Research and analysis
Evaluation of employer National Insurance contributions reliefs for employees under 21 and apprentices under 25
HMRC commissioned Kantar to evaluate the employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) reliefs for under 21s and apprentices under 25.
Documents
Details
The research comprised three strands:
- a telephone survey of 552 claimants of one or both NICs reliefs and 500 employers eligible to claim at least one of the NICs reliefs but had not claimed
- econometric and descriptive analysis of administrative data and other UK survey data for the NICs relief for under 21s only, due to data limitations
- 40 in-depth, semi-structured interviews (including 25 aware claimants, 5 unaware claimants and 10 employers eligible but not claiming either NICs reliefs in April or May 2022)
The evaluation aimed to:
- assess whether NICs reliefs were supporting and encouraging employment of those under the age of 21 and apprentices under the age of 25
- assess whether NICs reliefs are encouraging the retention of employees under the age of 21 and apprentices under the age of 25
- identify the direct and indirect effects of these NICs reliefs on the labour market
- establish whether the NICs reliefs are proportional
- assess whether the reliefs generate wider economic impacts
- provide a useful evidence base to review the policy and inform decisions on future improvements of these NICs reliefs
The views in this report are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of HMRC.
Published 19 October 2023