Official Statistics

Universal Credit statistics: 29 April 2013 to 8 October 2020

Updated 1 December 2020

The latest release of these statistics can be found in the Universal Credit statistics collection.

This bulletin was revised on 1 December 2020 to correct errors for in payment households and payment timeliness in the main stories section. The correct figures were presented in the Households section of the bulletin and on Stat-Xplore.

A correction has also been made to the families without children for March 2020 in the main stories and main body of the bulletin due to a rounding error. This does not affect the figures on Stat-Xplore.

These are the latest statistics for:

• people on Universal Credit up to 8 October 2020 (until the next release on 15 December 2020)
• claims made and starts up to 8 October 2020 (until the next release on 23 February 2021)
• households including payments for Universal Credit up to 13 August 2020 (until the next release on 23 February 2021)

For the latest statistics after these dates, follow the links on the Universal Credit statistics collection page.

This bulletin contains statistics on claims made, starts, and people on Universal Credit and households including payments for Universal Credit for England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain). Other Universal Credit statistics are available for sanctions, the benefit cap and Northern Ireland.

Households data is not available earlier because data is unavailable due to assessment period timings. In addition, time is allowed for retrospection to the data for better quality statistics. More information on the timeliness of the statistics is provided in the background quality report.

Status

Universal Credit statistics are official statistics that are experimental. This is due to the ongoing development of the data systems that are used to support Universal Credit.

Guidance

Guidance on these statistics is available in the background information and methodology document.

Geography data for People on Universal Credit and Households on Universal Credit

A small amount of geography data in this publication may not have been updated during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in the data source used. More information on this issue is provided in the About these statistics section.

Postcode district for claims and starts to Universal Credit has been withdrawn

More information on this issue is provided in the About these statistics section.

1. Data tools accompanying this release

This bulletin presents commentary on the latest Universal Credit statistics. Alternative ways to view Universal Credit statistics are available:

• Stat-Xplore allows users to explore Universal Credit data and build their own tables – it also contains some ready-made tables
• Universal Credit claimants at Jobcentre Plus office level in an interactive map
• Households on Universal Credit at local authority level in an interactive map
• An interactive dashboard of the latest Universal Credit household statistics by region

2. Main stories

The headline statistics for Universal Credit are:

• 5.7 million people on Universal Credit at 8 October 2020 – up 2% from 10 September 2020

• 4.6 million households on Universal Credit with an assessment period covering the 13 August 2020, of which 86% (3.9 million) received a payment
• 93% of new claims and 98% of all claims received their full payment in full and on time for the assessment period covering 9 July 2020, compared with 87% and 95% respectively in March 2020

Of the 5.7 million people on Universal Credit at 8 October:

• 39% were in the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality regime
• 38% were in employment

Of the 4.6 million households on Universal Credit at 13 August 2020:

• 86% (3.9 million) were in-payment – down from 88% in May 2020 and 94% in February 2020
• the average (mean) payment to in-payment households was £760 a month

There was a large increase in claims to Universal Credit at the beginning of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. This has led to:

• since 12 March to 8 October 2020:
  • 3.7 million people on claims made for Universal Credit – more than one-third of the 10.6 million claims made to Universal Credit since it was introduced in April 2013
  • 3.6 million starts to Universal Credit
• on 8 October 2020, compared with 12 March 2020:
  • an increase of 2.7 million people (90%) on Universal Credit
  • a doubling of the number of people on Universal Credit in London and the surrounding regions

• on 13 August 2020, compared with 12 March 2020:

  • an increase of 1.9 million households on Universal Credit
  • 59% of in-payment households were without children – an increase from 54%

3. Things you need to know

What is Universal Credit?

Universal Credit is a single payment for each household to help with living costs for those on a low income or out of work. It is replacing 6 benefits, commonly referred to as the legacy benefits.

Support for housing costs, children and childcare costs are integrated into Universal Credit. It also provides additions for people with a disability, health condition or caring responsibilities which may prevent them from working.

Universal Credit has been rolled out in stages:

• March 2013 to December 2017: Universal Credit was available to new claimants in a limited group, mostly to 18 to 60 year old single people with no children, unemployed (typically people who would have claimed income-related Jobseekers Allowance) where the Universal Credit live service was available. Where their circumstances changed they could remain on Universal Credit.
• April 2016 to December 2018: Gradual roll out of Universal Credit full service. Where available, Universal Credit is available to new claims and people on legacy benefits whose circumstances change.
• December 2018: Universal Credit full service is available in every area of Great Britain.

Read the background information and methodology document for a more detailed timeline.

Data sources and limitations

These official statistics have been compiled using data in systems used by the department in the administration of Universal Credit and records of Universal Credit benefit payments made by the department.

