The streets with more benefits claimants than workers: Britain’s 3,000 welfare hotspots mapped

The Centre for Social Justice says it has identified 3,000 neighbourhoods in England and Wales where at least half of working-age residents claim out-of-work benefits. The report argues that long-term worklessness has become concentrated in particular areas and is increasingly recorded as incapacity, raising concerns about access to employment and the effects on communities.

Birmingham had the most such neighbourhoods, with 166, followed by Liverpool with 112, Sheffield with 82 and Bradford with 81. Blackpool, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland had the highest proportions of neighbourhoods affected. The report also says the number of working-age claimants with no requirement to seek or prepare for work has risen by almost 1.7 million since 2019, with mental health difficulties among the factors it identifies.