Jobseeker’s Allowance: how long people claim for
Published
Last updated 6 November 2020 - see all updates
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1. Main facts and figures
- in July 2018, White British people were more likely than any other ethnic group to have been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) for the longest time period (104 weeks or more)
- people from the Other White group were more likely than any other ethnicity to have been claiming JSA for the shortest time period studied (13 weeks or less)
- due to the roll out of Universal Credit, it is not possible to compare the most recent data with previous years’ data or across regions
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
This data measures how long people have been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA). The data is based on a snapshot taken at a fixed point in time (for example, July 2018).
Percentages shown are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Find out more about Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Not included in the data
The data does not include claims for Universal Credit.
The data does not show how long JSA claims last. For example, someone claiming JSA for 13 weeks or less when the snapshot was taken may continue to claim for longer than 13 weeks.
Counts of less than 5 have not been included in the data, because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the following ethnic groups:
- Asian
- Black
- Mixed
- White British
- White Other
- Other
Figures are shown separately for people whose ethnicity was not known (‘Unknown’ in charts and tables).
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
In the data file
See Download the data for figures rounded to the nearest 5.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | 13 weeks or less | over 104 weeks | over 13 and up to 26 weeks | over 26 and up to 52 weeks | over 52 and up to 78 weeks | over 78 and up to 104 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 26.9 | 22.2 | 17.4 | 17.6 | 9.6 | 6.3 |
| Asian | 26.1 | 16.9 | 18.7 | 20.4 | 10.9 | 7.0 |
| Black | 23.0 | 22.5 | 16.9 | 19.7 | 10.7 | 7.2 |
| Mixed | 27.5 | 17.3 | 18.7 | 19.4 | 10.4 | 6.7 |
| White British | 27.4 | 23.3 | 17.2 | 16.8 | 9.2 | 6.1 |
| White other | 34.0 | 14.9 | 19.6 | 18.2 | 8.0 | 5.3 |
| Other | 22.9 | 14.5 | 17.4 | 23.5 | 13.2 | 8.4 |
| Unknown | 24.2 | 30.1 | 14.6 | 16.2 | 8.8 | 6.0 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Jobseeker’s Allowance: how long people claim for By ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- as at July 2018, just over a quarter (26.9%) of all claims for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) had lasted for 13 weeks or less, while 22.2% of claims had lasted for 104 weeks or more
- a greater percentage of Other White claimants (34.0%) had been claiming JSA for 13 weeks or less compared with other ethnicities
- claimants from the White British and Black ethnic groups had the highest percentages claiming for 104 weeks or more (23.3% and 22.5% respectively)
4. By ethnicity and area
| Region | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White British | White other | Other | Unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 22.2 | 16.9 | 22.5 | 17.3 | 23.3 | 14.9 | 14.5 | 30.1 |
| East | 19.3 | 14.0 | 18.0 | 13.3 | 20.0 | 12.3 | 14.3 | 26.8 |
| East Midlands | 19.1 | 10.5 | 16.4 | 13.9 | 20.9 | 10.0 | 9.2 | 23.2 |
| London | 21.5 | 15.9 | 23.2 | 17.7 | 23.4 | 18.0 | 15.8 | 31.6 |
| North East | 25.7 | 17.9 | 14.9 | 15.0 | 26.3 | 18.8 | 14.9 | 36.1 |
| North West | 21.1 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 13.5 | 23.0 | 14.0 | 10.6 | 25.5 |
| Scotland | 21.9 | 10.5 | 9.7 | 7.7 | 23.1 | 10.2 | 12.1 | 31.9 |
| South East | 16.9 | 11.4 | 14.4 | 11.8 | 17.8 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 19.8 |
| South West | 20.5 | 11.9 | 20.4 | 14.8 | 21.1 | 12.3 | 14.9 | 24.0 |
| Wales | 24.7 | 14.3 | 18.8 | 17.5 | 25.3 | 15.7 | 15.6 | 30.9 |
| West Midlands | 29.8 | 25.8 | 36.4 | 28.9 | 29.6 | 20.9 | 21.9 | 40.2 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 21.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 14.2 | 23.6 | 11.1 | 12.6 | 26.3 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of Jobseeker’s Allowance: how long people claim for By ethnicity and area Summary
This data shows that:
- out of all regions, the West Midlands had the highest percentage of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants who had been claiming for more than 104 weeks (29.8%); the South East had the lowest percentage (16.9%)
- in every region except the West Midlands, the White British ethnic group had the highest percentage of claimants who had been claiming JSA for more than 104 weeks
- the replacement of income-based JSA with Universal Credit affects regions differently, so regions cannot be directly compared
5. Data sources
Source
Job Seeker's Allowance on NOMIS
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Department for Work and Pensions
Publication frequency
Monthly
Purpose of data source
The data is an administrative source collected to enable Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to monitor and report on claims for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and other benefits.
6. Download the data
This file contains data for January 2012 to July 2018. This file contains: ethnicity, time, geography, duration, number of cases, value, value type