One in five working-age Brits is on universal credit, according to new research. Some 7.3 million people aged between 20 and 64 in England and Wales were receiving the benefit as of May 2026, the analysis by the Taxpayers’ Alliance found.

That includes 3.3 million under 40, with 1.3 million in their 20s. The research showed that 54 council areas have a quarter of the working-age population on benefits, which are for people who are jobless or on a low income to help with living costs.

William Yarwood, campaigns director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “In some places, dependency on universal credit has become endemic.

“Generations are being dumped on benefits: written off and condemned to a life of dependency as ministers make it harder for them to find a job.

“If Andy Burnham was serious about growth in every postcode, he would be making it more affordable to hire young people.”

Councils with the highest proportion of older people on universal credit are concentrated in London, including more than half of those in their 50s and 60s in Tower Hamlets.

Coastal towns such as Thanet, Great Yarmouth and Hartlepool tend to have more younger people on benefits.

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