Foreign-born residents now account for 15.5% of Britain’s Universal Credit claimants, with approximately 1.3 million migrants receiving the benefit as debate intensifies over residency rules, welfare eligibility and the long-term fiscal impact of post-Brexit migration.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The number of foreign-born residents receiving Universal Credit in Britain has reached a record 1.3 million, according to newly released government figures that are fueling a broader political debate over migration, permanent residency and access to the country’s welfare system.
Data from the Department for Work and Pensions showed that migrants accounted for approximately 15.5% of all Universal Credit recipients, the highest share recorded.
Britain had about 8.4 million Universal Credit claimants overall, also a record.
An analysis by The Telegraph calculated that the number of foreign-born claimants in May was approximately 20,000 higher than during the same period a year earlier.
Universal Credit is Britain’s primary welfare program for people who are unemployed or earning low incomes.
European Union nationals represented the largest foreign-born group receiving the benefit.
Approximately 750,000 EU citizens were claiming Universal Credit, accounting for 8.9% of all recipients.
Their eligibility stems in part from arrangements established under the Brexit withdrawal agreement negotiated by the previous Conservative government, which preserved access to parts of the British welfare system for qualifying EU nationals.
Another approximately 233,000 Universal Credit recipients held Indefinite Leave to Remain, or ILR.
ILR is a permanent residency status generally available to qualifying migrants after they have lived and worked in Britain for at least five years. The status allows them to remain in the country without a visa time limit and gives them access to welfare benefits on terms similar to British citizens.
The growing number of migrants approaching eligibility for ILR has turned the policy into an increasingly prominent political issue.
Approximately 1.6 million migrants who arrived during the major post-Brexit immigration increase between 2020 and 2024 are expected to become eligible for permanent status in the coming years.
That influx has sometimes been described by critics as the “Boriswave,” referring to the period when Boris Johnson served as prime minister.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has proposed increasing the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain from five years to 10.
Whether the proposal will receive sufficient backing from within her party remains uncertain.
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has proposed going considerably further.
The party says it would abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain entirely if elected and replace the system with a five-year work visa modeled more closely on temporary employment-based immigration arrangements in the United States.
Reform has also called for eliminating welfare eligibility for foreign nationals, including people covered by the EU settlement scheme.
The party argues that the fiscal consequences of granting permanent residence and welfare access to the large post-Brexit migrant population could be substantial.
According to Reform’s estimates, migrants who arrived between 2020 and 2024 will receive an average of £20,000, or approximately $27,000, more in welfare benefits over their lifetimes than they contribute through taxation.
The party projects that the cumulative cost to British taxpayers could reach £622.5 billion, or approximately $849 billion, by 2085.
Those figures are Reform UK’s projections rather than government estimates.
The party’s proposed restrictions would extend beyond ending ILR by preventing all foreign nationals from receiving welfare benefits.
Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick has said such a policy would save taxpayers £21 billion, approximately $28.5 billion, by 2029.
The new DWP figures add another dimension to that debate by showing that foreign-born residents now represent more than one in seven Universal Credit claimants nationwide.
With hundreds of thousands of EU nationals already receiving the benefit and another large group of migrants approaching eligibility for permanent residency, Britain’s welfare rules are becoming increasingly intertwined with the country’s continuing dispute over the scale and economic consequences of immigration.
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