Government unveils package of youth employment initiatives

18 Mar 2026

The government has unveiled a youth employment drive that aims to create 200,000 jobs for young people and reform apprenticeships.

It comes as apprenticeship starts amongst young people are down 40% in the last decade and almost one million young people are not earning or learning.

A new Youth Jobs Grant will be created, through which businesses will receive £3,000 for every young person they hire aged 18-24 who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for six months.

It is also expanding the Jobs Guarantee to a wider age range from 18-21 to 18-24, which it says will create more than 35,000 extra subsidised jobs.

In addition, there is an Apprenticeship Incentive of £2,000 for each new employee aged 16-24 taken on by an SME.

Lizzie Crowley, Skills Adviser for the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), said: 'We welcome the government's focus on tackling youth unemployment and supporting more young people into work, particularly through new incentives to help employers create entry-level jobs and apprenticeships.

'Many of these measures reflect changes we have been calling for, including stronger support for employers to create high-quality opportunities and more flexible routes into work for young people.'