Benefits bill is growing TWICE as fast as wages in most parts of the UK... so what is the picture near you?

Published: 00:07 BST, 7 October 2026 | Updated: 00:19 BST, 7 October 2026

The benefits bill is growing more than twice as quickly as workers' pay - with payments soaring by 25.8 per cent across much of the country in recent years.

New analysis has found earnings have risen by just 10.4 per cent over the same period.

The amount spent on support for people on low incomes or with disabilities - such as Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Housing Benefit - grew faster than median pay in 502 of the 526 constituencies in England and Wales.

Welfare spending rose in every one of the seats between November 2023 and November 2025, the TaxPayers' Alliance found, while wages fell in some areas. 

Last night, the pressure group urged the Labour Government to get a grip on the benefits bill, which already stands at more than £300billion a year including the State Pension - and is forecast to top £400billion by the end of the decade.

Chief executive John O'Connell said: 'The benefits bill is spiralling out of control, with taxpayers in some places seeing wages fall as welfare spending surges around them. Ministers need to stop pretending this is sustainable and get the benefits bill under control for the sake of working taxpayers.'

The group's research found that the biggest rise in welfare was in Birmingham Yardley, the constituency of former Labour Home Office minister Jess Phillips. The cost of benefits per resident there increased 37.2 per cent in two years, while median pay went up 2.5 per cent.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden. The TaxPayers' Alliance found that Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Housing Benefit - grew faster than median pay in 502 of the 526 constituencies in England and Wales

In Hornchurch and Upminster on the eastern edge of London, wages fell by 13.9 per cent while the cost of benefits rose 26.9 per cent.

And in 19 constituencies, the cost of benefits was more than a tenth of average pay last year. In Hackney North and Stoke Newington, represented by Labour's Diane Abbott since 1987, median pay stood at £37,530 while the cost of benefits was £4,621 per resident.

The report also discovered that in 51 constituencies, the cost of benefits is equivalent to the income tax and National Insurance contributions of at least half the population.

In Easington, County Durham, the benefits bill was £340million last year while tax paid on median wages was £5,144 - meaning 66,270 average earners were needed to pay for it.

Reform has vowed to save more than £50billion a year by 2030 if it wins the next election, including by restricting benefits to British citizens. The Tories say they would save £23billion, banning the long-term jobless spending Universal Credit on cigarettes and alcohol.

Labour will soon publish reviews into PIP and youth unemployment, with the Prime Minister facing a backlash from his own MPs over suggestions he will stop under-25s getting the health element of Universal Credit in return for support to get them into work.