While every effort is made to collect data to the highest quality, as with all administrative data it is dependent on the accuracy of information entered into the system. Checks are made throughout the process from collection of the data to producing the statistics, but some data entry or processing errors may filter through to the data used to produce the statistics. For more information on the quality of the administrative data, refer to the background quality report and quality assurance of administrative data.

As Universal Credit continues to develop, caution should be used when interpreting statistics over long time periods. Administrative system changes could cause discontinuities in the time series that were not the result of a policy decision or the economic environment.

There are inherent differences in the data for People on Universal Credit and Households on Universal Credit, thus it is not possible to cross-tabulate between the two measures. More information is provided in the relationship between people and households on Universal Credit section of these differences between the 2 datasets.

A full discussion of strengths and limitations is in the background information and methodology

Count date

Statistics for people on Universal Credit are based on the count of people on the second Thursday of each month, referred to as the count date. This date is determined by the date used for the Claimant Count which some of these data feed into. For this publication the latest count date is the 8 October 2020.

Claims and starts are based on the total flow between the day after the count date for the previous month up to the count date.

Household statistics are based on the assessment periods that overlap the count date. A longer time period is required before publishing statistics for households than statistics for people, claims and starts because data for payment information for households is subject to more retrospection.

The background and methodology document provides more information on the process of producing these statistics.

4. Claims made to Universal Credit

Making a claim is the first step an individual will need to do to receive Universal Credit. Not everybody that makes a claim will go on to start on Universal Credit.

There have been 3.7 million claims made to Universal Credit between 13 March and 8 October 2020.

Claims made return to pre-pandemic levels following an large increase at the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

The restrictions that were introduced throughout the country as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to a large increase in the number of claims for Universal Credit. In the two weeks between 20 March 2020 and 2 April 2020 there were 1.1 million claims made to Universal Credit. This is more than 10 times the weekly average for the year to 12 March 2020 of 54,000 claims.

In total, since the 13 March 2020 when claims to Universal Credit started to increase in response to restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 3.7 million claims made to Universal Credit. This is more than one-third (35%) of the 10.6 million claims made to Universal Credit since its introduction in April 2013.

Following the initial surge in claims made to Universal Credit, the number of claims made gradually reduced week-on-week as further support measures were announced and the initial uncertainty of the effect of the lockdown on household incomes became clearer. Claims made returned to pre-pandemic levels around the end of June 2020, since when they have remained at around 55,000 to 65,000 claims a week.

Not all claims that are made will go on to start on Universal Credit. This can be because, for example, the circumstances of some people who have made a claim may change before they start on Universal Credit, and they may close their claim before starting.

5. Starts to Universal Credit

Following making a claim, a claimant is counted as starting on Universal Credit statistics when they have agreed their commitment requirements and had their identity verified among other criteria. For the full definition of what is regarded as a start on Universal Credit refer to the background and methodology document.

There have been 3.6 million claims starting on Universal Credit since the 13 March 2020. Of these, 2.4 million were between 13 March and 14 May 2020.

Starts return to normal levels after a high number of starts in April and May 2020

Starts have returned to a level that is broadly comparable with a year earlier. There were 220,000 starts to Universal Credit in the 4 weeks to 8 October 2020, compared with 190,000 starts to Universal Credit in the 4 weeks to 10 October 2019.

The government made a number of changes to Universal Credit to support people through the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020. These changes, together with the changes in people’s circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic, resulted in a large increase to the number of starts to Universal Credit between 13 March 2020 and 14 May 2020. In total between these dates there were 2.4 million starts to Universal Credit. This contributes to a total of 3.6 million claims for Universal Credit having started between 13 March 2020 and 8 October 2020.

More women are starting on Universal Credit than men

The number of starts to Universal Credit have returned to levels that are comparable to before the coronavirus pandemic and over half of starts to Universal Credit are women. In the 4 weeks to 8 October 2020, 51% of starts were women.

There were more men starting on Universal Credit during the large increase in starts at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic between April 2020 and July 2020. In the 4 weeks to 9 April 2020, men accounted for 55% of starts, and in the 5 weeks to 14 May 2020 men accounted for 58% of starts. In comparison, in each month between February 2019 and December 2019 more women started on Universal Credit than men.

16 to 24 year olds make up a higher proportion of starts to Universal Credit than before the coronavirus pandemic

The proportion of Universal Credit who are young people has increased to its highest level since November 2017. In the 4 weeks to 8 October 2020, the proportion of Universal Credit claimants who were aged between 16 and 24 was 27.1%, compared with 21.1% in the 4 weeks to 12 March 2020.

This contrasts with the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic following the lockdown when these age groups fell as a proportion of those starting on Universal Credit. In April 2020, the 16 to 19 age band fell to 3.3% and the 20-24 age band fell to 11.7%.

Claimants starting on Universal Credit in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic were typically in the older age groups compared with before the coronavirus pandemic. Claimants in the 45 to 49 age group increased to 9.7% in April 2020 from 7.9% in March 2020. Claimants in the 50 to 54 age band increased to 8.8% in April 2020 from 6.9% in March 2020.

