Immigration status of benefit claimants published for first time

The UK government has published, for the first time, data on the immigration status of universal credit claimants. According to the figures, in June 2022, nearly eight million people were receiving universal credit, with 83.6% of them being British and Irish nationals. The data also reveals that 7% of universal credit claimants were non-EU nationals, 5.7% were EU nationals, and the remaining 3.7% were either unknown or had a different immigration status. The publication of this data is seen as a move towards greater transparency in the welfare system, as it provides a clearer picture of the demographic composition of universal credit recipients. However, some have raised concerns about the potential for this information to be used for political purposes or to stigmatize certain groups of claimants. Overall, the data offers a snapshot of the diversity of the universal credit system, and it will be interesting to see how this information is used and interpreted going forward.