Overview
- Official Department for Work and Pensions figures show nearly 1.3 million foreign‑born people were receiving Universal Credit in May 2026, and the total Universal Credit caseload hit about 8.36 million.
- Reform UK has proposed a package it says would save £50 billion by removing benefit access for EU nationals with settled rights, with Robert Jenrick set out as the party’s economy spokesman on the plan.
- The Institute for Fiscal Studies says roughly half of overseas claimants are in work and warns that removing benefits would cause large, immediate cuts to incomes and significant increases in hardship for affected households.
- Implementing the Reform proposal would need changes to the UK’s post‑Brexit settlement with the EU and could prompt reciprocal measures from Brussels, a risk Reform has budgeted at around £500 million.
- Much of the caseload rise reflects transfers from legacy benefits and growing sickness and disability spending, so the policy debate will shape negotiations, migration rules, and the finances and daily lives of mixed‑income households.