Claimant Count in Trafford
The Claimant Count indicates the number of people claiming benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed. The Claimant Count in Feb 2025 was 41.3% higher than in January 2020. The rate of claimants to residents aged 16 to 64 was 3.3% in Feb 2025 representing an increment of 1% points from January 2020. The number of claimants decreased from April 2021. In July 2024 the claims showed and increase.
The Trafford MSOA with the largest share of claims in Feb 2025 was Old Trafford with 14.5% of all claimants within Trafford, almost the double of claims than Gorse Hill, the MSOA with the second largest number of claims. 16 MSOAs out of 28 have more claims in Feb 2025 compared to Feb 2024. Gorse Hill have the largest increase in number of claims with 70 more, followed by Old Trafford (65). Timperley East had a reduction in number of claims with 20 less, along with Sale East and Bowdon with -15.
The MSOAs with higher claimant rate in Feb 2025 were Old Trafford with 7.9%, Partington with 6.5% and Gorse Hill with 6.2%. The MSOAs where the claimant rate have decreased more from Feb 2024 to Feb 2025 were Timperley East with -0.4% points decrease, followed by Sale East and Bowdon with -0.3%. From the top 5 MSOAs with the highest rates, all had a higher rate when comparing Feb 2024 to Feb 2025.
In Trafford, from Feb 2024 to Feb 2025 3 out of 11 of the age bands has decreased the number of claimants. The age band 40-44 had the most increase with 85 more claimants. When considering the reduction of claims the age band 30-34, 55-59 years had the largest reduction with -15, -15 less claims.
At the start of 2020 the age band 25-34 already had the highest number of claims, however after the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which started in March 2020 this figure increased more sharply compared to the other age bands. The claimant rate as a proportion of Trafford’s population within each age band showed then a higher increase in the age bands of 16-24 and 25-34 compared to the others. From January 2023 the count and rate of all age bands started to increase but the figures are fluctuating from April 2023. The age groups 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 had an increase on July 2024, followed by a decrease in numbers.
More than half of Trafford’s claimants are residents of 1 quarter of the MSOAs. Around half of the claimants are between 25 and 44 years.
Universal Credit claims in Trafford
The Universal Credit claims in Trafford have increased 128.6% from January 2020 to Feb 2025. The rate of claims as a proportion of people age 16 to 64 increased form 6.1% to 14% from January 2020 to Feb 2025. Claimants are migrating from legacy benefits to Universal Credit which replace six means-tested benefits for working-age people: Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, and income-related Employment band Support Allowance (ESA).
The Trafford MSOA with the largest share of claims in Feb 2025 was Old Trafford with 12.5% of all Universal Credit claims in Trafford. 26 out of 28 MSOAs have more claims in Feb 2025 compared to Feb 2024. The MSOAs with more additional claims when comparing Feb 2024 to Feb 2025 were Old Trafford (451), Partington (283) and Gorse Hill (227). The MSOAs with more increase in percentage change from Feb 2024 to Feb 2025 were Trafford Park East & Sevenways with 24% change and Old Trafford with 21% change.
The MSOAs with higher rates of Universal Credit claims in Feb 2025 were Partington with 37.9% and Old Trafford with 29.4%. The MSOAs where the rate of Universal Credit claims has increased more from Feb 2024 to Feb 2025 were Partington with 5.7% points increase and Old Trafford with 5.2% points increase.
In Trafford from Feb 2024 to Feb 2025 the 45-49 age band has the largest increment in percentage change of Universal Credit claims with 27%. When considering the number of additional claims from Feb 2024 to Feb 2025 the 5-year age band 45-49 years had the highest with 529 more claims. All age bands had an increment of claims compared to Feb 2024.
Following the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 the number of claims for all ages rose dramatically from pre-pandemic levels at a similar proportion for all age bands with the age band 16-24 rising faster in May 2020. At the start of 2020 the age band 25-34 had the highest number of claims and also the highest rate maintaining that position after the rise from March 2020 until May 2022 when the 35-44 became the age band with the highest number of claims. The age band 16-24 has the lowest number of claims among the other age bands from July 2021. All the age bands are increasing their number of claims particularly from January 2023.
The Conditionality regimen for entitlement to Universal Credit is associated to work-related things that claimants will have to do to maintain eligibility. In Trafford the largest proportion of Universal Credit claims are in the “No work requirements” category however there is also a large proportion of claims under “Searching for work”. In Old Trafford, 40% of Universal Credit claimants were under “No work requirements” whilst 26% where “Searching for work”. In Partington, 51% of claims were under “No work requirements” whilst 16% of claims were under “Working - no requirements”, and 17% under “Searching for work”.
Households on Universal Credit can access additional entitlements for children, health and disabilities, housing, and carers, at the top of the standard allowance. Each household can receive more then one entitlement. As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic the number of entitlements showed a sudden increase whilst at the same time the proportion of household receiving entitlements decreased indicating a larger number of claims not receiving additional entitlements.
As claimants are migrating from legacy benefits to Universal Credit and new claims are reported, the number of household receiving an entitlement have been increasing.
