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Written evidence submitted by The Prince’s Trust’s

The Kickstart initiative was welcome and remains welcome. During the first two months of the pandemic, the number of young people claiming unemployment benefits doubled, peaking at over half a million. At points following the outbreak of the pandemic, youth unemployment threatened to reach record levels, had it not been for significant government intervention.

It is hard to draw firm conclusions on the impact of the scheme at this stage. The effectiveness of Kickstart will be clearer following the scheme’s conclusion and, once complete, data will enable accurate and insightful analysis. The DWP commitment to evaluate and adapt Kickstart is a welcome opportunity to develop a government response fit for future labour market crises.

It is hard to judge a mass employment programme operating at a very unusual time. The recession caused by the pandemic, and its impact on the labour market has been very different to previous recessions. There was undoubtedly a disproportionate impact on young people’s employment. However, youth unemployment has not hit the levels many feared. The Job Retention Scheme protected the jobs of considerably more than a million young people, and an additional 374,000 young people were both in full-time education and economically inactive in Feb-Apr 2021 compared to pre-pandemic. These two factors combined to keep a lid on what could have been a spiralling crisis. The labour market recovery for young people has been remarkably different to previous recessions, bouncing back much faster.

Kickstart was being rolled-out when vast sections of the economy, and therefore employment, were effectively closed – often at short notice. There was also understandable hesitancy to work, or travel to work, in particular settings at a time when the virus was spreading, and immunity in the population was low. When assessing whether a programme like Kickstart should be introduced following future recessions, governments must acknowledge how the unusual nature of this crisis affected the implementation of Kickstart.

The money for ‘employability support’ is crucial to re-engage young people furthest from the labour market. Six-month placements are a welcome measure to improve young people’s work experience, but young people also need to be supported into sustainable long-term employment.

Young people discussed the impact of the pandemic during a meeting of the Youth Employment Group’s Youth Voice Forum, with many citing feeling isolated and unsupported. Employability support was particularly critical for re-introducing young people to the workplace, at a time when the confidence of many young people had taken a significant hit. The Prince’s Trust has collected a large amount of feedback from young people, who have spoken about the importance of employability support.

Extension was required, especially due to delayed placements due to lockdowns. It was also necessary to ensure the scheme reached as many young people as possible, particularly those young people ‘at the back of the queue’, likely to be from a more disadvantaged background. The extension of Kickstart will have helped some employers to catch-up and deliver a three-cohort plan, thus maximising the number of successful placements an employer can provide. By extending the scheme to March 2022, employers who commenced placements with the aim of taking these young people into their September apprenticeship intake in March 2021, will be able to do this twice.

Eligibility criteria should be reviewed for any future mass employment scheme. Although disabled young people were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, the limitation of Kickstart eligibility to those in specific Universal Credit conditionality groups meant many disabled young people were not able to benefit from the scheme.

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About The Prince’s Trust

Youth charity The Prince’s Trust helps young people to develop the confidence and skills they need to realise their ambitions, so that they can live, learn, and earn. Founded by The Prince of Wales in 1976, the charity supports 11- to 30-year-olds who are unemployed, struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. The Trust has helped over a million young people to date, and in 2019/20 alone supported over 70,000 individuals.

The Prince’s Trust has so far supported over 2,000 kickstart placements through providing employability support to young people taken on by Kickstart employers. The Trust continues to work with partners to reach many more unemployed young people before the scheme comes to an end. In total, any young person who has a Kickstart job with an employer working with The Prince’s Trust will have access to more than 30 hours of support from The Trust across their six-month job placement. This includes live interactive workshops, one-to-ones, and live events.

The Prince’s Trust is a founding member and co-chair of the Youth Employment Group which has provided continued advice and support to the DWP from the inception to the extension of the Kickstart scheme. The Youth Employment Group was established jointly by Institute for Employment Studies, Impetus, The Prince’s Trust, Youth Employment UK and Youth Futures Foundation in March 2020, with the Learning & Work Institute joining this autumn, and it now has over 230 member organisations. The group was set up to respond to the escalating youth unemployment crisis facing the UK following the coronavirus pandemic, with a particular focus on disadvantaged young people’s engagement in education, employment or training.

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Case studies

The Prince’s Trust has numerous case studies of young people we have supported on Kickstart, including those below.

Peter Russell | Success stories | About The Trust | The Prince's Trust (princes-trust.org.uk)
Peter, 23, from Leeds, was unemployed for five years before finding work at M&S through the Kickstart Scheme.

Kelly Robinson | Success stories | About The Trust | The Prince's Trust (princes-trust.org.uk)
After getting no-where with employers Kelly decided that she needed some experience to help her stand out, and after being accepted on Lincolnshire Co-op's Kickstart programme she now feels confident and equipped to take on the next step in her journey.

Connor Wassall | Success stories | About The Trust | The Prince's Trust (princes-trust.org.uk)
After finding it difficult to get a job because of the pandemic and being unemployed for a year Connor is now working in a Kickstart role he enjoys and getting relevant experience he hopes will help him land his dream job in games design in future.

Conner Ellison | Success stories | About The Trust | The Prince's Trust (princes-trust.org.uk)
Conner, 24, from Salford, had to pivot his career after many years of working in hospitality when the pandemic hit in March 2020.

November 2021