Britain’s advantages capitals mapped as figures reveal as much as 14% of working-age adults are getting handouts in components of nation

Britain’s unemployment benefits capitals have been mapped as new data shows up to 14 per cent of working-age adults who are required to look for work are receiving handouts in parts of the country. 

Tens of thousands of adults across swathes of Birmingham are receiving state payouts despite being fit to work.

Some 12,000 people in the constituency of Birmingham Perry Bar alone are on Jobseeker’s Allowance or in receipt of Universal Credit, but are required to look for employment, figures from the House of Commons library show.

This equates to 14.5 per cent of the local population aged 16 to 64, almost four times the national average of 3.8 per cent.

Seven out of the top eight constituencies in the rankings are in the West Midlands city, with Bradford West sneaking in at number seven, where around 7,800 adults – 9.4 per cent – receive the same benefits.

All of the benefits capitals of Britain are located in England, with the first non-English constituency, Glasgow East, coming in at 83rd with just 5.6 per cent of the fit working population receiving benefits.

The top 20 include areas of Birmingham, London, Bradford and Walsall. At the other end of the scale, constituencies Westmorland and Lonsdale, Wetherby and Easingwold and York Outer have just 1.4 per cent of the adult population on these benefits.

It comes after the Labour government was accused this week of creating a ‘jobless generation’ of young people, with almost one in six young adults not in work.

The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds surged to 16.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2025 – the highest level since early 2015, according to the Office for National Statistics. 

And the overall rate of unemployment has risen to a five-year high of 5.2 per cent.

Some 1.69 million people signed on to receive Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit with work requirements at the start of the year, a rise of almost 30,000 on December 2025. 

In addition to those on benefits who are seeking work, data last year revealed that some 3.7 million Britons are on Universal Credit with no work requirements.

This marked a rise of one million since Sir Keir took office, sparking outrage among critics of the ballooning welfare bill.

And with those off sick expected to cost the economy £67 billion by 2029-30, the government is facing having to make tough decisions to balance the books. 

The overall welfare bill is expected to rise from £140 billion to £177 billion by the end of the Parliament after Labour’s U-turn on planned cuts to the number of people eligible to receive PIP and other disability payments last year.

The Daily Mail previously visited the UK’s unemployment benefits capital, Birmingham, where in some areas more than 64 per cent of households claim Universal Credit.

Receiving UC does not automatically mean a someone is unemployed, with the benefit also supporting those in lower-paid jobs.

In the Ladywood constituency, which has the second-highest rate of fit adults on unemployment benefits nationally, Mat Jabatesh, 32, told the Daily Mail how she has been unemployed for three years and is having to live in a hostel with her four children.

She said: ‘I’ve been searching for a job, I don’t have any job. I’ve been going to the job centre, I go online, I tried to apply on Indeed, I don’t get any job.

‘I don’t claim any benefits. The housing matter has become so difficult for me, I’m trying to get some accommodation but it’s difficult for me, I don’t know where to go.’

Before she was out of work she was a care assistant, but she says now ‘there’s no job opportunities’ in the area.

‘There’s no jobs. Life is becoming more difficult for everyone. It’s not only me, everybody is suffering.

‘There’s a lot of homeless people on the streets and there’s a lot of people who are being financially, emotionally and physically affected.

‘You see people who don’t have jobs and they’re going mental, physically and spiritually. People are just becoming more frustrated and there’s a lot of sick people because you can’t get a GP appointment.

‘Everything is becoming so difficult now.’

Basant Singh, 40, has been looking for a job for two years and receives housing and child benefits, but says the payments are not enough to live off.

He said: ‘It’s the lack of jobs and people are not skilful enough for them.

‘Where this government is going wrong is they’re letting newcomers come in and go straight on benefits. They look well but just want money from the government.

‘I was born and bred in England and I’m 40 and I’m struggling to get a job.

‘Two years I’ve been out of work. I’ve worked all over, at the market, at Birmingham Airport, lots of retail work.

‘But there’s no jobs. Also it’s all done online now with so many people applying for the same jobs. And people’s experience is not even getting first priority.’

Labour’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves is being blamed by the opposition for rising unemployment due to Budget measures, including the £25billion annual rise in National Insurance contributions and increasing minimum wage for young people.

Tory shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: ‘These figures show the impact of a ”zombie government” with no plan for growth.

‘Labour’s Jobs Tax, economic uncertainty and their red tape Employment Rights Bill are holding back hiring, creating a jobless generation.’

Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: ‘We must urgently turn our attention to the UK’s unemployment problems.

‘At the end of last year almost one-in-six young people who wanted to work couldn’t find a job. Unemployment risks climbing even further in 2026.

‘Getting youth unemployment down in this country – along with the share of young people who aren’t in education or training either – must be a top priority for 2026.’