Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants have moved into employment since the roll out-of universal credit in each year for which figures are available.
Answered by Will Quince
The latest caseload data shows Universal Credit is supporting 2.8 million claimants across the country to more easily start work and access smoother incentives, such as the work allowance and taper, to increase hours. We have scrapped the cliff edges and complicated hours’ rules of the legacy benefit system to ensure claimants have flexibility to access the opportunities offered in the labour market.
There are a record number of people in work at 32.9 million – up by over 3.8 million since 2010. During August 2019 and September 2019, the latest information available, just over 200,000 Universal Credit claimants have succeeded in getting into jobs.
Monthly information surrounding the volumes of Universal Credit claimants who have moved into work is shown in the table below.
- | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 |
April | 320 | 5,150 | 25,000 | 79,900 |
May | 550 | 5,900 | 26,800 | 87,400 |
June | 650 | 6,310 | 29,200 | 81,600 |
July | 1,010 | 6,500 | 31,600 | 87,800 |
August | 1,290 | 7,630 | 38,900 | 94,200 |
September | 1,890 | 10,100 | 47,300 | 106,300 |
October | 2,150 | 10,800 | 52,600 | N/A |
November | 2,600 | 11,700 | 59,900 | N/A |
December | 2,320 | 9,600 | 44,300 | N/A |
January | 3,230 | 14,700 | 61,400 | N/A |
February | 3,940 | 16,600 | 68,800 | N/A |
March | 5,070 | 22,100 | 84,200 | N/A |
Notes:
1. Figures are for Universal Credit Full Service only
2. Figures are at household level. In some cases both members of a household may have entered work in the same month, but only one job entry would be counted in our response.
3. Figures are based upon situations when a household reports no earnings in one Assessment Period but then has earnings in the next.
4. Self-employed jobs are not included in the table.
5. Figures also include instances of a household moving out of work and at a later date moving back into work.