Universal Credit claimants are being paid £1,030 each on average (Image: Getty)
UK households on Universal Credit are claiming an average of £1,030 a month each, according to the latest available data from the DWP.
Universal Credit is the catch-all benefit which has slowly replaced various other benefits for households.
While the standard Universal Credit payment was £316.98 per month for a single person under 25 last year (now £338.58 following a rise in April), there are several other additional allowances which could be claimed by those who are eligible for them, including additions for children, additions for ‘Limited Capacity for Work’, additions for childcare costs and work allowances.
According to the DWP’s official Universal Credit Statistics to January 2026, the average payment to households on Universal Credit is £1,030 per month, but the averages change for different household makeups.
It explains: “The average (mean) payment amount to households on Universal Credit varies by family type.
“For November 2025, the ‘Single no children’ family type had the lowest average payment amount of £800, while the highest average payment amount was £1,310 for the ‘Couple with children’ family type. The mean payment across all households is £1,030.”
The figures also set out that 8.4M people were claiming Universal Credit as of January 2026, up from 7.4M the previous January, though 1.7M claimants were added in December 2025 as part of migrations to Universal Credit from other benefits.
At the same time 32% of Universal Credit claimants were in work.
It added: “Universal Credit is available to people on a low income as well as those who are out of work. There were 2.7 million people on Universal Credit in employment for December 2025, 32% of all people on Universal Credit.”
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made the cost of living a key priority of his new government, having already announced a 6-month VAT cut on electricity, as well as a reduction on VAT for pubs and clubs.
But he has been warned that cuts may be needed elsewhere in order to pay for the new spending commitments, including welfare.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the new Government will be squeezed by more persistent inflation as a result of the Iran war.
Stephen Millard, Niesr’s deputy director for macroeconomics, said he did not think cost-of-living support measures were the “answer” and that it was the “Bank of England’s job to hit the inflation target”.
“There’s clearly no scope for increasing borrowing, so it is about choices,” he went on.
“I’m yet to be convinced that how these things will be funded has been fully thought through, but there is going to be a budget in October.
“Our advice would very much be to fund these through higher taxes – which could involve tax reform rather than higher marginal rates – or cuts in spending elsewhere.”
However, moves to reduce welfare have failed in the recent past.
Attempts by former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to slash welfare spending by £5 billion last year led to a U-turn in the face of a major backbench rebellion.
Mr Burnham, who has promised to be more collaborative with his parliamentary party, said he would not pursue “a kind of crude approach, crude cuts to benefits to get the welfare bill down”.
He said: “Often that just pushes people into even more crisis and then even more public spending in another part of the system.
“We need a system that sets people up for success rather than pays for failure.”