6. People on Universal Credit

People on Universal Credit counts the number of people with an open claim on the count date who had accepted a claimant commitment and verified their identity. Not every person on Universal Credit on the count date will go on to receive a payment for the assessment period.

There were 5.7 million people on Universal Credit at 8 October 2020 – a 90% increase since 12 March 2020.

Number of people on Universal Credit almost doubles since beginning of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

The number of people on Universal Credit was 5.7 million on 8 October 2020, up 2% on 10 September 2020. There has been a 90% (2.7 million) increase in the number of people on Universal Credit from 3 million on 12 March 2020, the last count date before the coronavirus pandemic.

The increase in the number of people on Universal Credit should be considered in the context of:

• changes in the level of income or employment status resulting from the coronavirus pandemic

• changes announced to support people through the coronavirus pandemic, including a temporary £1,040 a year increase to the standard allowance and an increase to local housing allowance rates

• a temporary policy change of £0 payment awards being open for up to 6 assessment periods of £0 awards

These are briefly explained in the following paragraphs.

A temporary £1,040 a year increase to the standard allowance for 1 year from April 2020 was introduced as part of a support package to support people through the coronavirus pandemic.

Additionally, local housing allowance rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents from April 2020.

These changes had the effect of bringing more people with higher earnings on to Universal Credit. This is because the more Universal Credit entitlement a household has, the more earnings the household can have before their award reduces to zero by the taper rate. Consequently, there are more people in employment who are eligible for Universal Credit than without the temporary increase. The background information and methodology document has more information on the calculation of a Universal Credit award.

A temporary administrative policy change was made to £0 award claims at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. When a Universal Credit claim is reduced to a £0 award due to earnings being too high, the claim is normally considered to be closed. A household can “reclaim” Universal Credit if their earnings fell again within 6 months using the same details as their previous, closed, claim.

Because of the evolving nature of the coronavirus pandemic, there was a temporary change to this policy and claims reduced to £0 because earnings were too high would remained open for up to 6 assessment periods of £0 awards. This led to a higher number of people with an open claim on Universal Credit that are not “in-payment” than would otherwise be the case.

The people on Universal Credit series does not include an in-payment breakdown as, at the time the data was taken to produce these statistics, awards had not been calculated for the assessment period relevant to the count date. However, as a guide, as later discussed in the households chapter, 86% of households on Universal Credit received a payment in August 2020, a decrease from 94% before the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020.

Over 700,000 people remain on Universal Credit having made a claim during the first month of lockdown

People on Universal Credit by duration, Great Britain, September 2020 to October 2020

Duration on Universal Credit	September 2020 (r)	October 2020 (p)	Change
Up to 3 months	600,000	600,000	0
3 months up to 6 months	2,100,000	1,400,000	-700,000
6 months up to 1 year	900,000	1,600,000	700,000
More than 1 year	1,900,000	2,000,000	100,000

Source: DWP Universal Credit statistics.
Note: See Stat-Xplore for the complete data series. Components may not sum to total due to rounding.
Figures marked (p) are provisional; figures marked (r) have been revised since the previous release.

Nearly 65% of the 5.7 million people on Universal Credit on 8 October 2020 have been claiming for more than 6 months. This includes the people that made a claim to Universal Credit in the first month after the beginning of lockdown.

Those that applied during the first month of the lockdown would have been on Universal Credit for over 6 months. Around 35% of people on Universal Credit have been claiming for up to 6 months and 29% have been claiming for 6 months up to 1 year. Over 700,000 claimants have moved to the over 6 months’ category from being on Universal Credit for 3 months up to 6 months between September 2020 and October 2020.

More women than men on Universal Credit since June 2018

There are more women claiming Universal Credit than men on 8 October 2020. However, the proportion of men on Universal Credit has increased since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, to 48% on 8 October 2020 from 44% on 12 March 2020.

From the introduction of Universal Credit up until June 2018, men on Universal Credit outnumbered women on the benefit. Since June 2018, this has changed to women outnumbering men. This change is explained by Universal Credit being only available to working age individuals with no children and whom were seeking employment in the initial introduction of Universal Credit. This group of people are those that would have claimed income related Jobseekers Allowance, which is a benefit that has been typically claimed by men more than women (source: Stat-Xplore).

The broadening of Universal Credit to the people who would have claimed the other legacy benefits has led to more females than men claiming Universal Credit. These benefits, which include Income Support and Child Tax Credit, tended to have been claimed by women.

20 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit have increased in proportion since the start of the coronavirus pandemic

The proportion of claimants aged 20 to 24 has increased steadily since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, to 13.4% on 8 October 2020 from 12.5% on 12 March 2020. However, the proportion of starts from the same age group has been falling over the past 3 months, but remained higher than any other age group at 17.1%. Although there has been an increasing proportion of starts in the 16 to 19 age group since May 2020, the proportion of people in this age group on Universal Credit has not increased and remains below the level before the coronavirus pandemic (3.5% in October 2020 compared with 3.7% in March 2020).

