More than 1m foreigners claim Universal Credit every month

[CharlieH]

 

The number of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit in Britain has risen to nearly 1.3 million, official new figures have revealed.

 

The data, from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), shows that the number of migrants on the benefit increased from 906,000 in June 2022 to 1.27 million in June this year. Some 737,799 of the migrants are unemployed, while 510,970 are in some kind of work, according to the figures.

The benefit claims, broken down by nationality by the DWP for the first time, were labelled as “unsustainable” and prompted demands for a rethink of state benefits to restrict access to them by migrants.

 

Most of the migrants receiving the benefits are EU nationals, comprising 770,379 of the claims. This represents a 19.7 per cent increase from 643,000 in 2022.

Non-EU nationals account for 492,502 of the Universal Credit claims, which is up 87.6 per cent - or nearly double the 263,000 in June 2022.

Experts suggested the increase reflected a surge in the number of asylum seekers being granted refugee status and record net migration, which hit a peak of 906,000 in the year to June 2023.

Of the non-EU nationals, those with indefinite leave to remain make up 211,090 of the claims, followed by 118,749 refugees, 54,156 on humanitarian visas including Ukraine and Afghanistan, 75,267 on time-limited visas, and 33,240 “others”.

 

Foreign nationals become eligible for Universal Credit and other benefits on the same terms as British citizens once they are granted either indefinite leave to remain or refugee status.

The figures do not put a cost to the taxpayer on the figures, but research, previously published by The Telegraph, showed that households with at least one claimant who is a foreign national doubled to nearly £1 billion a month in the past three years.

 

Original story courtesy The Telegraph