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<p>The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed
Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021.
From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces
status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face
meetings or by telephone.</p><p> </p><p>Data coverage continues to improve over time
and by January 2024 data was held on the status of approximately 71% of the GB UC
caseload. It should be noted that Armed Forces status is self-reported by claimants
and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A
claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not
served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the
Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past. The table
below shows the proportion of claimants who have disclosed their Armed Forces status.</p><p>
</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>UC caseload month</p></td><td><p>Proportion of caseload
with a recorded status</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Currently serving</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Served
in the past</p></td><td><p>Not served</p></td><td><p>Prefer not to say</p></td><td><p>No
recorded status</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2022</p></td><td><p>51%</p></td><td><p>3,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>39,000</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>2,800,000</p></td><td><p>21,000</p></td><td><p>2,800,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August
2022</p></td><td><p>53%</p></td><td><p>3,200</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>40,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>2,900,000</p></td><td><p>22,000</p></td><td><p>2,700,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September
2022</p></td><td><p>54%</p></td><td><p>3,200</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>41,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,000,000</p></td><td><p>22,000</p></td><td><p>2,600,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October
2022</p></td><td><p>56%</p></td><td><p>3,300</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>43,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,100,000</p></td><td><p>23,000</p></td><td><p>2,500,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November
2022</p></td><td><p>57%</p></td><td><p>3,300</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>44,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,200,000</p></td><td><p>24,000</p></td><td><p>2,500,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December
2022</p></td><td><p>58%</p></td><td><p>3,400</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>45,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,300,000</p></td><td><p>25,000</p></td><td><p>2,400,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January
2023</p></td><td><p>59%</p></td><td><p>3,500</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>46,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,400,000</p></td><td><p>25,000</p></td><td><p>2,300,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February
2023</p></td><td><p>61%</p></td><td><p>3,500</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>48,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,500,000</p></td><td><p>26,000</p></td><td><p>2,300,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March
2023</p></td><td><p>62%</p></td><td><p>3,600</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>48,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,500,000</p></td><td><p>27,000</p></td><td><p>2,200,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April
2023</p></td><td><p>63%</p></td><td><p>3,700</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>50,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,600,000</p></td><td><p>28,000</p></td><td><p>2,200,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May
2023</p></td><td><p>64%</p></td><td><p>3,800</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>50,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,700,000</p></td><td><p>28,000</p></td><td><p>2,100,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June
2023</p></td><td><p>65%</p></td><td><p>3,900</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>51,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,800,000</p></td><td><p>29,000</p></td><td><p>2,100,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July
2023</p></td><td><p>66%</p></td><td><p>4,000</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>52,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,900,000</p></td><td><p>30,000</p></td><td><p>2,100,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August
2023</p></td><td><p>66%</p></td><td><p>4,000</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>53,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>3,900,000</p></td><td><p>30,000</p></td><td><p>2,000,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September
2023</p></td><td><p>67%</p></td><td><p>4,000</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>54,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>4,000,000</p></td><td><p>30,000</p></td><td><p>2,000,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October
2023</p></td><td><p>68%</p></td><td><p>3,900</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>54,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>4,100,000</p></td><td><p>30,000</p></td><td><p>2,000,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November
2023</p></td><td><p>69%</p></td><td><p>3,900</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>55,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>4,200,000</p></td><td><p>31,000</p></td><td><p>1,900,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December
2023</p></td><td><p>70%</p></td><td><p>3,900</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>57,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>4,300,000</p></td><td><p>31,000</p></td><td><p>1,900,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January
2024 (provisional)</p></td><td><p>71%</p></td><td><p>4,000</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>58,000</p></td><td
colspan="2"><p>4,400,000</p></td><td><p>32,000</p></td><td><p>1,900,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p>The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed
Forces status is recorded may not be representative of the UC caseload as a whole.
This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number
or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who
have served in the past.</p><p> </p><p>Increases in the numbers of claimants with
a recorded status of “currently serving” or “served in the past” do not necessarily
mean the overall numbers of claimants who are currently serving or have served in
the past have increased and may reflect increases in the number of claimants for whom
data is held as data coverage improves over time.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. Figures
are for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants
in Northern Ireland.</p><p>2. Figures in the table have been rounded according to
the Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy.</p><p>3. In line with the latest
published People on UC official statistics, provisional figures relating to January
2024 are provided. These figures will be subject to revision in subsequent releases.</p><p>4.
These figures are based on the Official Statistics UC caseload definition. Some previous
figures have used an alternative caseload definition based on assessment period end
dates.</p><p>5. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official
statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/"
target="_blank"><strong>https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/</strong></a></p><p><strong>
</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p>
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