Higher proportion of people in ‘Searching for work’ and ‘Working’ conditionality regimes than before the coronavirus pandemic

Claimants are required to do certain work-related activities to receive Universal Credit. These activities are determined by which of the 6 conditionality regimes the claimant is placed in. The conditionality regime also determines the level of contact with the claimant, and the support that they will receive.

Conditionality regime is used in Universal Credit statistics instead of terms ‘conditionality group’ and ‘labour market regime’. To help users understand the different regimes more easily, this bulletin uses different terms to the official terms for the labour market regimes. The definitions section of this bulletin provides more information on the different conditionality regimes, and their associated conditionality groups and labour market regimes.

Different members of the same household may be subject to the same or different requirements. As circumstances change claimants will also transition between different levels of conditionality. This means that there is a ‘flow’ of claimants between these groups, that is the number of claimants in each group is constantly changing in our published statistics, month to month.

The proportions of people on Universal Credit on each of the conditionality regimes has changed as a result of the new claimants to Universal Credit during the initial period of the coronavirus pandemic.

The ‘Searching for work’ conditionality regime has steadily decreased to 39% on 8 October 2020 from 44% on 14 May 2020 of all people on Universal Credit. On 12 March 2020, just before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there were 36% of people on Universal Credit on the ‘Searching for Work’ conditionality regime. The number of people in the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality regime has remained relatively constant at 2.3 million between May 2020 and October 2020.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the large increase in the number of people eligible for work who started on Universal Credit led to an increase in the proportion in the ‘Searching for work’ group to 44% in May 2020 from 36% in March 2020.

Over the longer term until the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality regime was on a long term downward trend, from 62% in October 2016. This was because Universal Credit was initially only available to people who were expected to be jobseekers. As Universal Credit has broadened to people that would have claimed other legacy benefits through the introduction of full service the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality regime has fallen as a proportion of the overall caseload.

During the coronavirus pandemic, a claimant’s requirement to search for work is tailored towards their individual circumstances. This takes into account their personal circumstances, government health advice and their ability to work. Through an easement, work-related requirements can be ‘turned off’ either by a legal requirement or on a discretionary basis in response to the claimant’s particular circumstances.

The ‘No work requirements’ conditionality regime has fallen as a proportion of all people on Universal Credit to 18% in October 2020 from 26% in March 2020. This is following an increase of new claimants being in employment since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and therefore increasing the relative proportion of the ‘Working’ conditionality regimes.

The ‘Working – no requirements’ conditionality regime has increased as a proportion of all people on Universal Credit to 21% from 15% in March 2020. This is because a greater proportion of employees are entitled to claim Universal Credit with higher earnings due to the increase in standard allowance.

The conditionality regime measures which regime an individual is in on the count date. This may not be representative of the entire assessment period for that individual. Conditionality regime figures are not the same as the employment measures, which shows whether an individual has had earnings during their assessment period. The two measures should only be used together with caution. The background information and methodology document provides more information on this.

Employment rate higher than before the coronavirus pandemic

Universal Credit is available to people who are in work and on a low income, as well as to those who are out of work. Most claimants on low incomes will still be paid Universal Credit when they start a new job or increase their hours.

Universal Credit statistics measure employment as receiving earnings during the assessment period which is active on the count date.

As earnings for this period can be received up to 1 month after the count date, this data is not available for processing at the time other data for people on Universal Credit is available. The later availability of this data means that statistics on employment for people on Universal Credit are published a month later than other statistics for people on Universal Credit.

The composition of Universal Credit claimants has changed since before the coronavirus pandemic as there is a higher proportion of people on Universal Credit being recorded as in employment. This is because keeping £0 awards open and the increase in the standard allowance has allowed people with higher earnings to be eligible for Universal Credit, relative to before the coronavirus pandemic.

The employment rate has increased for all people on Universal Credit to 38% (2.2 million) on 10 September 2020 from 35% (1 million) on 12 March 2020, the last count date before the coronavirus pandemic. This is the highest employment rate for Universal Credit since December 2018 (39%).

The increase in the employment rate, and that it is higher than the pre-pandemic rate, should not be interpreted as increasing employment. This increase may seem contradictory to other statistics on the labour market, but it should be considered in the context of the policy changes to Universal Credit to support people through the coronavirus pandemic.

Not all people in ‘searching for work’ conditionality are unemployed

A claimant’s conditionality regime may not be apparent from their employment status. There are differences between how conditionality regime and employment status are measured that means the conditionality regime is a measure of the regime the claimant is on the count date.

Employment status measures whether a claimant has received any (PAYE) earnings during the assessment period that covers the count date. For this reason, a claimant may not necessarily be in employment on the count date.

