It’s going to head into additional debate as we speak, as dozens of MPs signed an modification to dam the invoice, even after sure concessions had been made.
However how many individuals are on advantages in the intervening time and the way does this evaluate with 2005? Here’s what we all know.
How many individuals are on advantages now?
In line with the Authorities’s most up-to-date statistics from February 2025, 24 million individuals claimed a mixture of DWP advantages between August 2023 and August 2024.
Of those claimants, 13 million had been receiving their state pension. There have been 9.9 million claimants who had been of working age, whereas 75,000 had been underneath 16 (and receiving incapacity dwelling allowance as a toddler).
Knowledge from January 2024 reveals there have been 6.4 million individuals on common credit score and 163,000 households had been receiving the common credit score childcare ingredient in November 2023. There have been 3.9 million individuals on some kind of health-related profit over 2023-24.
Evaluation by the Joseph Rowntree Basis charity from 2005 indicated that three-quarters of all working-age individuals who obtained out-of-work advantages for 2 years or extra in December that yr had been ailing or disabled. This amounted to 2.1 million individuals.
One-third of the claimants had been aged 55 to retirement, one-third had been aged 45 to 54 and one-third had been underneath 45.
The variety of individuals claiming advantages has due to this fact gone up sharply since 2005.
Which advantages have had the largest rise in claimants?
The variety of individuals receiving jobseeker’s allowance has elevated
Philip Toscano/PA
Common credit score was 6.4 million on January 2024, up considerably since March 2022 when it was 5.5 million.
In January 2024, girls accounted for 58 per cent of these receiving UC, up from 57 per cent in January 2023. The ratio of ladies decreased after the pandemic however has began rising and it’s now at its highest stage because the implementation of UC started in 2013.
From January 2023 to January 2024, the median age of these receiving UC stayed at 38.
Each these with out jobs and people with low incomes are eligible for UC. As of December 2023, 2.4 million UC recipients had been employed, accounting for 38 per cent of the whole variety of recipients. This quantity has been secure since January 2023.
The variety of individuals receiving jobseeker’s allowance elevated by 6.7 per cent to 94,000 claimants between August 2023 and 2024, the low quantity being attributable to most unemployed individuals having been migrated to UC. The variety of individuals getting the state pension elevated by 1.6 per cent to 13 million in the identical interval.
The variety of working-age individuals getting health-related advantages in England and Wales went from 2.8 million individuals (2019-20) to three.9 million individuals (2023-24), a rise of 38 per cent. There has additionally been a rise in claims from youthful people and claims for psychological well being issues.
The variety of new incapacity profit awards made to underneath 40s has grown from 4,500 a month in 2019–20 to 11,500 in 2023–24.
Issues with psychological well being are the first motive for 37 per cent of recent claims, up from 28 per cent earlier than the pandemic, in line with the Institute for Fiscal Research.
Nonetheless, between 2023 and 2024, the variety of individuals receiving advantages decreased. Claims for employment and help allowance fell by 5.7 per cent to 1.5 million claimants and revenue help claims dropped by 71.1 per cent to 40,000 claimants.
Housing profit claims dropped by 14.8 per cent to 2 million between November 2023 and November 2024.
Why has there been a rise?
Numerous causes, such because the pandemic, NHS ready instances and the introduction of UC, have contributed to the surge in individuals claiming advantages, significantly these referring to well being, which has resulted in an increase in claims for each incapacity and incapacity advantages.
Important financial upheaval introduced on by the Covid-19 epidemic and its aftermath resulted in job losses and better unemployment, which in flip fed an increase in purposes for advantages akin to UC.
In line with Incapacity Rights UK, the rise in incapacity advantages is regarded as a results of the UK inhabitants ageing and working-age people being in worse well being.
Folks might also be searching for incapacity advantages as a result of longer NHS ready instances for remedies and operations are delaying them being nicely sufficient to work.
The Institute for Fiscal Research predicted the variety of working-age individuals claiming health-related advantages might rise by 30 per cent by the tip of the last decade.
