The people who call some of Britain’s benefits hotspots ‘home’ have revealed what life is really like living in an area where so many are on the breadline.
Locals in parts of Birmingham, London and Bradford, told of the tough choices they face everyday.
One unemployed mother was close to tears as she described how she was forced to pick between keeping a roof over her head and putting food on the table.
But tensions are rising in these areas, with those in work calling the jobless ‘lazy’ and claiming that immigrants from around the world are ‘piling in’ to milk the system.
Around 1.75million Brits signed on to claim unemployment benefits in January this year, which was 22,000 more than the month before and 184,000 more than in January 2024.
A recent House of Commons library report found the West Midlands constituency of Perry Barr, just 15 minutes north-west of Birmingham city centre, has the highest number of people out of work than anywhere else in the UK.
Some 64.2 per cent of the working age population there receive unemployment benefits.
Parts of London, including Tottenham and Brent East, and Bradford, in West Yorkshire, also dominate the top ten list.
It comes as many fear Labour’s benefits crackdown, announced yesterday, will only make it harder for jobseekers desperate to re-enter the workforce.
In a highly anticipated address delivered to parliament, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall laid out moves to save £5billion by 2030 amid fears spiralling costs are ‘unsustainable’.
The Government wants to axe the growing cost of people going on the sick, which hit £48billion in 2023-24 and is forecast to continue rising to £67billion in 2029-30.
But that would still leave health and disability spending £15billion higher than this year, based on OBR forecast from last Autumn.
Eligibility is being tightened for the main Personal Independence Payment (PIP) disability benefit, with claims risen 71 per cent over the past five years.
Meanwhile, young people under 22 could be barred from getting the health benefit element of Universal Credit – a move that could affect 66,000 people.
In Birmingham Ladywood, the Universal Credit claimant rate is at 57.4 per cent. While in its Yardley seat, the rate has reached 53.2 per cent.
In Tottenham and Edmonton and Winchmore Hill in London, the claimant rate has gone up to 49.4 per cent and 48 per cent respectively.
East Ham has seen a claimant rate of 50.7 per cent.
While Bradford East recorded a 52.2 per cent claim, and Bradford West, 57.1 per cent.
As the cuts were announced, visited some of the biggest benefit hotspots across the country, where unemployment rates and reliance on benefits have soared.
Britain’s number one benefits hotspot: Birmingham
Nagalinagam Kuganathan, 55, has been unemployed for a year and is on job seeker’s allowance. He says he is desperate for work but that there has not been enough support from the government.
‘I’m looking for a job, I’m looking everywhere but no one has given me a job.
‘I don’t want to leave job seeker allowance, I need a job immediately. I am seriously struggling with money. If anyone can help I don’t mind, it’s important I need a job please.
‘I am very, very upset. I don’t want to claim any money, I need a job. I am looking everywhere.
‘I’ve got a lot of experience with everything. I did retail jobs, a cashier at a supermarket. I worked in London for ten years at Asda.
He added his claim for universal credit was rejected and that he does not get enough support from the government, nor are there enough job opportunities in the area.
‘Only my wife is working at the moment and that’s only 24 hours which is not enough.
‘Nobody is helping, lots of people take my CV and then never call.
‘A lot of shops are closing, there’s no business at the moment it’s very quiet. It’s very hard.’
Mat Jabatesh, 32, has been unemployed for three years and is having to live in a hostel with her four children in the Ladywood area.
‘I’ve been searching for a job, I don’t have any job. I’ve been going to the job centre, I go online, I tried to apply on Indeed, I don’t get any job.
‘I don’t claim any benefits. The housing matter has become so difficult for me, I’m trying to get some accommodation but it’s difficult for me, I don’t know where to go.’
She added she doesn’t feel there is enough support to help her: ‘They try to help…but it’s not real. They try to help you but you need to do it yourself.
‘Some people don’t know how to speak English, some people don’t know how to get on Wi-Fi or Google – so how are they going to manage?’
‘I can go there, but I don’t know what to do or where to go.’
Before she was out of work she was a care assistant, but she says now ‘there’s no job opportunities’ in the area.
‘There’s no jobs. Life is becoming more difficult for everyone. It’s not only me, everybody is suffering.
‘There’s a lot of homeless people on the streets and there’s a lot of people who are being financially, emotionally and physically affected.
‘You see people who don’t have jobs and they’re going mental, physically and spiritually. People are just becoming more frustrated and there’s a lot of sick people because you can’t get a GP appointment.
‘Everything is becoming so difficult now.’
Wasiullah Fada, 42, a shop manager in Perry Bar, has a wife and three children and is not on benefits but said there is ‘not enough’ support for those that are.
‘They don’t have enough support for education or jobs and many things I can say. The key thing is jobs and the lack of support from the government to educate the youngsters and help those people who are working as well.’
He added that joblessness in the area ‘increases the crimes and make us worry about our future. Our youngsters end up going to crime and then they end up in jail. What are they going to do if the government does not help and support them so they can have a better future.’
London
Residents today told of how since the pandemic the number of people walking around the streets in the day has increased, as well as the amount of anti-social behaviour.
Pensioner Jerry Keane, 67, who has been living in Tottenham for almost three decades, said that his friends who are receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) from the Government are concerned they will lose their monthly payment.
‘I think the mental health issue is complicated as sometimes people are struggling with things like addiction which can take longer for people to get back on their feet and find employment,’ he said.
‘I think while it is good for people to get back to work, sometimes it can take a while so people could do with more support.
‘It just doesn’t feel very Labour. It is the old story of when a party gets into power, they suddenly must balance the books and start blaming the last Government.’
