National statistics

DWP benefits statistics: February 2023

Published 14 February 2023

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

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

1. Headlines

The main headline figures for the DWP benefits in this report

In the year to August 2022:

• the number of people receiving the State Pension rose by 130,000 to 12.6 million

• Employment and Support Allowance fell by 6.2% to 1.7 million claimants

• Income Support fell by 21% to 170,000 claimants

• Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 35.1% to 89,000 claimants

In the year to November 2022:

• Housing Benefit fell by 7.9% to 2.5 million claimants

The periods covered by this release were affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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

• there were 5.8 million Universal Credit claimants at December 2022

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

22.4 million people claimed some combination of DWP benefits in August 2022 (of the 17 benefits included in these statistics). Of these:

• 12.7 million were of State Pension Age (including those in receipt of their State Pension)

• 9.1 million were of Working Age

• 600,000 were under 16 (and in receipt of Disability Living Allowance as a child)

DWP benefits by number of claimants at August 2022

Benefit	Number of claimants
State Pension	12,579,000
Universal Credit	5,661,000
Personal Independence Payment *	2,774,000
Housing Benefit	2,534,000
Employment and Support Allowance	1,673,000
Attendance Allowance	1,559,000
Pension Credit	1,376,000
Carer’s Allowance	1,359,000
Disability Living Allowance *	1,215,000
Income Support	170,000
Jobseeker’s Allowance	89,000

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 August 2022. For Bereavement Support Payment the period covered is up to September 2022, and for Housing Benefit data go up to November 2022. UC figures are presented to December 2022 for claimants and November 2022 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 Scottish Government has started to administer a new benefit called Child Disability Payment. This will eventually replace Disability Living Allowance for children living in Scotland. More details are available in Section 5 and Section 7 of this summary.

Latest State Pension estimates are not available on Stat-Xplore for this release and are provided through supplementary State Pension tables on a temporary basis. Please see Section 7 for details.

Figures for this release reflect the disruptions caused by the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic, which has led to some temporary variations in operational procedures. Such changes were necessary to maintain service. For more information see the Background information note.

Experimental 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

People receiving State Pension by type to August 2022

Source: DWP benefits statistics

The State Pension caseload has increased modestly over the last year. There were 12.6 million people receiving the State Pension at August 2022, an increase of 130,000 on a year earlier. In December 2018, the State Pension Age was raised above 65 for both men and women, initially resulting in fewer new claims. However, since October 2020 the minimum State Pension Age has stood at 66 years. A further raising of the State Pension Age will begin from 2026.

The new State Pension (nSP) was introduced for people reaching State Pension Age from 6 April 2016. At August 2022 there were 2.9 million people receiving nSP, an increase of 670,000 on a year earlier.

New State Pension

Comparison of average weekly amounts of State Pension by type and gender at August 2022

State Pension scheme	Male	Female
New State Pension	£175.84	£170.52
Pre-2016 State Pension	£178.60	£152.12

Source: DWP benefits statistics

At August 2022 the average (mean) weekly payment for people receiving a State Pension was £165.58, an increase of £6.47 since August 2021.

The nSP mean weekly payment was £173.71 (including any Protected Payments). Under the pre-2016 system the mean amount was £163.17 per week.

The introduction of nSP has evened out some of the gap between the average weekly payments for men and women, as women tend to get more under the new rules than under the Pre-2016 rules. However, due to earlier timetabled increases in women’s State Pension Age fewer women have joined the nSP than men.

Pension Credit

At August 2022, there were 1.4 million people receiving Pension Credit (PC), representing a total of 1.6 million beneficiaries including partners.

A comparison of Pension Credit recipients by payment type and gender at August 2022

Type of Pension Credit	Male	Female
Guarantee Credit only	247,000	478,000
Savings Credit only	78,000	124,000
Both Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit	145,000	304,000

Source: DWP benefits statistics

At August 2022 roughly two thirds (66%) of people getting PC were women. There were 44,000 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 nSP in April 2016, among other factors. However, in the latest available quarter, the PC caseload appears to have stabilised.

4. Housing

Housing Benefit

Housing Benefits claimants by age group at November 2022

Source: DWP benefits statistics

At November 2022, there were 2.5 million recipients of HB, a decrease of 210,000 on the last year. There were 1.1 million Pension Age and 1.4 million Working Age recipients. The number of Working Age recipients will continue to fall due to Universal Credit (UC). By comparison, 3.1 million households had a housing element as part of their UC assessment, of which 2.9 million were in payment.

Housing Benefit claimants by sector at November 2022

Sector	Number of claimants
Private Rented Sector	540,000
Social Rented Sector	1,900,000

Source: DWP benefits statistics

78% of HB recipients (1.9 million) were tenants in the Social Rented Sector and 22% were in the Private Rented Sector (540,000).

Average HB awards in the private rented sector have gone up by £3.05 in the year to November 2022. The average weekly award for private rented claims was £135.95 at November 2022. This compares to £110.88 for the social rented sector.

As of November 2022, 14% (190,000) 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 £16.76.

5. Health, disability and care

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

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 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 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, last year we changed how we present DLA and PIP statistics in this release and on 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 August 2022

Policy Ownership	DLA	PIP
DWP policy ownership	1,215,000	2,774,000
Policy devolved to Scotland	105,000	325,000
All claims administered by DWP	1,321,000	3,099,000

Source: DWP benefits statistics

There were 4 million people claiming either PIP or DLA under DWP policy ownership at August 2022, an increase of 310,000 during the last year.

The number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance under DWP policy ownership to August 2022

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 August 2022, there were 2.8 million people claiming PIP, the number of claimants rose by 300,000 or 12% over the year.

