National statistics

DWP benefits statistical summary, August 2019

Updated 17 January 2020

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dwp-benefits-statistics-august-2019/dwp-benefits-statistical-summary-august-2019

This is a summary of the latest National Statistics about the benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

We are seeking user feedback on this HTML version of the statistical summary, which replaces the PDF version. Please send comments to: stats-consultation@dwp.gov.uk.

1. Headlines

Here are the main headlines about DWP benefits:

  • there were 20 million people claiming DWP benefits at February 2019
  • two thirds of benefit claimants are of State Pension age (13 million)

The rollout of Universal Credit (UC) means that the number of people claiming some older-style Working Age benefits is falling:

  • Housing Benefit (HB) fell to 3.6 million claimants in May 2019
  • Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) fell to 2.1 million claimants at February 2019
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) fell to 251,000 claimants at February 2019
  • Income Support (IS) fell to 448,000 at February 2019

Figure 1: DWP benefits by number of claimants at February 2019

Benefit Number of claimants
Jobseeker’s Allowance 251,000
Income Support 448,000
Carer’s Allowance 1,303,000
Attendance Allowance 1,571,000
Pension Credit 1,613,000
Disability Living Allowance 1,679,000
Employment and Support Allowance 2,073,000
Personal Independence Payment 2,114,000
Housing Benefit 3,758,000
State Pension 12,633,000

Source: DWP benefits statistics.

2. Working Age Benefit Combinations

People can claim more than one DWP benefit at a time. This section looks at how benefits are claimed in combination for Working Age claimants.

Figure 2: Working Age Benefit Combinations at February 2019

This diagram uses circles with different areas to show the relative size of DWP working age benefits by number of claimants. Circles intersect to show how some benefits are claimed in combination.

Source: DWP Benefits Statistics.

This diagram uses overlapping circles, where larger circles and overlaps show more people claiming a particular combination of benefits.

At February 2019 there were 6.8 million Working Age claimants, of which:

  • 3.1 million received HB

  • 2.3 million claimed Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

  • 2.1 million claimed an Incapacity Benefit, such as ESA

  • 770,000 people claimed a multiple combination of HB and an Incapacity Benefit, along with PIP or DLA

Since the introduction of UC in 2013 this picture has been gradually changing, with more people claiming UC and fewer people claiming combinations of the other benefits. In February 2019, 16% of the individuals included in the benefit combination statistics claimed UC, up from 9% in February 2018.

The key headline figures show:

  • 2.3 million people were on UC, at 11 July 2019
  • 760,000 (33%) UC claimants are in employment
  • 930,000 are in the ‘Searching for Work’ conditionality regime
  • 490,000 are in the ‘No Work Requirements’ conditionality regime

Read the Universal Credit Official statistics.

3. Health, disability, and care

Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, and Severe Disablement Allowance

Figure 3: The number of people claiming either Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance to February 2019

Time series made up of stacked bar-charts to show how ESA has replaced IB and SDA over time since 2008.

Source: DWP Benefits Statistics.

There were 2.1 million people on ESA, IB or SDA at February 2019; a decrease of 210,000 over the last year.

The number of people claiming income-related ESA is decreasing as UC replaces it. Contribution-based ESA schemes still receive new claims.

Of the 2.1 million people on ESA, 120,000 were National Insurance Credit Only cases who receive no weekly payments. At February 2019 there were 20,000 people in receipt of an SDA payment, 90 people in receipt of an IB payment and 30,000 people receiving National Insurance Credits Only through IB.

Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance

Figure 4: The number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance to February 2019

Time series made up of stacked bar charts to show how the number of people claiming PIP and has changed since the introduction of PIP. There are now more people claiming PIP than DLA.

Source: DWP Benefits Statistics.

There were 2.1 million people claiming PIP at February 2019, and 1.7 million people claiming DLA. The number of people claiming PIP rose by 350,000 during the past year, and over the same period, DLA claims fell by 290,000. There were 3.8 million combined claimants at February 2019, an increase of 65,000.

Carer’s Allowance

The total number of people claiming CA at February 2019 was 1.3 million; a rise of 36,000 over the last year. Increases in State Pension age and in the number of people claiming disability benefits may have contributed to this rise. Of the total number claiming CA, 33% (440,000) were entitled to the benefit but did not receive payments.

From September 2018, recipients of CA in Scotland are eligible for Carer’s Allowance Supplement (CAS), which is payable once every 6 months and broadly raises their Carer’s Allowance to the equivalent of the main rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance. CAS statistics are released by the Scottish Government as part of the Social Security for Scotland publication.

Attendance Allowance

At February 2019, there were 1.6 million AA claimants; a reduction of 7,000 from February 2018, due to State Pension age changes. 1.4 million claimants were receiving a payment and 140,000 (9%) were entitled to the benefit but not receiving payment.

Note: Some claimants are eligible for AA or CA but do not receive a payment. These individuals are still counted as claimants. For example, payments can be temporarily suspended if the claimant is in hospital.

4. Work and unemployment

Figure 5: The number of people claiming Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance to February 2019

Line graph showing the declining numbers of people claiming either IS or JSA. The numbers of IS claimants has been impacted by both the changes to Lone Parent obligations since 2009, and the introduction of UC in 2013.

Source: DWP Benefits Statistics.

Income Support

At February 2019, the total number of people claiming IS was 448,000; a decrease of 110,000 over the last year. Lone Parents represented 63% of the number of people claiming IS. The number of people claiming IS due to incapacity fell from 3,000 to 420.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

There were 251,000 people claiming JSA in February 2019; a decrease of 190,000 (44%) over the last year. The number of people claiming JSA is falling as UC replaces it. Read the Alternative Claimant Count statistics to get a better view of the number of people claiming unemployment benefits.

