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 Oct 2024 was 41.9% higher than in January 2020. The rate of claimants to residents aged 16 to 64 was 3.3% in Oct 2024 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 Oct 2024 was Old Trafford with 15.1% of all claimants within Trafford, almost the double of claims than Gorse Hill, the MSOA with the second largest number of claims. 20 MSOAs out of 28 have more claims in Oct 2024 compared to Oct 2023. Old Trafford have the largest increase in number of claims with 120 more, followed by Gorse Hill (90). Flixton & Moorside and Urmston East had a reduction in number of claims with 10 less, along with Urmston West, Ashton upon Mersey North and Ashton upon Mersey North with -5.
The MSOAs with higher claimant rate in Oct 2024 were Old Trafford with 8.4%, Gorse Hill with 6.5% and Partington with 6.3%. The MSOAs where the claimant rate have decreased more from Oct 2023 to Oct 2024 were Flixton & Moorside, Urmston East and Urmston East with -0.2% points decrease, followed by Urmston West and Altrincham West, Dunham & Warburton with -0.1%.
In Trafford, from Oct 2023 to Oct 2024 4 out of 11 of the age bands has decreased the number of claimants. The age band 45-49 had the most increase with 120 more claimants. When considering the reduction of claims the age band 30-34 years had the largest reduction with -20 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.
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 118% from January 2020 to Oct 2024. The rate of claims as a proportion of people age 16 to 64 increased form 6.1% to 13.4% from January 2020 to Oct 2024. 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 Oct 2024 was Old Trafford with 12.6% of all Universal Credit claims in Trafford. 27 out of 28 MSOAs have more claims in Oct 2024 compared to Oct 2023. The MSOAs with more additional claims when comparing Oct 2023 to Oct 2024 were Old Trafford (429), Partington (209) and Gorse Hill (178). The MSOAs with more increase in percentage change from Oct 2023 to Oct 2024 were Ashton upon Mersey South with 25% change and Old Trafford with 21% change.
The MSOAs with higher rates of Universal Credit claims in Oct 2024 were Partington with 35.2% and Old Trafford with 28.1%. The MSOAs where the rate of Universal Credit claims has increased more from Oct 2023 to Oct 2024 were Old Trafford with 4.9% points increase and Partington with 4.3% points increase.
In Trafford from Oct 2023 to Oct 2024 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 Oct 2023 to Oct 2024 the 5-year age band 40-44 years had the highest with 536 more claims. All age bands but the over 65 had an increment of claims compared to Oct 2023.
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, 38% of Universal Credit claimants were under “No work requirements” whilst 30% where “Searching for work”. In Partington, 49% 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.
