Contribution-based JSA


To qualify for contribution-based JSA, you must also have paid enough Class 1 NICs in the last two years. Contributions by the self-employed do not generally count. You must have: 


• paid Class 1 NICs on earnings equal to at least 26 times the lower earnings limit (LEL — see page 9) in at least one of the relevant contribution years (see below); and 


• paid, or been credited with, Class 1 NICs on earnings equal to at least 50 times the LEL in each of the relevant contribution years. 


The relevant contribution years are the two complete tax years (6 April to 5 April) immediately before the start of the calendar year in which your job-seeking period begins. For example, if you are claiming JSA from April 2018, your relevant contribution years would be 2016-17 and 2017-18. 


Your P60 — the form you receive at the end of each tax year setting out the amount of tax and National Insurance you have paid — should help you work out whether you satisfy the contribution conditions. 


How much can you get?


The 2018 weekly rates of contribution-based JSA are £57.90 if you are under 25 and £73.10 if you are 25 or over. Contribution-based JSA is paid for up to approximately six months, after which you will be obliged to transfer to income-based JSA (see page 37). 


There are no additional payments for a partner or children. If you cannot live on contribution-based JSA, you may be able to top up what you get with income-based JSA — as long as you satisfy the means test (see below). 


If you have a partner and/or children, you may have a choice of which benefits to claim. For example, you could seek to top up your contribution-based JSA by claiming income-based JSA as well, or your partner could claim either Income Support (see page 34) or income-based JSA.


If you have any earnings from a part-time job which involves working for fewer than 16 hours a week, the first £5 of your weekly earnings (or more for certain groups of workers, including share fishermen, part-time firefighters and reservists), will be disregarded.


Above that amount, your earnings will be taken into account and your benefit will be reduced penny for penny. Income of more than £50 a week from an occupational or personal pension will also be taken into account.