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 January 2024 was 28.4% higher than in January 2020. The rate of claimants to residents aged 16 to 64 was 3% in January 2024 representing an increment of 0.7% points from January 2020. The number of claimants has been decreasing from April 2021 but started to increase again from January to April 2023 and at similar level since May 2023.
The Trafford MSOA with the largest share of claims in January 2024 was Old Trafford with 13.8% of all claimants within Trafford, almost the double of claims than Gorse Hill, the MSOA with the second largest number of claims. 12 MSOAs out of 28 have more claims in January 2024 compared to January 2023. Old Trafford have the largest increase in number of claims with 60 more, followed by Gorse Hill (50) and Firswood (35). Partington has the largest reduction in number of claims with 30 less, followed by Lostock & Stretford Meadows (-20) and Sale Central (-20).
The MSOAs with higher claimant rate in January 2024 were Old Trafford with 7.6%, Gorse Hill with 5.9%, Partington with 5.5% and Firswood with 5.1%. From the top 5 MSOAs with the highest rates, only Partington had a lower rate when comparing January 2023 to January 2024. The MSOAs where the claimant rate have decreased more from January 2023 to January 2024 was Partington with -0.6% points decrease.
In Trafford from January 2023 to January 2024 only 3 of the age bands has decreased the number of claimants. The age band 18 to 24 and 40 to 44 had the most increase with 45 more each. When considering the reduction of claims the age band 60-64 years had the largest reduction with -35 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.
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 97.3% from January 2020 to January 2024. The rate of claims as a proportion of people age 16 to 64 increased form 6.1% to 12.1% from January 2020 to January 2024.
The Trafford MSOA with the largest share of claims in January 2024 was Old Trafford with 11.8% of all Universal Credit claims in Trafford. 27 out of the 28 MSOAs have more claims in January 2024 compared to January 2023. The MSOAs with more additional claims when comparing January 2023 to January 2024 were Old Trafford (196), Partington (187) and Broadheath & Firsway (147). The MSOAs with more increase in percentage change from January 2023 to January 2024 were Ashton upon Mersey South with 23% change and Trafford Park East & Sevenways with 19% change.
The MSOAs with higher rates of Universal Credit claims in January 2024 were Partington with 31.5% and Old Trafford with 26.2%. The MSOAs where the rate of Universal Credit claims has increased more from January 2023 to January 2024 were Partington with 3.7% ponts increase and Old Trafford with 2.5% points increase.
In Trafford from January 2023 to January 2024 the Over 65 age band has the largest increment in percentage change of Universal Credit claims with 60%. When considering the number of additional claims from January 2023 to January 2024 the 5-year age band 40-44 years had the highest with 379 more claims. The age bands 20-24 had a decrease in number of Universal Credit claims.
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 significant proportion of claims under “Searching for work”. In Old Trafford, 35% of Universal Credit claimants were under “No work requirements” whilst 28% where “Searching for work”. In Partington, 46% of claims were under “No work requirements” whilst 19% of claims were under “Working - no requirements”, and 17% under “Searching for work”.