There were 1.2 million people claiming DLA, with claims rising by only 12,000 in the year to August 2022, NB: figures exclude Scotland. Of the 1.2 million DLA claimants, a small number (10,000) were entitled to DLA but did not receive any payment. For example, payments can be temporarily suspended if the claimant is in hospital. NB: figures exclude Scotland

Attendance Allowance

At August 2022, in Great Britain, there were 1.6 million Attendance Allowance (AA) claimants, an increase of 45,000 from August 2021. 1.4 million claimants were receiving a payment and 140,000 (9%) were entitled to the benefit but not receiving payment. As with DLA above, AA payments can be temporarily suspended for instance, if the claimant is in hospital.

Employment and Support Allowance

There were 1.7 million people on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) at August 2022, a decrease of 110,000 over the last year.

Employment and Support Allowance claims by type to August 2022

Source: DWP benefits statistics

Of the 1.7 million ESA claimants:

• 1.4 million are in the Support group

• 170,000 are in the Work-Related Activity group

• 56,000 are in the Assessment phase

• 660,000 ESA claimants are former IB 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. Over the last year, the number of people claiming ESA has decreased by 6.2% (110,000).

In the period to May 2021, the Work Capability Assessment process for ESA was adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, more recently DWP has resumed usual assessment processes with some additional measures to help recovery. 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 (CA) at August 2022 was 1.4 million, 4.2% higher than at August 2021.

Of the total number claiming Carer’s Allowance, 30% (400,000) were entitled to the benefit but do not receive payments.

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 (IIS) at June 2022 was 240,000.

The Industrial Injuries Scheme 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, 175,000 claimed Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) alone, 33,000 claimed IIDB with Reduced Earnings Allowance and Retirement Allowance and 36,000 claimed Reduced Earnings Allowance and Retirement Allowance only.

In the quarter ending June 2022, there were 2,700 new claims under the IIS and 3,400 assessments were completed. Of the completed assessments 1,400 resulted in a payable award.

In September 2022 under the Pneumoconiosis (Worker’s Compensation) Act 1979, £2,819,000 was awarded to 210 claimants. Under the 2008 Mesothelioma Scheme, £906,000 was awarded to 40 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 August 2022

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. The JSA caseload fell to 89,000 at August 2022.

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 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 August 2022, the total number of people claiming Income Support (IS) was 170,000, a decrease of 47,000 (21%) over the last year. Lone parents represent 47% of the people remaining on IS, and carers represent 52%. The number of people claiming IS due to incapacity has now fallen to just 120.

Bereavement Support Payment

Bereavement Support Payment recipients by rate of payment to September 2022

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 by October 2021, before starting to rise again more recently.

At September 2022, there were 50,000 people receiving BSP. 41,000 (81%) were receiving the standard rate of BSP, while 9,600 (19%) 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.

7. 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 are released on a quarterly basis in:

• February

• May

• August

• November

This summary is released every February and August.

The DWP Benefits statistics publication was last assessed by the Office for Statistical Regulation (OSR) in November 2020. OSR has officially confirmed that the publication has retained its National Statistics designation. The designation of National Statistics is 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 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 National Statistics 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.

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

Housing Benefit: Revision of statistics

We recently introduced methodological changes in how some of our HB statistics are categorised, and some outcomes have changed in our published statistics.

Please note, at August 2022 changes were made to the following fields, with new revised data presented from April 2018:

• Passported Benefit Status

• Employment Status

• Removal of Spare Room Subsidy - Spare Room Subsidy Indicator

• Removal of Spare Room Subsidy - Number of Spare Rooms

• Removal of Spare Room Subsidy - Weekly Spare Room Reduction Amount bands

• Age

• Client Type

• Gender

Following a policy change, we recently discovered that the passporting indicator on Housing Benefit statistics had been incorrectly recording outcomes for a section of claimants who receive Housing Benefit and Universal Credit at the same time. The correct outcome should have been “Passported: In receipt of Universal Credit.”

We have now fixed this issue, but in doing so, other variables were affected where the visible presence of a Universal Credit claim changes some outcomes.

An earlier methodological change to make better use of evidence from the Customer Information System has also been applied to datasets between April 2018 and May 2020.

Please refer to the Background information note for more information about these changes. Further details on HB methodology can be found in the HB methodology statement.

Gloucester City Council and Hackney Borough Council: Housing Benefit data

As a result of a criminal cyber-attack, Gloucester City Council is unable to supply DWP with Housing Benefit data until further notice. This has affected Housing Benefit statistics from December 2021. Data problems are unlikely to be fixed until later this year. Until then HB statistics that cover Gloucester will be derived from earlier data using a data cleaning approach.

After recovering from a separate cyber-attack in October 2020, Hackney Borough Council have now restored their supply of Housing Benefit claimant data to DWP. HB statistics for this Local Authority from August 2021 have been estimated using this new feed, with some additional data management. From September 2022 this additional data management was removed, and HB statistics for Hackney now follow the standard methodology.

Further information about all recent changes and revisions can be found in the Background information note.

Get Your State Pension

During 2019, a new DWP computer system called “Get Your State Pension” (GYSP) came online to handle new State Pension claims. Initially, the GYSP system handled claims received online through the gov.uk site, where people have been sent invitations to claim in this new way.

We are not yet able to include the full GYSP data in our published statistics for State Pension, and the number of cases on the new system are now too high to allow us to continue to publish State Pension data on Stat-Xplore until further notice.

Statistics released in February 2023, covering the period to August 2022, include an estimate of GYSP cases created using payment data. Estimates will be published via temporary data tables only. These will be published with each release of DWP benefit statistics.

Once we are ready to restore regular State Pension updates to Stat-Xplore, we will announce further plans for their inclusion.

8. 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 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.

Lead statistician: Alan Gibson.

ISBN: 978-1-78659-406-8