Northern Ireland
Working-age out-of-work benefit recipients
Key points
- 18% of working age adults in Northern Ireland are receiving at least one out-of-work benefit, equivalent to some 190,000 people at any point in time.
- This proportion is higher than in any of the regions of Great Britain and compares with a Great Britain average of 12%.
- This high overall rate is driven by a high rate of receipt by people who are sick or disabled, some 13% of all working-age adults in Northern Ireland. The GB average for this benefit group is just 7%. By contrast, the proportion receiving either Jobseeker's Allowance or Income Support is, at 5%, similar to the GB average
- The 190,000 working-age people receiving an out-of-work
benefit is 30,000 fewer
than it was in 1999. But the number who are sick and disabled has gone up by 10,000, from 120,000 in 1999 to 130,000 in 2007. - Two-thirds of working-age recipients of out-of-work benefits are now sick of disabled.
- Two-fifths of all claimants of Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance have mental or behaviour conditions.
- Two-fifths of working-age recipients of disability benefits are aged less than 45.
- The proportion of working-age people who are in receipt of out-of-work benefits is much higher in Strabane, Derry and Belfast than elsewhere - twice the rate of some other areas. With the exceptions of Moyle and Fermanagh, the proportion is always higher in the western districts than in the eastern ones.
- Even so, almost all districts still have a recipiency rate higher than the GB average and none are as low as the GB region with the lowest rate.
- The level of Income Support for both families with children and pensioners has gone up much faster than inflation in recent years. In contrast, that for working-age adults without children has remained constant in real terms. See the UK indicator on benefit levels.
Graph 1: Over time
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Graph 2: By reason
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Graph 3: By age
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Graph 4: By LA
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Map
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Graph 5: Compared to GB
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Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the numbers of working-age people claiming one or more 'key out-of-work benefits'.
'Key out-of-work benefit' covers the following benefits: Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance.
For each year, the total is broken down by type of claimant: unemployed, sick and disabled, lone parents and others (e.g. carers and asylum seekers).
The data source for the first graph is the Department for Social Development. The data for each year is for the month of February.
As can be seen from the first graph, the majority of claimants of key out-of-work benefits are sick or disabled. In this context, the second graph provides, for the latest year, a breakdown of recipients of Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance by reason.
The third graph shows, for the latest year, an age breakdown for those who in receipt of either Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance.
The data source for the second and third graphs is the quarterly Department for Social Development IB and SDA statistics.
The fourth graph and map show, for the latest year, how the proportion of the working-age population who are in receipt of a key out-of-work benefit varies by local authority.
The data source for the fourth graph and map is the Department for Social Development.
The fifth graph shows, for the latest year, how the proportion of working-age people in receipt of key out-of-work benefits in Northern Ireland compares with the regions of Great Britain, with the data shown separately according to whether the individuals are sick or disabled.
The data source for the fifth graph is the DWP Client Group Analysis (GB) and the Department of Social Development (NI). The data is for February 2006. The data has been analysed to avoid double-counting of those receiving multiple benefits by matching data from individual samples.
ONS population estimates have been used to calculate the proportions in the fourth and fifth graphs.