Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is an unemployment benefit paid by the Government of the United Kingdom to people who are unemployed and actively seeking work. It is part of the social security benefits system and intended to cover living expenses while the claimant is out of work.

JSA is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in England, Wales, and Scotland, and in Northern Ireland by the Department for Communities. Claimants must be between 18 years of age and the State Pension age.

There is now one form of the benefit, based on National Insurance contributions, referred to by the DWP as New Style Jobseeker's Allowance or New Style JSA for short. The previous form of the benefit, which was based on income and had replaced Income Support for most customers in 1996, migrated to Universal Credit in March 2026. Universal Credit replaced Jobseeker's Allowance and other benefits for new claimants from October 2013.

To be eligible for JSA, claimants must state that they are actively seeking work by filling in a Jobseeker's Agreement form and attending a New Jobseeker interview (NJI). They must also go to a Jobcentre Plus every two weeks to "sign on", that is, to certify that they are still actively seeking work. Until 2020, claims for Jobseeker's Allowance were maintained by the legacy Jobseeker's Allowance Payment System (JSAPS).

Legislation

Earlier history

Unemployment Benefit was first introduced in 1911 under the National Insurance Act 1911 to job seekers who had paid National Insurance contributions ("the stamp"). The maximum amount payable was seven shillings a week (). These payments were thus made only to people who had recently been in work, and not simply to those on low incomes. Furthermore, benefits were only paid for up to twelve months, by which time a claimant had to have regained work.

The Unemployment Insurance Act of March 1921 introduced a 'seeking work' test which required claimants to be actively seeking work and willing to accept employment paying a fair wage. In February 1922 a means test was introduced which excluded some, such as single adults who lived with relatives, from receiving benefit payments.

As a direct consequence of the return from war of injured servicemen,Hansard → – UK Parliament HANSARD 1803–2005 – Retrieved 6 June 2012secondary – The World at War 1973 (Jeremy Isaacs) – The Internet Movie Database & TK one Ltd – Retrieved 6 June 2012 the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 was brought into force to enable these to secure employment.

After the Second World War, National Assistance was introduced by the National Assistance Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 29), allowing anyone of working age on a low income to apply for support.

National Assistance was replaced by Supplementary Benefit in November 1966, and Unemployment Benefit claimants could transfer to this after their initial entitlement had expired. Supplementary Benefit was later replaced by Income Support in April 1988.

Legislation

In 1995, legislation was passed through the House of Commons entitled the Jobseekers Act 1995. The Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 1996 were produced six months after the act came into force, with the change of Income Support provision to Jobseekers Allowance occurring on 7 October 1996. The Social Security (Credits and Contributions) (Jobseeker's Allowance Consequential and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1996 were created, amending the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975 and the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1979, also coming into force on 7 October.

Subsequent legislation

in April 2011 Iain Duncan Smith introduced a period of mandatory work activity amounting to a maximum of four weeks of thirty hours each week in employment. It was expected this activity would be required of approximately 10,000 individuals. The main claimants who it was expected would be subject to mandatory work activity were those who had been 'signing on' for at least thirteen weeks. Despite this any recipient of Jobseeker-benefit could be required to take part in work activity regardless of how long that person had been 'signing on'. provided by Sir Richard Tilt

At some time the Social Security Advisory Committee felt a need for an initiative so the Employment Skills and Regulations Scheme was considered. The governmental bodies had a look at the ideas and felt they were not altogether correct. So the government only accepted the need for two-thirds of the total of changes suggested. In 2011 the Jobseeker's Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise) Regulations were brought into force. One part of the scheme required the long-term unemployed to participate in unpaid work activity for a maximum of six-months.

Statistics According to The Economist, in 2015 roughly 2% of welfare expenditure in the UK was spent on unemployment benefits; the bulk was spent in other areas.

The average number of claimants between the years 2003 and 2008 was 814,000 and average number of new claims was approximately 2,463,000. Nearly 40% of income-based claimants during 2003 were also claiming Housing Benefit. The DWP for England and Wales showed one third of the total number of claimants for JSA were persons having been convicted of a crime resulting in their act(s) having been recorded by the police authorities. In The Guardian newspaper in March 2001, the success of the New Deal scheme was reported; the report stated that 270,000 people were found full-time employment and the cost of achieving this end was half of the estimated amount. According to a report in 2008 by the Social Market Foundation there were approximately 100,000 long-term unemployed persons claiming JSA, at any given time. From 2010 to April 2011 the number of claimants having sanctions imposed increased to 75,000 persons amid claims that DWP staff deliberately made claiming more difficult and were required to refer 3 people a week for sanctions. The number of disabled people sanctioned doubled to 20,000 over the same period. The Department for Work and Pensions denied persecuting vulnerable people.

