives”. But the Tories blamed the Budget for driving youth unemployment up.The number of 16-24-year-olds not in employment, education or training – known as Neets – has been trending upwards since 2021, with the latest figures showing nearly a million young people are now not earning or learning.The government had already announced in September that it intended to provide guaranteed work placements for 18-21-year-olds who had been out of work or education for longer than 18 months, with those not taking up the offer without good reason facing losing their benefits.The new training and work experience opportunities for young people on Universal Credit will be in sectors including construction, hospitality, and health and social care, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced on Saturday.It said that the government-backed jobs will not necessarily be in the same sectors, but that they would be in the following regions: Birmingham and Solihullthe East MidlandsGreat …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnYoung people on benefits will be offered job opportunities in industries such as construction and hospitality in a bid to tackle rising youth unemployment.The government will fund 350,000 training and work experience placements, and will guarantee 55,000 jobs in areas it says are in the highest need from spring 2026.Funding will come from the £820m announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Budget last month to finance a raft of measures aimed at getting young people off Universal Credit and into work.Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the plans would help out-of-work young people “make something of their lives”. But the Tories blamed the Budget for driving youth unemployment up.The number of 16-24-year-olds not in employment, education or training – known as Neets – has been trending upwards since 2021, with the latest figures showing nearly a million young people are now not earning or learning.The government had already announced in September that it intended to provide guaranteed work placements for 18-21-year-olds who had been out of work or education for longer than 18 months, with those not taking up the offer without good reason facing losing their benefits.The new training and work experience opportunities for young people on Universal Credit will be in sectors including construction, hospitality, and health and social care, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced on Saturday.It said that the government-backed jobs will not necessarily be in the same sectors, but that they would be in the following regions: Birmingham and Solihullthe East MidlandsGreat …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
