Millions of people across the UK are on state benefits, with a great number claiming Universal Credit during the pandemic.
Many more people will be moved over to Universal Credit from older benefits that are being phased out in the next few years. The legacy benefits that will be stopped are Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.
Everyone on those older schemes will be switched to Universal Credit in a 'managed migration' by the end of 2024, except for those on ESA who will not be moved until 2028. Government figures show there are 74,000 people across Leeds postcodes claiming universal credit.