Young unemployed to lose benefits if they don’t do work experience

Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Employment Minister Chris Grayling have just  co-launched a pilot scheme which makes work experience placements compulsory for young Londoners claiming beneifts who have not previously completed six months of paid employment.

The scheme launched on Tuesday, August 28,  tie in with the mayor’s pledge to create 200,000 jobs over the next four years as well as the Department of Work and Pensions’ focus on back to work schemes.

The initiative will start by alloting work experience placements of 30 hours a week to be carried out over a 13 week period to around 6,000 young Londoners .

Placements will include charities and voluntary organisations in an effort to ensure maximum benefits are delivered to the communities in which young people taking part in the project actually live.

Grayling commented on the scheme saying the trial would show how effective the approach that  says “you can’t get something back until you put something in” would be saying;

“Many other countries don’t allow young people to claim any benefits at all until they have made contributions through a job .”

Johnson added;

“”It’s no secret that work experience can be the key that opens the door to a successful career and more young Londoners need to be given the opportunity to do it.”