In the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality regime, 87% of claimants received no earnings and are recorded as not in employment for the assessment period covering 10 September 2020. Typically, around 85% of claimants received no earnings and were recorded as not in employment in the months before the coronavirus pandemic.

This means that 13% are recorded as having received earnings and being in employment. These claimants will include those whom are in work with earnings below £338 per month, or with earnings below this level and household earnings below £541 per month. These amounts are known as the Administrative Earnings Level (AET).

In the ‘Working – no requirements’ regime there are 87% of claimants in employment. There are 13% of claimants who are recorded as not having received earnings and not in employment. These include claimants who are not in work, but who are in a household with earnings above the household Conditionality Earnings Threshold (CET). The CET is the amount of the National Minimum Wage for the claimant’s expected hours of work.

In a couple household, if one of the adults is earning above the household CET, then the claimant is placed in the ‘Working – no requirements’ regime regardless of the individual employment status. The household CET is a combination of both adults individual CETs.

The number of people on Universal Credit in London and surrounding regions has doubled since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic

Percentage increase of people on Universal Credit by region, Great Britain, March 2020 to October 2020

Region	%
North East	62
North West	75
Yorkshire and The Humber	79
East Midlands	93
West Midlands	81
East of England	102
London	119
South East	109
South West	91
Wales	75
Scotland	79

Note: See Stat-Xplore for the complete data series.
Source: DWP Universal Credit statistics.

There have been regional disparities in the growth of the number of people on Universal Credit during the coronavirus pandemic. London (119%), the South East (109%) and the East of England (102%) have seen the largest growth between 12 March and 8 October 2020, more than doubling the number of people on Universal Credit in those regions. The North East has seen the smallest growth with a 62% increase in the number of people on Universal Credit.

Claimants from London make up a greater proportion of people on Universal Credit

The proportion of people on Universal Credit from London increased to 16.5% on 8 October 2020 from 14.4% on 12 March 2020. This is despite there being proportionally more claimants from some other regions making a Universal Credit claim during the first month of the coronavirus pandemic. London is the only region growing proportionally since June 2020 and it remains the region with the largest proportion of claimants on Universal Credit. Excluding London, all other regions in recent months have remained relatively constant since March 2020, with only marginal declines in proportion size since June 2020.

For more regional and local level information see the map for claimants on Universal Credit at Jobcentre Plus office level

7. Households on Universal Credit

In Universal Credit statistics a household is a single person or couple living together with or without dependent children. This is sometimes referred to as a benefit unit in other statistics. To be counted in the ‘households on Universal Credit’ series, a household needs to have had their entitlement calculated for the assessment period covering the count date.

Statistics for ‘households on Universal Credit’ are produced 3 months in arrears. For more information on this and the timeliness of these statistics, refer to the background information and methodology document.

There were 4.6 million households on Universal Credit in August 2020, an increase of 1.9 million since March 2020.

Of these households, 86% (3.9 million) were receiving a payment, compared to 94% (2.5 million out of 2.7 million) in March 2020.

The number of households on Universal Credit has increased to 4.6 million for assessment periods covering the 13 August 2020. It had been increasingly steadily before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to 2.5 million in March 2020 from 760,000 in March 2018.

Fewer households in-payment, proportionally, than before the coronavirus pandemic

Although the number of households on Universal Credit is continuing to increase, the number of households in payment is broadly unchanged at around 3.9 million households in August 2020 from July 2020 (due to rounding the number of households in payment in July 2020 is 4.0 million, but the actual difference is a decrease of around 16,000 households.)

There are a number of reasons why a household may not be in receipt of a payment, such as when someone moves into work and their level of earnings means that they no longer receive a payment.

Figures marked (p) are provisional; figures marked (r) have been revised since the previous release.

Consequently, the proportion of households in-payment in August 2020 has fallen to 86% from 88% in May 2020. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the proportion of households in-payment had gradually increased to 94% by February 2020.

Claims with a £0 award are normally considered to be closed if the claimant’s earnings reduce their award to £0. However, as a temporary process change during the coronavirus pandemic where a claim would normally be closed as a result of high earnings, these claims are being kept open for up to 6 assessment periods of a £0 award.

In addition, households would have claimed Universal Credit at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic before other support measures were announced. As the Job Retention Scheme and other support measures were announced and came into effect, their earnings may not have fallen as much as the claimant initially anticipated when making a claim for Universal Credit. Consequently, their award was tapered down to £0 by their earnings.

The average (mean) Universal Credit payment is higher than before the coronavirus pandemic

The amount of Universal Credit a household receives is based on the standard Universal Credit entitlement plus additional entitlements that they are eligible for. Above these entitlements households may also receive additional payments for a loan advance, hardship payment, severe disability payment or mortgage interest.