Application methods According to the UK government webpage on how to apply, application can be made online or by phone. Application can also be made on paper forms; JSA1, or JSA4RR if reclaiming JSA.

Claimant Commitment When claimants attended their first 'Jobseeker Interview', they were required to sign a contract with their advisor, called a claimant commitment. The contract can be changed at one-to-one interviews. Its terms include that claimants state: what activities they will perform to look for work The maximum commuting time they will accept The type of work they are ideally looking for (although claimants should be prepared to accept anything within their capabilities) How many times they will search suitable job search websites each week Whether they will use any magazines/newspapers to find jobs The maximum hours they are able to work, taking into consideration barriers such as health, child care etc.

Whether claimants are paid therefore depends on whether they uphold the contract they have agreed to – from a political theory known as Welfare Contractualism, first expressed in the 1998 paper "New Ambitions for our Country: A New Contract for Welfare".

Eligibility Applicants qualified by conforming to all of the following requirements: being 18 or over but below State Pension age. There were some exceptions for 16 and 17 year olds. Not being in full-time education. Living in England, Scotland or Wales. Being available for work. Actively seeking work. Working on average less than 16 hours per week. Attending a JSA interview after application.

Contribution-based New-style (contribution-based) Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA(C)) entitlement is based on Class 1 National Insurance contributions in the two complete tax years preceding the benefit year of claim. This allowance is paid regardless of assets; however, any personal or occupational pension over £50 a week would result in deductions. There were also other caveats (related to job-seeking activity) which excluded payment.

Many older citizens seeking work could not receive payments, despite qualifying through NI contributions, because they had pension income. Self-employed people do not pay Class 1 contributions, and may not have been able to claim JSA(C) until their case had been decided. However, they were both still eligible for NI credits (see below).

JSA(C) may be claimed for only 26 weeks in any benefit year. In order to make a claim, a customer must have actually paid NI contributions for the same number of weeks in one of the last two tax years (the remaining 18 months could be either paid, or credited contributions). When entitlement to JSA(C) is exhausted, Universal Credit may then have become payable if eligible (see below).

Certain other benefits including Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay, statutory adoption pay, Employment and Support Allowance, Bereavement Benefit, Carer's Allowance and JSA(C) itself also counted towards Class 1 contributions and were called "Credited Class 1 contributions".

If there was no entitlement to Universal Credit, a person could re-qualify for JSA(C) in a subsequent benefit year based on contributions paid in the relevant contribution years, providing that there had been a break of at least twelve weeks. They had to wait until the beginning of a new benefit year before they could claim again.

Income-based People who were eligible for JSA(C) could also claim JSA(IB) for any additional payments due under that benefit (for family dependents, for example). JSA(IB) was payable only if the claimant had less than £16,000 in capital (correct as of May 2022). Payments are reduced if the claimant has savings between £6,000 and £16,000.

Both forms of benefit faced 100% marginal deductions if the individual earned more than a small amount – the 'disregard' – which was £5 per week for single people, £10 per week for couples and £20 per week for certain other groups such as some lone parents and disabled people. The 'disregard' remained at the same nominal amount since the 1980s and was never uprated with inflation, unlike benefits themselves. The benefit was withdrawn from those working 16 or more hours a week (though this did not apply to voluntary work). Part-time students could claim provided they did not have more than 16 hours a week in teacher contact time and the course was not officially designated as full-time by the college (irrespective of the number of hours of contact time).

Work programmes

New Deal

Starting in 2001, the New Deal introduced a second stage to the claim period. Initially, there was the jobseeker's agreement and allowance. If a claimant who was below the female state pension was unemployed for over twelve months, they were placed on the New Deal scheme. They may also have entered the New Deal process early if they fell in special categories. From 2009, a Flexible New Deal scheme started using the private sector to provide tailored employment and skills support, with return-to-work performance incentives for the providers.

In Northern Ireland the New Deal was replaced in 2008 by a similar scheme known as Steps to Work. This scheme was administered by the Department for Employment and Learning which operates Jobs & Benefits Offices jointly with the Social Security Agency.

During October 2009 the New Deal programmes were replaced by the Flexible New Deal programmes, which were available to claimants still unemployed after a period of twelve months.

The Work Programme