Accredited official statistics

DWP benefits statistics: August 2024

Published 13 August 2024

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

This is a summary of the Accredited Official Statistics about the benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The next statistics release will be 12 November 2024 on Stat-Xplore with the next summary and statistics release planned for February 2025.

Please note that latest Accredited Official Statistics for State Pension published as part of this release have been suspended. Suspension of these statistics also impacts the Benefit Combinations statistics for those above State Pension age for the same time period. We will publish the suspended State Pension statistics as soon as our investigation and quality assessment is complete, along with an updated statistical summary providing narrative for State Pension statistics to February 2024. State Pension statistics previously published on Stat-Xplore in November 2023, covering the period up to May 2023, remain reliable. For more information see Section 7.

1. Headlines

The main headline figures for the DWP benefits in this report

From February 2023 to February 2024:

• Employment and Support Allowance fell by 5.4% to 1.5 million claimants

• Income Support fell by 17.6% to 130,000 claimants

• Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by 3.7% to 96,000 claimants

From May 2023 to May 2024:

• Housing Benefit fell by 5.5% to 2.3 million claimants

Universal Credit has been replacing some older-style Working Age benefits. The latest Universal Credit Official statistics show:

• there were 6.9 million Universal Credit claimants at June 2024

People can claim more than one DWP benefit at a time. Benefit Combination statistics show:

Excluding claimants of State Pension Age, 10.3 million people claimed some combination of DWP benefits in February 2024 (of the 17 benefits included in these statistics). Of these:

• 9.6 million were of Working Age

• 700,000 were under 16 (and in receipt of Disability Living Allowance as a child)

DWP benefits by number of claimants at February 2024

Benefit	Number of claimants
Universal Credit	6,459,000
Personal Independence Payment *	3,304,000
Housing Benefit	2,303,000
Attendance Allowance	1,720,000
Employment and Support Allowance	1,540,000
Carers Allowance	1,410,000
Pension Credit	1,360,000
Disability Living Allowance *	1,263,000
Income Support	126,000
Jobseeker’s Allowance	96,000

Source: DWP benefits statistics

Figures annotated with a star (*) (Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance) exclude figures for Scotland. Please see  Section 5 for details.

Figures for Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payments and Housing Benefit covering later periods are available on Stat-Xplore.

2. What you need to know

This release covers DWP benefits in Great Britain. For most benefits covered in this release the period covered is up to February 2024. For Bereavement Support Payment the period covered is up to March 2024, and for Housing Benefit data go up to May 2024. UC figures are presented to June 2024 for claimants and May 2024 for households.

More detailed figures for the benefits covered in this summary can be found using Stat-Xplore. This is an online tool that lets you create and download customised statistical tables or view the results as interactive charts.

The Scotland Act 2016 gave Scottish Parliament powers over a number of social security benefits effectively transferring policy ownership from DWP to the Scottish Government. More details are available in Section 5 of this summary.

Benefits Combinations statistics explore how benefits are claimed in combination for claimants of all ages. In response to Scottish Devolution, important presentational changes have been made to this series. For more details see the Benefit Combinations Background information note.

More information on how these statistics are produced is available through the Methodology statement and Quality statement.

3. Pensions

State Pension: June 2023 to February 2024 statistics suspended

The latest State Pension statistics, which would have covered up to February 2024, remain suspended from this release. Benefit Combinations statistics for recipients above State Pension age also remain suspended. The latest available statistics for both series run to May 2023.

The stability of the feed of data from the Get Your State Pension (GYSP) service has not been sufficient to provide accurate and reliable estimates of recipient numbers or entitlement amounts. While the underlying data was received from the service correctly, processing issues have led to observable inaccuracies appearing in the final GYSP data outputs.

Data processing issues have now been resolved and DWP analysts will shortly begin to test data quality to ensure the accuracy of State Pension statistics. Once quality checks are complete, we will confirm when these statistics can be reinstated. The statistics will cover the missing period from June 2023 onwards.

There were 12.7 million people receiving State Pension at May 2023, which is the latest time point at which these statistics are available until the series is restored. More statistics on State Pension covering the period up to May 2023 are available in the State Pension dataset on Stat-Xplore.

Pension Credit

At February 2024, there were 1.4 million people receiving Pension Credit, representing a total of 1.5 million beneficiaries including partners.