The payments will be lower than their Universal Credit entitlements where the household is making a loan repayment, has been sanctioned, is limited by the benefit cap, is having benefit or tax credit overpayments being recovered or their income is above the threshold where the payment is reduced by the taper.

The average (mean) amount of Universal Credit paid to households on Universal Credit was £760 per month in August 2020. This is an increase of £50 from £710 in August 2019 and £30 higher than the £730 in February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic.

The higher average award of Universal Credit payments since March 2020 is due to annual uprating of Universal Credit entitlements and an additional, temporary, £1,040 a year (£20 a week) to the standard allowance in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

There was a spike in the average payment for assessment periods covering the 10 April 2020, with the average payment of £840. Management information shows that there was an increase in the number of advances being paid in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic.

Additionally, some payment awards would have increased from a suspension of the recovery of debts for benefit overpayments, Social Fund loans and third party debts. The recovery of these debts was suspended until early May 2020, where recoveries are being introduced gradually.

Moreover, requirements for work search and work availability were suspended from 30 March 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and have been gradually being reintroduced from 1 July 2020. The suspension of these requirements would have led to fewer awards being reduced from sanctions than there would normally, increasing the average payment. See the Benefit sanction statistics for more information on sanctions.

Although claimants will fully benefit from the annual benefit uprating and the £20 a week temporary increase to the standard allowance, this does not show in the increase to the average (mean) payment since February 2020. This is due to a higher proportion of single people without children and a higher proportion of claims made without the housing element in new claims and people returning to work since 1 June 2020 on a flexible-working basis as allowed by the coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. These claimants will have lower payments than the average which offset the increases in payments from existing claimants pre-pandemic in the average payment.

The average payment is influenced by large payments. Over 7% of households where Universal Credit is in payment are paid more than £1,500. The average (mean) payment is increased by these large payments, which are largely caused by households receiving payments in addition to their standard entitlements.

In August 2020, the median payment – the amount where 50% of households are paid more, and 50% of households are paid less than – is lower than the average (mean) payment at £680.

Average (mean) payment is influenced by a number of high payments

More households were awarded a payment in the £300.01 to £400 payment band than any other payment band. Over 90% of claimants in this payment band were single claimants without children. In contrast, in the over £1,500 payment band, 94% were households with children (Source: Stat-Xplore).

The £300.01 to £400 is the largest payment band in every region except London. In London the largest payment band is the Over £1,500 payment band with 16% (110,000) households in this payment band. Over 98% of these households are claiming the housing element.

Of all households with a payment of over £1,500, nearly 38% are in London. Over 50% of households with a payment of over £1,500 are in London and the South East. (Source: Stat-Xplore)

For more regional data, refer to the household dashboard and household maps at region and local authority level

Increased proportion of households in payment are without children since beginning of coronavirus pandemic

There has been an increase in the proportion of households without children on Universal Credit claims in payment since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic (increase to 59% in August 2020 from 54% in March 2020).

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic there was a long term upward trend for the proportion of households with children on Universal Credit claims in payment. This was because Universal Credit had replaced legacy benefits and tax credits for new claims and migration from tax credits due to a change in circumstances

All additional entitlements have fallen as a proportion of households in-payment

There are a range of additional entitlements in Universal Credit payments for children, health and disabilities, housing and carers. The proportion of Universal Credit payments with each of these entitlements began to decrease as a result of an increase in claimants from the coronavirus pandemic, which suggests a greater proportion of new claimants were not claiming additional entitlements. This follows a period where the proportion of claimants with additional entitlements was increasing as Universal Credit gradually replaced legacy benefits for new claims.

The proportion of claimants with each of these entitlements has stabilised and are maintaining the levels as at May 2020.

Entitlement for housing is included in the majority of awards to households in payment, with 60% of payment awards including this element in August 2020, down from a peak of 66% in January 2020.

The child entitlement is included in over two in five households in payment, with 41% of these awards including this entitlement in August 2020, compared with 45% in August 2019 and 25% in August 2017. It peaked at 47% in January 2020.

98% of households in-payment received their full payment on time in July 2020

Statistics on payment timeliness are produced 4 months in arrears to avoid large revisions to provisional figures caused by retrospection. This is to allow for more accurate and higher quality statistics.

Payment timeliness for all claims in payment has continued an upward trend during the coronavirus pandemic. Of households with a non-£0 award, 98% received all their payment on time in July 2020. This is an increase from 95% in March 2020, and 92% in July 2019.

Around 99% of households receiving a payment were paid some payment on time, compared to 98% in July 2019.

A higher proportion of new claims are receiving all or some of their payment on time than before the coronavirus pandemic

Payment timeliness is lower when looking at new claims than when looking at all claims. There are a number of one-off verification processes that must be completed by the claimant and by DWP at the start of the claim. These are to confirm the current circumstances of the claimant (or both claimants in a joint claim) and their entitlement to Universal Credit. Delays to completion of these processes can cause payments to not be made on time.

