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The Government has said that unemployed graduates will be able to claim job seekers allowance if they take up places on unpaid internships. The plan is that many of the 300,000 students due to graduate this year will start an internship if they fail to find a job. It is hoped that the move will reduce the prospect of long term graduate unemployment.
Graduates will be eligible to claim the internship benefits for up to 13 weeks after they have been receiving dole money for the previous six months. It is also stated that there will be no means-testing in relation to the scheme. The new scheme is an extension of existing benefit laws which see similar entitlements for those volunteering or training after six months without work.
The eligibility rules have been amended following an agreement reached between John Denham, the Universities and Skills Secretary, and James Purnell, the Secretary for Work and Pensions. They hope that it won’t just be the big companies that are encouraged by the new measures - they would also like small business, charity organisations and public sector bodies to make internships available to graduates.
Denham said that the "initiative will not be the only or even the main way of creating and matching graduates to internship opportunities. It will, however, add to the way such schemes can be offered and will ensure more young people can benefit from one next year. The schemes will enable motivated graduates to add to their skills by applying their leaning in a real work world."
You can find details of all of our own currently listed opportunities – both paid and unpaid – by searching through the e4s internship pages.
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