A comparison of Pension Credit recipients by payment type and gender at February 2024

Type of Pension Credit	Male	Female
Guarantee Credit only	260,000	495,000
Savings Credit only	64,000	111,000
Both Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit	134,000	295,000

Source: DWP benefits statistics

At February 2024 roughly two thirds (66%) of people getting Pension Credit (PC) were women. There were 11,000 fewer recipients against the previous year. A long-term downward trend in the PC caseload has been due to the raising of the State Pension Age and the introduction of new State Pensions (nSP) in April 2016, among other factors. However, since February 2022, the PC caseload appears to have stabilised.

4. Housing

Housing Benefit

Housing Benefits claimants by age group at May 2024

Source: DWP benefits statistics

At May 2024, there were 2.3 million recipients of Housing Benefit (HB), a decrease of 130,000 on the last year. There were 1.1 million Pension Age and 1.2 million Working Age recipients. The number of Working Age recipients will continue to fall as claimants move to Universal Credit (UC). By comparison, 3.6 million households had a housing element as part of their UC assessment, of which 3.4 million were in payment.

Housing Benefit claimants by sector at May 2024

Sector	Number of claimants
Private Rented Sector	460,000
Social Rented Sector	1,810,000

Source: DWP benefits statistics

80% of HB recipients (1.8 million) were tenants in the Social Rented Sector and 20% were in the Private Rented Sector (460,000).

Average HB awards in the private rented sector have gone up by £12.71 from May 2023 to May 2024. The average weekly award for private rented claims was £152.03 at May 2024. This compares to £132.00 for the social rented sector.

As of May 2024, 14% (160,000) of Working Age HB recipients had a reduction to their weekly award amount due to the Removal of Spare Room Subsidy scheme. This is where tenants in social housing whose accommodation is deemed to be larger than they need may lose part of their HB award. The average reduction amount was £19.10.

5. Health, disability and care

Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance

The Scotland Act 2016 gave Scottish Parliament powers over a number of social security benefits effectively transferring policy ownership from DWP to the Scottish Government.

Child Disability Payment is a new disability benefit administered by the Scottish Government. It replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children living in Scotland. In November 2021, Child Disability Payment launched nationwide to all new applicants. The Adult Disability Payment was introduced in pilot areas from March 2022 and nationally in Scotland from August 2022. It will replace Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and DLA for working age people in Scotland.

We are in a transitional period, where DWP still administers DLA and PIP to people in Scotland who are waiting to move onto the new benefits. However, it does so on behalf of the Scottish Government under an agreement and policy ownership has been transferred.

In light of the new benefits, which are being administered away from DWP, we have changed how we present DLA and PIP statistics in this release and Stat-Xplore.

Our DWP benefits statistics summaries now focus on DLA and PIP claims where policy ownership has been retained by DWP. Figures, charts and narratives will primarily reflect England, Wales and any unknown or abroad claims. The residual count of DLA claims in Scotland will be provided for information only, where relevant.

To reflect these changes on Stat-Xplore we added a new split to DLA geography fields to provide breakdowns based on policy ownership. Users of these statistics should make data selections based on these policy ownership lines. Please refer to the Background information note for further background information.

Statistics showing the number of applications and awards to the new Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment have been released by the Scottish Government.

DLA and PIP cases with entitlement by policy ownership at February 2024

Policy Ownership	DLA	PIP
DWP policy ownership	1,263,000	3,304,000
Policy devolved to Scotland	76,000	204,000
All claims administered by DWP	1,339,000	3,508,000

Source: DWP benefits statistics

There were 4.6 million people claiming either PIP or DLA under DWP policy ownership at February 2024, an increase of 390,000 during the last year.

The number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance under DWP policy ownership to February 2024

Source: DWP benefits statistics

As detailed above, to maintain comparability, each quarter in this series represents a count reflecting current DWP policy ownership, excluding Scotland.

Since 2013, working age adults have been moving from DLA to PIP. This has led to an increase in the number of people claiming PIP and a decrease in the number of people claiming DLA over time.

At February 2024, excluding policy devolved to Scotland, there were 3.3 million people claiming PIP, the number of claimants rose by 340,000 (12%) between February 2023 and February 2024.

