Migrant households receive record Universal Credit payments in the UK
Migrant households received a whopping record £11.9 billion in Universal Credit last year, with critics branding the bill an “insult to hard-working taxpayers,” reports BritPanorama.
Official figures indicate that the amount paid to households containing at least one foreign national rose by a quarter in just 12 months. The Department for Work and Pensions handed out £11.9 billion to such households in 2025 – up from £9.5 billion in 2024 and £7.5 billion in 2023.
The data, obtained by the Centre for Migration Control through freedom of information laws, shows that 15.6 per cent of all Universal Credit payments last year went to households with at least one foreign national. Around £7.7 billion, or 65 per cent of the total disbursed, was provided to claimants who were out of work.
The figure has sparked fresh calls for tougher restrictions on benefits and migrant settlement rights. Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, described the figures as “shocking,” accusing the Government of compelling British taxpayers to fund billions in benefits for foreign nationals.
Philp stated, “British taxpayers should not be paying billions in benefits to foreigners, especially given that over half of these payments are for people out of work. Paying unemployed foreigners is an insult to hard-working taxpayers.” He expressed concern that if Shabana Mahmood reverses her own indefinite leave to remain reforms, it could result in more low-wage and unemployed foreigners qualifying for benefits.
The figures emerge as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood faces a significant Labour backbench rebellion over plans to tighten migrant settlement rules. Mahmood has proposed doubling the standard period before migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five to ten years, with the qualifying period potentially extending to 15 years for foreign care workers.
Opposition to these reforms has grown among Labour MPs, including Communities Secretary Angela Rayner, who argue that applying changes retrospectively would be “un-British” and “unfair.” Andy Burnham now faces pressure regarding whether care workers should be excluded from the reforms.
Estimates from the Home Office suggest that allowing foreign care workers arriving from this year to settle in Britain could incur a net lifetime fiscal cost of up to £10 billion. Robert Jenrick, Reform’s treasury spokesman, attributed the rising benefits bill to previous immigration policies, stating, “Boris Johnson lowered the minimum-salary requirement for migrants, and this ballooning benefits bill is the result.”
Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control, noted that the figures challenge assertions that mass legal migration has benefitted the economy. He argued that the welfare system should exist “exclusively to help the British people” and advocated for the scrapping of indefinite leave to remain.
Foreign nationals can claim Universal Credit when their immigration status provides access to public funds, including certain refugees, individuals with EU settled status, and those with indefinite leave to remain.
A Government spokesman asserted, “Under this Government, net migration is down by 82 per cent from its 2023 peak. Only people who are in the UK legally can claim taxpayer-funded benefits, of which around half are in work. Last November, we set out proposals to reform settlement which will double the standard qualifying period to 10 years for most migrants, with shorter routes for those who contribute most to the UK.”
The current discourse surrounding benefits for migrant households reflects broader societal concerns regarding immigration policy, economic sustainability, and the balance between supporting newcomers and protecting taxpayers’ interests.
