Young people helped with costs of new job

The Scottish Government has paid out more than £190,000 to eligible young people to help with the costs of starting a new job.

A total of 695 successful applications were made for the new Job Start Payment from its launch on 17 August 2020 to 31 December 2020.

The one-off payment of £250, or the higher rate of £400 if the recipient is the main carer of any children, is available to 16 to 24-year-olds who have been offered a job after being out of work for at least six months and are in receipt of a qualifying benefit.

Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

“From travel costs to buying new work clothes, or childcare, we know there can often be expenses involved with starting a job. Our new Job Start Payment is designed to support  young people with those costs as they move into work.

“At a time when we know young people are disproportionately impacted by the economic impact of the  pandemic, this support will be more important than ever for those who are starting a new job after a period of unemployment. I want to encourage anyone eligible to apply for this extra financial support.”

Background – 

• Job Start Payment is paid to 16 to 24-year-olds who have been on certain benefits for six months or more to help with the costs of starting a job

• applicants need to have been out of paid work for at least six months running up to the day they were offered the job

• to be eligible, people need to have been getting either Income-based Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) or Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) on the date of their job offer

• young people who are care leavers will be eligible until their 26th birthday and do not have to meet the six months requirement for unemployment or receipt of a qualifying benefit

• clients need to have been offered a job and expect to work at least 12 hours a week, averaged over a four-week period. They can apply for Job Start Payment up to three months after the date they were offered their job

• clients can find pre-application advice which includes eligibility and award amounts, and apply at mygov.scot/job-start-payment/who-can-apply/

• clients can choose to apply online, via a paper application form or by requesting a call back from one a specially trained advisors working within the dedicated Job Start Payment support team by calling 0800 182 2222