The latest federal budget includes a range of measures with a single goal – getting more people to work.

The Abbott Government is banking on a $10 billion splurge on young families and small businesses to boost productivity.

Some commentators say Treasurer Joe Hockey and Prime Minister Tony Abbott have abandoned last year’s aggressive cuts in the hope of saving their jobs.

There is a much talked about $3.5 billion boost to childcare subsidies, the funding for which is tied to cuts to Family Tax Benefits B, which are stalled in the Senate.

While the childcare subsidies are aimed at getting young mothers back into the workforce, unemployed youths and older workers could see some benefits too.

The Government has dumped its controversial proposals to stop anyone under 30 from receiving welfare for six months if not working or studying, replacing it with a five-week window instead.

A $330 million Youth Employment Strategy has been unveiled, designed to ease young people into the workforce.

The money will be spent in areas of high youth unemployment, and on young people with mental health concerns and young migrants.

The package also includes national work experience program, which will offer wage subsidies for employers to hire 6,000 young people across the country, after four weeks of unpaid work experience.

The apprenticeship system will get $664 million, to pay for $7,500 scholarships for employers to take on and train unemployed young people, as well as $1.8 million to continue the Trade Support Loans.

The May 12 budget also pledged to give more generous payments to companies that hire older Australians.

The Government says it has fixed problems in the Restart program, to make it easier for mature workers to get jobs.

The previous scheme has been accelerated, meaning employers received $3,000 for hiring workers aged 50 or over, who themselves can access up to $7,000 on a shorter timetable when they get a new job.

A related new program will offer ­incentives for training so that older workers will get more help to retrain and take up a job, in the hope that they will not fall back on ­unemployment benefits or ­pensions.

Joe Hockey appears to have realised the need to help mature workers, possibly in the wake of a report from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission which shows one quarter of workers over 50 felt they had been discriminated against because of their age.