There were 1.3 million people claiming DLA, with claims      rising by 46,000 from February 2023 to February 2024. Of the 1.3 million DLA claimants, a small number (8,400) were entitled to DLA but did not receive any payment (figures exclude Scotland). For example, payments can be temporarily suspended if the claimant is in hospital.

Attendance Allowance

At February 2024 in Great Britain, there were 1.7 million Attendance Allowance (AA) claimants, an increase of 140,000 from February 2023. 1.6 million claimants were receiving a payment and 110,000 (7%) were entitled to the benefit but not receiving payment. As with DLA above, AA payments can be temporarily suspended. This can happen, for example, if the claimant is in hospital.

Employment and Support Allowance

There were 1.5 million people on Employment and Support Allowance at February 2024, a decrease of 88,000 since February 2023.

Employment and Support Allowance claims by type to February 2024

Source: DWP benefits statistics

Of the 1.5 million Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants:

• 1.3 million are in the Support group

• 140,000 are in the Work-Related Activity group

• 47,000 are in the Assessment phase

• 570,000 ESA claimants are former Incapacity Benefit cases who have been migrated

Over recent years, the number of ESA claims has been decreasing because UC has replaced ESA for new income-related claims on the grounds of incapacity. Since February 2023, the number of people claiming ESA has decreased by 5.4% (88,000).

In the period to May 2021, the Work Capability Assessment process for ESA was adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. DWP temporarily suspended face-to-face health assessments from 17 March 2020 while paper-based assessments continued, and telephone assessments were introduced from 7 May 2020. Face-to-face assessments were resumed in May 2021, and they now take place alongside paper-based assessments (whenever possible), telephone assessments and a small number of video assessments. For more information see the most recent ESA Work Capability Assessment statistics.

Figures for other incapacity benefits are available on Stat-Xplore.

Carer’s Allowance

The total number of people claiming Carer’s Allowance at February 2024 was 1.4 million, 3.7% higher than at February 2023.

Of the total number claiming Carer’s Allowance (CA), 29% (400,000) were entitled to the benefit but do not receive payments. This is because they receive another benefit (such as Incapacity Benefit for people of working age, or State Pension for people of State Pension age) which equals or exceeds their weekly rate of CA. Where the overlapping benefit paid is less than the weekly rate of CA, only the amount of CA which exceeds the amount of the overlapping benefit is paid.

Recipients of Carer’s Allowance in Scotland are eligible for Carer’s Allowance Supplement (CAS), which is payable once every 6 months.

CAS statistics are released by the Scottish Government.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

The total number of people claiming under the Industrial Injuries Scheme at December 2023 was 230,000.

The Industrial Injuries Scheme (IIS) provides non-contributory no-fault benefits for disablement because of an accident at work, or because of one of over 70 prescribed diseases known to be a risk from certain jobs. Please see the IIDB technical guidance for more information on the scheme.

Of the total number claiming under this scheme, 170,000 claimed Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) alone, 33,000 claimed IIDB with Reduced Earnings Allowance and Retirement Allowance and 30,000 claimed Reduced Earnings Allowance and Retirement Allowance only.

In the quarter ending December 2023 there were 2,400 new claims under the IIS and 2,800 assessments were completed. Of the completed assessments 1,300 resulted in a payable award.

In March 2024 under the Pneumoconiosis (Worker’s Compensation) Act 1979, £3,300,000 was awarded to 250 claimants. Under the 2008 Mesothelioma Scheme, £640,000 was awarded to 30 claimants.

Further breakdowns are available on Stat-Xplore.

6. Other working age benefits

The number of people claiming Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance to February 2024

Source: DWP benefits statistics

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Between August 2012 and March 2020, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) fell substantially. Universal Credit has been replacing income-based JSA since April 2013. The JSA scheme is now only open to contributory-based claims called New Style JSA. New Style JSA awards have a maximum duration of 182 days.

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, claims for JSA went up substantially, but have since fallen below pre-pandemic levels. There were 96,000 JSA claimants at February 2024.

Data on the ethnicity of people claiming JSA had been adversely affected during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and ethnicity information was missing for a greater proportion of claims. Ethnicity information collection has improved for newer JSA claims, but the field should still be treated with caution.  For more information see the Background information note.

Income Support

Universal Credit has replaced Income Support (IS) and new applications for IS can no longer be made to DWP. For more on the eligibility criteria for existing claims please see Income Support information.

