Overview
- Department for Work and Pensions figures obtained via Freedom of Information indicate more than £15 billion went to households with at least one foreign‑national claimant across 2024 and the first half of 2025.
- The breakdown shows £9.5 billion paid in 2024 and a further £5.6 billion in the six months to the end of June 2025.
- Around 70% of the total relates to households containing at least one foreign national recorded as unemployed, including about £6.7 billion of the 2024 payments.
- The DWP cautions that Universal Credit is a household benefit, so some funds support British-born cohabitants, and some claimants logged as unemployed may be self‑employed.
- The Centre for Migration Control compiled the figures from DWP data as campaign groups press for tighter rules, while the government has announced plans to double the waiting period to 10 years and link some eligibility to British citizenship.