Kickstart Scheme

A Government scheme which was withdrawn on 3rd January 2023 that aimed to provide funding to create new jobs for 16-to-24-year olds, who were on Universal Credit and who were considered as being at risk of long-term unemployment.

Employers did not have to finance the places because the Government provided 100% of the National Minimum Wage to pay for an individual, with there being a requirement to provide 25 hours of work per week for a period of 6-months.

This initiative could have been seen as either a way to try and engage people into the workplace or a means of offering an employer free labour for a short period of time, without any commitments to an individual, or both perspectives.

Both viewpoints also offered a way of keeping unemployment figures down.

(UK Government Kickstart Scheme)