The Try, Test and Learn Fund: Career Readiness for Young Parents Project

Overview

The Career Readiness for Young Parents project is targeted at young parents who claimed the Parenting Payment when they were aged 19 or under. These young parents receiving income support payments are at risk of long term welfare dependency, intermittent low hours of employment and persistent poverty. The project will be accessible to all young parents aged under 25 who started receiving Parenting Payment at age 19 or under and who are still receiving an income support payment. Each participant will have peer support and networking opportunities to develop ‘soft skills’ and work skills.  The project will, where required, provide access to childcare and transport to project activities. Participants, where appropriate to circumstance, will receive ‘warm referrals’ to other services that they need such as jobactive and ParentsNext. The project will be evaluated against job readiness, career engagement, employment and wellbeing. The trajectories of participants and the outcomes they achieve will be compared to the trajectory of a ‘control’ cohort – a sample of similar Parenting Payment recipients in other areas with similar economic conditions.