One in five adults are on universal credit, research finds

One in five working-age adults is on universal credit, according to new research — more than seven million people.

Analysis by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the campaign group that advocates for lower taxes and government spending, puts 7.3 million adults in England and Wales aged between 20 and 64 on universal credit, Britain’s main benefit, as of May this year, The Times reports.

The breakdown shows 1.3 million people in their twenties on the benefit, two million in their thirties, and a quarter of people in their forties — equivalent to 1.9 million people. In 15 council areas at least 30 per cent of the working-age population claims universal credit, rising to 35.2 per cent in Blackpool, with high figures also found in Birmingham, Bradford and Middlesbrough.

William Yarwood, campaigns director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said dependency had become “endemic” in some parts of Britain: “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.” He added that if Andy Burnham “was serious about growth in every postcode, he would be making it more affordable to hire young people.”

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said Britain “can’t afford” the rising demand and that it was “unfair to taxpayers footing the bill”. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects the total benefits bill to rise from about £315bn in 2024-25 to more than £400bn by the end of the decade.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said the government was “rebalancing Universal Credit to tackle the perverse incentives that discourage work while giving sick and disabled people support they were denied previously”, pointing to the Timms and Milburn reviews, whose final recommendations are due later this autumn.

Sources

• The Times: One in five adults are on universal credit — thetimes.com
• The Sun: Britain’s benefits hotspots revealed — thesun.co.uk
• TaxPayers’ Alliance: Briefing — limited capability for work related activity by local authority — taxpayersalliance.com