The proportion of new claims – that is claims in their first assessment period on the count date – receiving all of the first payment on time in July 2020 was 93%. This is lower than the 95% of new claims receiving all their first payment on time in April 2020, the first month of the coronavirus pandemic, but higher than the proportion of new claims receiving all their first payment on time before the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 96% of households received some or all of their first payment on time in July 2020. This compares with 97% in April 2020 and 92% in July 2019.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, payment timeliness for new claims had been on a general upward trend for both households receiving some or all of their award on time. In March 2020, the last count date before the coronavirus pandemic, around 87% of new claims received all their first payment on time. This was an increase from 85% in July 2019 and 72% in July 2017.

Payment timeliness is higher during the coronavirus pandemic because of temporary operational and policy changes. This includes redeploying staff within DWP to handle Universal Credit claims, and changes to some verification processes due to the closure of Jobcentres.

8. About these statistics

Purpose

These statistics provide the primary official source of information about people and households on Universal Credit, and claims and starts to Universal Credit.

They enable a variety of users to be informed about different elements of the benefit including politicians, policy and administrative staff in central and local government, academics, the voluntary sector and journalists. They use the statistics for a range of purposes from monitoring and accountability to research and policy development. The background information and methodology document includes more details on the users and uses of these statistics.

Release schedule

The bulletin is published quarterly in February, May, August and November, supplemented by monthly data updates for people on Universal Credit in Stat-Xplore.

• Next release of people on Universal Credit: 15 December 2020

• Next release for claims, starts and households on Universal Credit: 23 February 2021

All releases for Universal Credit statistics can be found in the collection of Universal Credit statistics collection.

User engagement and development of these statistics

These official statistics have been compiled using data from systems within local offices and records of Universal Credit benefit payments made by the department.

These and other new data sources will, in time, allow a progressively broader range of breakdowns to be published as data sources are developed. The methodology used and definitions of the official statistics may be updated within subsequent releases, along with information on the impact of any changes to the time series already released.

A strategy for the release of official statistics on Universal Credit was first published in September 2013 and last updated in January 2018 following consultation with users.

Compliance check against the Code of Practice for Statistics

These statistics have been developed using guidelines set out by the UK Statistics Authority and are official statistics that are experimental.

A compliance check was conducted on Universal Credit statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in May 2019. They welcomed many aspects of the release and made a number of recommendations to support the development of these experimental statistics.

Since that compliance check we have introduced a number of developments. The background information and methodology contains more details on these.

Users are invited to comment on the content, relevance, accessibility and timeliness of these statistics by sending an email to team.ucos@dwp.gov.uk or on the Welfare and Benefits statistics board of StatsUserNet.

Rounding

Volumes and amounts have been rounded as detailed in the background information and methodology document. Percentages are calculated using numbers prior to rounding and rounded to the nearest whole percentage point.

Additional information

Geography data for People on Universal Credit and Households on Universal Credit

Geography data used in People on Universal Credit and Households on Universal Credit in this publication is based on the address information held by DWP before the coronavirus pandemic. An update to the address held in the central data source from which geography information is taken has been deferred until changes can be verified. This is most likely to affect new claimants who did not have recent contact with DWP before the coronavirus pandemic.

This does not affect the address information held on the Universal Credit full service that the claimant has declared on their claim. Postcode area on the Claims made to Universal Credit and Starts to Universal Credit data are not affected by this issue as they are obtained from the Universal Credit full service data.

Postcode district for claims and starts to Universal Credit remains withdrawn

This is due to an issue with the underlying data. Postcode districts (for example, E5) will be restored when a new methodology is developed. This does not affect postcode area (for example, ‘E’ in the postcode E5) for claims and starts which remains available.

New guidance: Background Quality Report and Quality Assurance of Administrative Data report

Alongside this release, 2 new guidance documents have been published.

The Background Quality Report provides an assessment of Universal Credit statistics against the European Statistical System quality framework dimensions of relevance, accuracy and reliability, timeliness, accessibility and clarity, and comparability and coherence. It also includes an assessment of the trade-offs between timeliness and accuracy of the methodology used in Universal Credit statistics against other possible methodologies and meeting user needs.

The Quality Assurance of Administrative Data report provides an assessment of the policies, procedures and communication in the collection of the administrative data used in Universal Credit statistics through to the production of the statistics.

Revisions

Universal Credit statistics are subject to scheduled revisions as detailed in the background information and methodology document.

9. Related statistics

This publication complements other statistics bulletins that, together, provide a more coherent view of Universal Credit claimants and awards, and other benefits.

Universal Credit statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Department for Communities (Northern Ireland).

Benefit sanctions includes statistics on people having their award stopped or reduced for not meeting their agreed conditions.

Benefit Cap includes statistics on people who have had their Universal Credit award capped because their total amount received in benefits is higher than the maximum amount of benefits a person can receive.

