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Job Start Payment

Who can apply

Last updated
1 Apr 2022

You can apply for Job Start Payment as: 
•    a young person
•    a care leaver

You’re a care leaver if you've spent time in care but stopped being looked after on, or after, your 16th birthday. This could have been in either a foster, residential, secure or formal kinship care placement.

Applying as a young person

To apply for Job Start Payment as a young person, you must: 

be aged between 16 to 24 years old on the date you got the job offer

You can apply if you get a job offer no later than the day before you turn 25.

have been out of paid work for at least 6 months on the date you got the job offer

You need to have been out of paid work for at least 6 months on the day you got the job offer. 

have got one of these benefits for at least 6 months on the date you got the job offer

  • Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
  • Income Support (IS)
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Universal Credit (UC)

You need to have got either Income-based Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) or Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) on the date of your job offer. 

If you got Contributions JSA or Contributions ESA before this you can apply, as long as you were on these benefits for at least 6 months.

If you're not sure which one you get, Social Security Scotland will check this for you.

have got a job offer in the last 6 months

You need to have got a job offer and expect to work at least 12 hours a week, averaged over a 4-week period. 

You can apply for Job Start Payment up to 6 months after the day you got the job offer.

have been living in Scotland on the day you got the job offer

You need to have been living in Scotland on the day you got the job offer. It’s ok if you moved out of Scotland to take this job after this. 

not have got Job Start Payment in the last 2 years

You can only get Job Start Payment once every 2 years. If you’ve received Job Start Payment before, you can apply again if you got your last payment more than 2 years ago.

Applying as a care leaver

To apply for Job Start Payment as a care leaver, you must: 

be aged between 16 to 25 years old on the date you got the job offer

You can apply if you get a job offer no later than the day before you turn 26.

have been out of paid work on the date you got the job offer

You need to have been out of paid work on the day you got the job offer. 

have got one of these benefits on the date you got the job offer

  • Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
  • Income Support (IS)
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Universal Credit (UC)

If you're not sure which one you get, Social Security Scotland will check this for you.

have got a job offer in the last 6 months

You need to have got a job offer and expect to work at least 12 hours a week, averaged over a 4-week period. 

You can apply for Job Start Payment up to 6 months after the day you got the job offer.

have been living in Scotland on the day you got the job offer

You need to have been living in Scotland on the day you got the job offer. It’s ok if you moved out of Scotland to take this job after this. 

not have got Job Start Payment in the last 2 years

You can only get Job Start Payment once every 2 years. If you’ve received Job Start Payment before, you can apply again if you got your last payment more than 2 years ago.

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