New Style JSA payment rates for April 2024 to March 2025

New Style Jobseeker's Allowance (New Style JSA) pays up to £71.70 a week to claimants under 25 and up to £90.50 a week to those aged 25 or over for the period from April 2024 to March 2025, the disability charity Mencap has set out in its guidance on the benefit¹.

The rates apply to New Style Jobseeker's Allowance, the benefit for people who are looking for work and who meet contribution conditions. Payment is usually made every two weeks, and the benefit can be claimed for up to 182 days, about six months¹.

To qualify, a claimant must live in the UK, be 18 or over, although Mencap says "you can sometimes get New Style JSA if you are 16 or 17", be under the state pension age, not be working or work less than 16 hours a week on average, and be able to start work if they find a job¹. They must also have been an employee and paid Class 1 National Insurance or had National Insurance credits in the last two to three years. Class 1 National Insurance is paid on earnings above £242 a week from one job¹.

Mencap states that claimants must not have a disability or health condition that stops them from working, and must not be in full-time education¹. The Department for Work and Pensions checks what work a claimant has done in the last six months and how much money they get from a pension or annuity¹.

New Style JSA can be received alongside Universal Credit. Where a claimant gets both, Mencap says the New Style JSA payments reduce the amount of Universal Credit received, and the claimant also gets different National Insurance credits which count towards the State Pension and help them qualify for other benefits¹.

Income-related Jobseeker's Allowance is separate. Mencap states that no new claim can be made for income-related JSA, and that people already receiving it will carry on getting it as long as they still meet the rules. Those claimants must tell Jobcentre Plus if their circumstances change, for example if they start working or start to get more money¹.

Why it matters for households

The rates set out by Mencap cover the 2024/25 financial year, running from April 2024 to March 2025, and are the amounts paid to eligible claimants during that period¹. The figure a household receives depends on the claimant's age: those under 25 are paid at the lower rate of up to £71.70 a week, while those aged 25 or over are paid at up to £90.50 a week¹. Because payment is normally fortnightly, the amounts arrive in two-week instalments¹.

The six-month limit means entitlement to New Style JSA runs for up to 182 days, after which the contribution-based payment stops¹. For households also receiving Universal Credit, the New Style JSA amount is deducted from the Universal Credit award rather than paid on top of it, so the combined income does not simply add the two together¹. Claimants in that position receive National Insurance credits that count towards the State Pension and help with qualifying for other benefits¹.

The rates are part of the annual uprating of benefits, which normally takes effect each April; the background to how increases are set is covered in how rates rise each April.

What happens next

The rates given apply until March 2025¹. Mencap's guidance does not set out the rates that apply after that date, and no further uprating for New Style JSA has been reported. Claimants already receiving income-related JSA are told to report changes in circumstances to Jobcentre Plus, including starting work or receiving more money¹.