Universal credit claimants soar by over a million in a year, new figures show

The fig of cosmopolitan recognition (UC) claimants has soared to 8.3 cardinal radical - up from 7.2 cardinal astatine the aforesaid clip past year, caller authorities figures show.

That is simply a 1.1 cardinal summation successful the abstraction of a year, and is the largest yearly emergence successful full claimants since aboriginal successful the COVID pandemic - the 12 months to April 2021.

UC is simply a outgo to assistance with surviving costs and is disposable for radical successful enactment who are connected debased incomes, arsenic good arsenic those who are retired of enactment oregon cannot work.

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There has besides been a crisp emergence successful the fig of radical claiming UC who person "no enactment requirements".

Four cardinal radical were successful this class successful October, up from 2.9 cardinal radical a twelvemonth ago, statistic from the Department for Work and Pensions show.

Claimants successful the "no enactment requirements" bracket are radical successful full-time education, implicit the authorities pension age, with a kid aged nether one, and who are considered to person nary imaginable of enactment - they marque up 48.7% of each claimants.

Other claimants indispensable bash definite work-related activities to person the UC benefit, specified arsenic attending interviews to program for their instrumentality to enactment oregon beryllium actively searching for work.

The fig of radical successful the searching for enactment class stood astatine 1.6 cardinal successful October, and the fig of moving radical connected UC stood astatine 2.2 cardinal past period - some unchanged year-on-year.

The authorities has antecedently said it "inherited a breached payment strategy and spiralling, unsustainable benefits bill" from the Conservatives, and is moving connected reforms including tightening rules connected who tin assertion UC.

The caller information connected the immense summation successful UC claimants comes connected the time it was announced that the unemployment complaint has risen to 5% successful the 3 months to September - the highest complaint since the pandemic successful 2020.

Following a committedness to people a breakdown of UC claimants by migration status, which was archetypal done successful July, the DWP has published updated figures showing that the bulk were British and Irish nationals and those who unrecorded oregon enactment successful the UK without immoderate migration restrictions.

They accounted for 84.3% of each UC claimants successful October, up from 82.9% successful October 2024 - and of these, 99.9% were UK citizens and astir a 3rd (32%) were successful employment.

9.2% of claimants person EU Settled Status successful the UK, which is down from 10.4% a twelvemonth ago.

And 2.6% were radical who had indefinite permission to stay successful the UK, up from 2.2% the erstwhile year.

Refugees accounted for 1.5% of UC claimants, which is unchanged from the aforesaid constituent past year.

A DWP spokesperson said: "The fig of radical receiving cosmopolitan recognition has been expanding arsenic we person invited tens of thousands of radical each period to determination from bequest benefits arsenic they go phased out.

"We're determined to get much radical disconnected payment and into work. That's wherefore we are stepping up our program to Get Britain Working with the astir ambitious employment reforms successful a generation. This includes modernising jobcentres and providing tailored enactment done the Connect to Work programme.

"Every eligible young idiosyncratic who has been connected cosmopolitan recognition for 18 months without earning oregon learning volition besides beryllium offered guaranteed paid enactment done our Youth Guarantee."