Proportion of Londoners aged 16-64 receiving out-of-work benefits by benefit type (2013-2022 Q4)
The number of out-of-work benefit claimants aged 16-64 jumped in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic mainly driven by a rise in Universal Credit claimants, and fell back in the two years since to 12.4% in November 2022.
The types of benefits claimed by those out of work has also changed in recent years, as Universal Credit has rolled out across the capital. For example, 0.7% of working-age Londoners were out of work and claiming Universal Credit in 2016. By 2022, this proportion had risen to 9.1% of the working-age population.
Compared to London, the proportion of the working-age population on out-of-work benefits was higher in the rest of England between 2013 and 2019. This changed in 2020, when the proportion of working age Londoners on out of work benefits was slightly higher than in the rest of England (14.5% and 13.8% respectively). However, in the latest quarter we have data for (November 2022) the difference reversed to the pre-pandemic trend, with the rest of England having a slightly higher proportion of their working-age populations on out-of-work benefits (12.7% and 12.4% respectively).