At February 2024, the total number of people claiming IS was 130,000, a decrease of 27,000 (18%) since February 2023. Lone parents represent 41% of the people remaining on IS, and carers represent 58%. The number of people claiming IS due to incapacity has now fallen to 70.

Bereavement Support Payment

Bereavement Support Payment recipients by rate of payment to March 2024

Source: DWP benefits statistics

Since April 2017, the Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) has grown steadily, peaking at 58,000 recipients in April 2021. Since then, the numbers of recipients fell by about 7% to 54,000 in October 2021, before more recently fluctuating between 50,000 and 56,000.

At March 2024, there were 53,000 people receiving BSP. 42,000 (78%) were receiving the standard rate of BSP, while 12,000 (22%) were receiving the higher rate. The higher rate is paid to claimants entitled to Child Benefit. BSP was introduced in April 2017 and replaced Widowed Parents Allowance, Bereavement Allowance and the Bereavement Payment.

On 9 February 2023, Bereavement Support Payment eligibility was extended to unmarried cohabiting parents bereaved on or after 6 April 2017 who were living together on the date of death. Previously it was only available to eligible bereaved parents who were married or in a civil partnership. Depending on the circumstances of the claim, newly eligible claimants may receive a backdated lump sum payment back to 30 August 2018 (the date that eligibility was extended back to). For more information on the extension of Bereavement Benefits eligibility, see the department’s press release.

7. About these statistics

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

• February

• May

• August

• November

This summary is released every February and August.

Figures in this bulletin are rounded in accordance with the DWP rounding policy for statistics, details of which can be found in the “Rounding” section of the Background information note. Unrounded figures from the underlying data available on Stat-Xplore or in accompanying tables may not sum exactly to the rounded totals accordingly.

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in November 2020. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. The designation of ‘Accredited Official Statistics’ is in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The statistics in the DWP benefits statistics release, and those used in this statistical summary, are all Accredited Official Statistics  except:

• Personal Independence Payments (Official Statistics)

• Universal Credit (Official Statistics)

• Benefit Combinations (Official Statistics)       

• Housing Benefit Flows (Official Statistics)

• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (Official Statistics)

• Bereavement Support Payment (Official Statistics)

Official Statistics are produced in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and the Code of Practice for Statistics and meet high standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.

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 Employment and Support Allowance

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

• Housing Benefit for Working Age claimants

• Income Support

• Working Tax Credit

• Child Tax Credit

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

Information on the following benefits is published separately:

• Benefit Sanctions statistics

• Child Support Agency cases statistics

• Maternity Allowance statistics

Where to find out more

Find previous releases of this data.

More detailed statistical tables covering all Accredited Official Statistics for DWP benefits can be found using Stat-Xplore. This is 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.

Benefit Combination Statistics are included as part of the quarterly DWP benefits statistics collection, and allow users to view the combinations of benefits that people claim at a point in time for almost all benefits administered by DWP. The latest release published on 13 August 2024 can be found on Stat-Xplore.

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

Known issues, changes and revisions

Continued suspension of State Pension Statistics in this release

Accredited Official Statistics for State Pension remain suspended, following the initial suspension in the statistical release from 13 February 2024. Benefit Combinations statistics for recipients above State Pension age also remain suspended. The latest available statistics for both series run to May 2023.

The stability of the feed of data from the Get Your State Pension (GYSP) service has not been sufficient to provide accurate and reliable estimates of recipient numbers or entitlement amounts. While the underlying data was received from the service correctly, processing issues have led to observable inaccuracies appearing in the final GYSP data outputs.

Data processing issues have now been resolved and DWP analysts will shortly begin to test data quality to ensure the accuracy of State Pension statistics. Once quality checks are complete, we will confirm when these statistics can be reinstated. The statistics will cover the missing period from June 2023 onwards.

If we can publish them in the next release of statistics on 12 November 2024, we will update the collection page for the DWP Benefits Statistics with confirmation of our intention to publish before then.

Other statistics usually published as part of the quarterly releases, including working age Benefit Combinations, are unaffected by the above issue.

8. Contact information and feedback

For more information about this release, contact: benefits.statistics@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 benefits.statistics@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.

Authors: Craig Mejury, Matt Brown, George Mclean and Sayra Abdul

Lead statistician: Tonia Hagan

ISBN: 978-1-78659-655-0