5. Housing

Housing Benefit

Figure 6: Housing Benefit claimants by sector at May 2019

Sector Number of claimants
Private Rented Sector 974,000
Social Rented Sector 2,623,000

Source: DWP Benefits Statistics.

Overall, the number of people claiming HB has been gradually decreasing and will continue to fall as UC rolls out and replaces HB for Working Age claimants. At May 2019, there were 3.6 million recipients of HB and 1.1 million households with a housing element in their UC assessment.

73% of HB recipients (2.6 million) were tenants in the Social Rented Sector and 27% were in the Private Rented Sector (970,000).

As at May 2019, 13% (320,000) of Working Age HB recipients had a reduction to their weekly award amount due to the Removal of Spare Room Subsidy scheme, whereby tenants in social housing whose accommodation is larger than they need may lose part of their HB. The average reduction amount was £15.41.

6. Pensions

State Pension

There were 13 million recipients of SP at February 2019, a fall of 120,000 on a year earlier. This fall is mostly because of a decrease in the number of new claimants after December 2018, as the State Pension age started to rise beyond 65 for men and women.

New State Pension

Figure 7: A comparison of average weekly amounts of State Pension by scheme and gender at February 2019

Scheme Male Female
New State Pension £156.39 £148.33
Pre-2016 State Pension £159.31 £131.52

Source: DWP Benefits Statistics.

The average weekly amount for all SP recipients at February 2019 was £144.32, a rise of £5.36 since February 2018.

New State Pension was introduced for people reaching State Pension age from 6 April 2016. At February 2019 there were 1.1 million nSP recipients, receiving an average weekly amount in payment of £154.70 (including any Protected Payments).

The introduction of nSP has reduced some of the gap between the average weekly amounts for men and women, as women typically get more under the new rules. However, due to the timetabled increases in women’s State Pension age, fewer women have reached State Pension age than men under nSP.

Pension Credit

At February 2019, there were 1.6 million recipients of PC (1.9 million beneficiaries including partners), a fall of 110,000 on the previous year. Nearly two thirds of recipients (64%) were women. The downward trend in overall Pension Credit caseload is partly due to the raising of the State Pension age, among other factors.

7. Bereavement

Bereavement Support Payment

During the quality assurance of Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) experimental official statistics, DWP statisticians have identified an issue with claims in payment figures. Tables 2-7 have been removed from the May, August and November 2019 releases. Table 1 is still available in the November publication onwards. Further information can be found on the DWP benefits statistics collection page and in the “Welfare and Benefits” community on StatsUserNet. Email stats-consultation@dwp.gov.uk if you have any comments or questions.

8. About these statistics

This is a summary of the latest National Statistics about the benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Data is released on a quarterly basis in:

  • February
  • May
  • August
  • November

This summary is released every February and August.

The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

All of DWP’s statistics are National Statistics except:

  • Personal Independence Payments (Official Statistics)
  • Universal Credit (experimental statistics)
  • Benefit Combinations (experimental statistics)
  • Bereavement Support Payment (experimental statistics)
  • Housing Benefit Flows (experimental statistics)
  • Alternative Claimant Count (experimental statistics)

The statistics in this publication are affected by the introduction of Universal Credit. Universal Credit was introduced in April 2013 in certain pathfinder areas of North West England. Between October 2013 and December 2018, Universal Credit was progressively rolled out and is now available in every jobcentre across the country.

Universal Credit is replacing:

  • Income-related ESA
  • Income–based JSA
  • HB for Working Age claimants
  • IS
  • Working Tax Credit
  • Child Tax Credit

Read the Universal Credit statistics for information on the number of people and households on Universal Credit.

Information on the following benefits is published separately:

Where to find out more

Find previous releases of this data.

More detailed statistical tables covering all National Statistics benefits can be found using Stat-Xplore, an online tool that lets you create and download customised statistical tables, and view the results in interactive charts.

Data tables are provided where data is not available on Stat-Xplore.

Read our policies and statements for background information on DWP National and Official benefit statistics, including some of the processes involved in developing and releasing these statistics.

Known issues, changes and revisions

A new Ward level hierarchy has been introduced to Stat-Xplore to enable the creation of Ward Level data.

Due to the 2019 Local Government Reorganisation, 5 new Unitary Authorities were created at April 2019, replacing 15 Local Authority Districts. Datasets on Stat-Xplore showing Housing Benefit administration by Local Authority have now been updated to reflect this change from April 2019. Residency-based geography breakdowns will be updated to reflect the above changes as part of a routine refresh in Spring 2020.

Changes to UK State Pension age has meant that, after December 2018, claimants are now reaching State Pension age beyond their 65th birthday. A new age band has been introduced for ESA and JSA data on Stat-Xplore to show the number of claimants who are aged 65 and over.

Changes to Benefit Combinations datasets are being proposed

The DWP statistics team are reviewing the frequency of some of their publications with a view to reduce the number of releases each year. This will enable them to direct efforts into development of the statistics and the expansion of the scope and content of the publications. Of the statistics that form part of this collection, Benefit Combinations Experimental Statistics represent the only product in scope. Read our statistical notice for more information about this, including how to take part in the review.

Further information about changes and revisions are in our background information note.

9. Contact information and feedback

For more information about this release, contact: alan.gibson@dwp.gov.uk.

DWP would like to hear your views on our statistical publications. If you use any of our statistics publications, we would be interested in hearing what you use them for and how well they meet your requirements. Email stats-consultation@dwp.gov.uk with your feedback.

You can also join the Welfare and Benefit Statistics community on StatsUserNet. DWP announces items of interest to users in this forum, as well as replying to users’ questions.

Lead statistician: Alan Gibson.

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