DWP benefits provides statistics for benefits that Universal Credit is replacing.

Fraud and error in the benefit system provides estimates of the number of households that may have been paid too much Universal Credit or not enough. These overpayments and underpayments happen as a consequence of fraud; claimant error; and official error (processing errors or delays by DWP, a Local Authority, or Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs). ‘Fraud and error in the benefit system’ estimates how much money the department incorrectly pays.

Claimant Count is a measure of the number of people claiming benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed, based on administrative data from the benefits system. It includes people on Universal Credit in the searching for work conditionality regime for the UK. Universal Credit statistics uses the same data excluding Northern Ireland.

Alternative Claimant Count statistics measure the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits by modelling what the count would have been if Universal Credit had been fully available from when Universal Credit was introduced in 2013 with the broader span of people this covers. Under Universal Credit, a broader span of claimants are required to look for work than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. This is a feature of the design of Universal Credit and has the effect of increasing the Claimant Count irrespective of how the economy performs. For this reason, the Office for National Statistics have stated that the Claimant Count figures are no longer a reliable indicator of the labour market. The Alternative Claimant Count attempts to address this.

European Social Fund (ESF) 2014 to 2020 (ESF 14 to 20) programme is an EU-funded employment, skills and social inclusion programme across England aimed at providing the help people need to achieve their potential. This publication uses Universal Credit data to show how many people who started on the programme were on Universal Credit.

10. Definitions

Claim made

A claim made is when an individual submits an application for Universal Credit.

Start

A person has started on Universal Credit when their identity has been verified and they have agreed their claimant commitment.

People

A person is counted on Universal Credit when they have met the definition to start, they have a National Insurance number recorded and there is no record of a closure of the claim.

Household and in-payment

A household is a single person or co-habiting couple with or without dependant children. A household is counted when their assessment period overlaps the count date. An in-payment household is one that has received a Universal Credit payment of £0.01 or more after deductions, sanctions and the benefit cap during that assessment period.

Conditionality Regimes

All people on Universal Credit are placed into one of four conditionality groups, depending on their personal circumstances. Which of these groups they are placed into will determine what activities they are required to do (if any) as part of their claim. Universal Credit statistics uses the term conditionality regime in place of ‘conditionality group’ and ‘labour market regime’. The table below shows the circumstances of individuals for each conditionality regime and the associated group and labour market regime.

Conditionality regime	Description	Conditionality Group	Labour Market Regime
Searching for work	Not working, or with very low earnings. Claimant is required to take action to secure work - or more or better paid work. The Work Coach supports them to plan their work search and preparation activity. Typical examples of people in this regime include jobseekers and self-employed in start-up period. Claimants are only in this regime if they do not fit into one of the other regimes.	All work related requirements	Intensive Work Search
Working – with requirements	In work, but could earn more, or not working but has a partner with low earnings.	All work related requirements	Light touch
No work requirements	Not expected to work at present. Health or caring responsibility prevents claimant from working or preparing for work. Examples of people on this regime include those in full time education, over state pension age, has a child under 1 and those with no prospect for work.	No work related requirements	No work related requirements
Working – no requirements	Individual or household earnings over the level at which conditionality applies. Required to inform DWP of changes or circumstances, particularly at risk of earnings decreasing or job loss.	No work related requirements	Working enough
Planning for work	Expected to work in the future/ Lead parent or lead carer of child aged 1 (aged 1 to 2, prior to April 2017). Claimant required to attend periodic interviews to plan for their return to work.	Work focused interview	Work focused interview
Preparing for work	Expected to start work in the future even with limited capability to work at the present time or a child aged 2 (aged 3 to 4, prior to April 2017). Claimant expected to take reasonable steps to prepare for working including Work Focused Interview.	Work preparation	Work preparation

Universal Credit live service

The original service offering Universal Credit. Initially restricted to mostly single working age people with no children, seeking work. It was available throughout Great Britain by May 2016. It closed to new claims from 1 January 2018 and all remaining claimants were moved to full service by March 2019.

Universal Credit full service

Full service is the digital system that offers Universal Credit to the full range of claimant groups. New claims are made on gov.uk and most accounts are managed only through an online account. It was gradually introduced to Jobcentres from 2016 and was available in every Jobcentre across Great Britain and Northern Ireland by December 2018. When full service became available in a Jobcentre, existing Universal Credit claimants on live service were transferred to full service within 3 months.

A glossary for further terms used in Universal Credit statistics is included in the background and methodology document.

11. Contacts

Feedback on the content, relevance, accessibility and timeliness of these statistics and any non-media enquiries should be directed to:

Statistician: Stephen Slater

Email: team.ucos@dwp.gov.uk

For media enquiries on these statistics, please contact the DWP press office

For statistics enquiries only. These contact details are unable to provide any information or assistance with claiming Universal Credit.

ISBN: 978-1-78659-198-2