Written answers

Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Social Welfare Schemes Data

Photo of Claire KerraneClaire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1171. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons currently in receipt of the jobseeker’s allowance and jobseeker’s benefit aged 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 years of age, respectively; and the corresponding number of each on a reduced rate of €112.70. [19840/21]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A reduced rate of €112.70 generally applies for young Jobseeker's Allowance recipients aged 18-24 to protect them from welfare dependency by providing them with a strong financial incentive to participate in education or training to improve their chances of obtaining sustainable full time employment. Currently the weekly personal rate for jobseeker recipients aged 18-24 years is €112.70. If a young person on Jobseeker's Allowance participates in education or training they will receive the maximum personal rate which is €203 per week.

Jobseeker's Benefit rates are graduated according to earnings in the relevant tax year.

Table 1 below shows those aged 18-24 who received either a graduated or full Jobseeker's Benefit rate while Table 2 shows Jobseeker’s Assistance recipients aged 18-24 on the reduced and full rate. The data within both tables dates from April 11th 2021.

Table 1: Jobseeker's Benefit

Age
Graduated Rate (based on earnings)
Full Rate
18
0
1
19
9
3
20
29
21
21
59
59
22
125
170
23
152
271
24
191
376
Total
565
901

Table 2: Jobseeker’s Allowance

Age
Reduced Rate
Full Rate
18
1,595
77
19
2,491
258
20
2,228
422
21
2,043
515
22
1,952
615
23
2,104
669
24
1,902
763
Total
14,315
3,319

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