RECORD 8M PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT

Steep rise in claimants driven by those not required to work

- By Katie Harris and Steph Spyro

THE number of benefit claimants who are not obliged to look for work has shot up by a million under Labour.

A record eight million people, mostly Britons, are now receiving universal credit - up from 6.9 million in July 2024, figures show.

The huge rise was driven almost entirely by those not required to seek employment, up 39% or one million.

It means 3.7 million people - 46% of whom receive universal credit - do not have to find a job. Campaigners have warned the UK needs a "system that can identify the genuinely needy from the obviously workshy".

The rise in claimants not in the jobs market is "astonishing", said Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance. She added: "That means they're not just out of employment, they're not even looking for it.

"There will always be those who cannot work, because of their disabilities or illnesses or because they need to act as a carer. But there are now an extraordinary 3.7 million of them on universal credit.

"There will be many who will be able to do at least some level of work. We need a system that can identify the genuinely needy from the obviously work-shy." Universal credit is a payment to help with living costs and is available for people in work who are on low incomes and those who are out of work or cannot work.

People who are not required to work can include those in full-time education, over the state pension age, someone with a child aged under one and those considered to have no prospect of work.

The number of working people on the benefit rose to 2.2 million in July, up slightly from 2.1 million 12 months previously.