One in five working-age adults are now receiving Universal Credit, official figures show
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By MARTIN BECKFORD, POLICY EDITOR
Published: | Updated:
One in five working-age adults is now receiving Universal Credit, prompting warnings that generations are being written off.
Official statistics show that 7.3million people aged between 20 and 64 were claiming the main benefit for those on low incomes in May this year.
The figure amounts to 20.3 per cent of working age adults across England and Wales, according to new analysis by the TaxPayers' Alliance.
It includes 3.3m people who are under 40 and 'in the prime years of their careers', the campaign group said.
In dozens of areas, more than one in four working age adults is on Universal Credit, the means-tested welfare payment that averages £1,090 a month.
The worst blackspot was Blackpool, where more than one in three (35.2 per cent) of 20 to 64-year-olds is receiving the benefit, followed by Birmingham (33.9) and Enfield (32.6).
Overall, latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show there were a record 8.5m Universal Credit claimants in England, Scotland and Wales in May – with the total annual bill now above £80billion.
Households containing foreign nationals received a record £11.9bn in Universal Credit payments last year, new figures show, with both the Tories and Reform calling for a crackdown.
Record numbers of people are now claiming Universal Credit
William Yarwood, campaigns director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'In some places, dependency on Universal Credit has become endemic.
'Generations are being dumped on benefits: written off and condemned to a life of dependency as ministers make it harder for them to find a job.
'If Andy Burnham was serious about growth in every postcode, he would be making it more affordable to hire young people.'
However there are fears that Labour backbenchers would thwart any attempt by the Prime Minister to trim Britain's soaring benefits bill, after a backlash last year that damaged Sir Keir Starmer's authority.
New analysis shows disability benefit claimants outnumber Labour MPs' majorities in hundreds of seats, in further evidence of the political barriers to reform.
In 212 of the 366 constituencies across England and Wales held by Labour (58 per cent), there are more people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) than the number of votes by which the MP won their seat.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has 11,646 PIP claimants in Wolverhampton South East but a majority of just 9,188.
In total 4.1m people now claim PIP, which is meant to help people with physical and mental health conditions with everyday tasks and whose annual cost is expected to reach £45bn by 2030.
One Labour MP said: 'There are some MPs who will oppose any kind of restraint on welfare. The debate requires careful coalition building. The problem is some of the architects of the last rebellion are not capable of negotiating or listening.'
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, warned: 'Ministers cannot allow electoral self-interest to become a veto on fixing a welfare system.
'With millions now claiming PIP, ducking difficult reform because MPs fear for their majorities would be an abdication of responsibility.
'Welfare policy should be set by what is sustainable and fair for taxpayers, not by the size of MPs' majorities.'
A DWP spokesman said: 'Three-quarters of the increase in Universal Credit cases since July 2024 is driven by people moving from legacy benefits – a transition started by the previous government.
'Many people receiving Universal Credit are already in employment and our reforms will go further to tackle the perverse incentives that discourage work, and we're investing £3.5 billion in employment support for disabled people and people with long term conditions.
'We're putting work and opportunity at the heart of the system, and the final recommendations from the Timms and Milburn Reviews will lay the foundation for sustainable reform.'
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