UK profit hotspots mapped – 10 areas the place 1 in 10 below 30s declare Universal Credit
Hartlepool tops the list with 15.4% of 18-29-year-olds out of work and claiming Universal Credit, followed by Blackpool and Thanet in Kent, as 662,000 young people claim UC payments across the UK
Britain’s benefit hotspots have been exposed(Image: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Britain’s benefit hotspots have been exposed, where more than 1 in 10 under-30s are signed off work. Approximately 662,000 young people are believed to be receiving Universal Credit (UC) payments of up to £420 monthly, with numerous benefit claimants clustered in select regions.
The local authority boasting the largest proportion of jobless 18-29-year-olds is Hartlepool in Durham, at 15.4%, with Blackpool and Thanet, Kent, following closely behind.
Rotherham in South Yorkshire and Great Yarmouth in Norfolk complete the top 10, highlighting the expanding magnitude of the crisis, with roughly 2.8 million Britons believed to be unemployed – 800,000 more than in 2019, according to The Sun.
Among these are approximately 185,000 18-24-year-olds, a figure that nearly doubled between 2012 and 2022, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) cautioned as it urged the Government to apply a “handbrake” on fresh claims related to anxiety and depression.
The former Prime Minister’s think tank claims 1,000 working-age individuals are registering for benefits daily, with the taxpayer burden expected to reach £73 billion by 2030, reports The Sun.
Dr Charlotte Refsum, director of health policy at the TBI, adds: “The system is drawing too many into long-term dependency for conditions often treatable and compatible with work, and not doing enough to support recovery.
“It is bad for the country and bad for people’s health.”
YouGov polling for the institute has revealed that in all but five of the UK’s 634 constituencies, more voters believe the welfare system is “too easy to access and does not do enough to prevent misuse” than it being “too strict”.
The TBI has called on the Government to bring in legislation to curb a “proliferation” in mental health claims that it argues have sparked a rise in people registering for sickness and disability benefits, including UC and Personal Independence Payments (PIP), reports the Express.
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions states the Government “remains committed to reforming welfare, with measures coming into effect this month saving nearly £2bn by the end of the decade and investing £2.5bn to tackle youth unemployment”.
Top 10 ‘benefit capitals’ in Britain
- Hartlepool – 2,087, 15.4%
- Blackpool – 2,696, 14.3%
- Thanet – 2,232, 13.7%
- Redcar and Cleveland – 2,245, 13.5%
- North East Lincolnshire – 2,632, 13.4%
- Rotherham – 4,820, 13.2%
- West Dunbartonshire – 1,508, 12.9%
- North Ayrshire – 2,054, 12.6%
- Great Yarmouth – 1,494, 12.4%
- Knowsley – 2,747, 12.2%
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