Mr Keane added that while he has heard of people struggling for jobs, it’s hard to quantify as more people turn to online to work rather than queue up outside the job centre.
Mental health support worker Agnes Boateng, 47, said: ‘The Government has already made their decision – nobody can stop them from following it through. They have already made up their mind.
‘I feel bad for those who physically cannot work and will be affected. But for those who can work, even if it’s part time, ten or 15 hours a week, they should get back to work.
‘The unemployment around here is quite high. You used to be able to get a job around here quite easily but now because of the economy, looking for a job is quite tough.
‘That’s why I think benefits shouldn’t have been cut, in my opinion, because the economy is getting harder and harder.
‘The water bills, electricity are going up and lots of people are working to survive. So for some people to stop getting a payment will be quite difficult.’
Business owner Derek Adjei, 51, told that ‘slashing the benefits today is like sweeping all those people into the streets’ but added a fundamental shift in social care is needed in the UK.
‘Unemployment rate is quite high here. There are some job opportunities here but it is an interesting area, on the edge of gentrification,’ he said.
‘It is divided between the haves and the have nots – as it is with most London areas. Tottenham is really quite a deprived area and has been for a long time.
‘Sitting in Costa for just one hour you will see a super high concentration of drunks and drug addicts coming and going. So over the years the social problems have got worse.’
Mr Adjei, however, said it was not a clear-cut issue and argued that years of social help from the Government has led to a ‘weaker’ society, where people struggle to get back into the work force.
‘In countries in Africa, like Ghana for example, they don’t have things such as social care systems,’ he said. ‘And while it may be bad for those right of the bottom, in general it mobilizes everyone, everyone has to move.
‘And while it is harsher and extreme, for the majority it is better because everyone is mobilised but here decades and decades of social help has made people weak. But it is difficult because some people do not have the ability or the mobility to work.’
Former Westminster worker Pearl Cook, who now lives in Neasden, said: ‘It is very difficult and the benefit cuts will compromise so many people.
‘The Government has to analyse why these people need the benefits for their own personal needs. They need to make sure the system is not being abused because at the moment the system is being abused.
‘If the purpose of them cutting the benefits is to stop the abuse of the system then this is justifiable. But at the same time you need to think of the people who genuinely need the help. It is not a clear-cut issue.
‘We need to figure out why people are abusing the system and why people who really need it are not getting what they need.’
Ms Cook added that despite the ‘good schools’ in the area there are few jobs available in Neasden, so those seeking jobs are having to move out of the area.
‘The cost of everything is going up, so there are less jobs and so I imagine the younger people who are looking for employment are struggling to get employment,’ she added.
‘Even if they go to university, their qualifications may not fit the job description, which makes things really difficult for them.’
Alison, who lives in Willesden Green, said that those receiving benefits often are not given any direction on how to spend the funds they are given.
She said: ‘Sometimes the Government gives the money, but they don’t give their support.
‘I am not necessarily for these cuts at all but I do wonder sometimes if people should be given the support to know how to spend the money to help better their lives.
‘People are left sometimes and they don’t necessarily know how to improve their lives.’
Mother-of-three Irene Lewis Crasta, 52, was moved to tears when discussing her fears for benefit cuts.
‘I need to pay the rent, we cannot come onto the road, especially with my young girl. I don’t mind if I have no food for me but I need to pay the rent,’ Ms Crasta said.
‘I have lived here for 20 years but I am not that educated and I can’t drive, it makes for a hard life.
‘I used to donate food to the church, as I am a Roman Catholic, but now I am going to the food bank that I first donated to.
‘I have very little money with the gas bills, electricity bills, it is just not enough. I want my children to have a better future than me. These benefit cuts won’t help anyone who is struggling.’
Another Willesden Green local, Leon, who has lived in the area for ten years, added: ‘The concern is how many jobs are available for people to do. All they are doing [with the cuts] is making it harder for people.
‘The area has great links, you can get to London Bridge, you can get to Canary Wharf.
‘Anecdotally it does feel as though there are more people around that are struggling than before but that appears to be the case since Covid.
‘We’ve noticed a big difference between pre- and post-Covid. The queues are getting bigger and bigger at the food banks in the area.’
Bradford
Locals in Bradford were divided over the reasons for the city being branded a benefit hotspot, with some in work hitting out at scroungers but those on benefits complaining there were no jobs.
Andrew McQuade, 55, was itching to get back to work as a quarry man despite nursing a recently broken right arm.
He said: ‘I work in a quarry, I don’t claim benefits – I work. I broke my arm at work. I don’t like people who don’t work.
‘I will be off work a week until my arm gets better then I will go back to work.’
Busker Ruth Lisgo, 41, was entertaining locals in Bradford as a singer, belting out classics such as Abba’s Dancing Queen over her microphone.
She said: ‘I don’t claim any benefits. But I would not like to judge without knowing why. I am lucky that I have never had to be on benefits so how can I know anything about it without walking in someone else’s shoes.
‘I would always rather be doing something I love in life. I would always rather be working. If someone is on benefits, there probably is a reason.
‘I think we are born into luck. From being born, you are already lucky if you have a roof over your head, a family and an education.’
Roco Fiziel, 63, blamed immigration for the spike in local benefit claims, claiming scroungers were ‘piling into Bradford’ to milk the system.
‘There is no point in having a discussion. I cannot speak for everyone else. A lot of people are piling into Bradford from all over the world.
‘There must be a reason behind it and it probably is down to benefits. I cannot do anything about people coming into the country to claim benefits.
‘I have tried my hardest to get back to work but I am 63 and have got cancer so it is not easy. I would do anything to get back to work.
‘But as a Bradford man I don’t see the point of belly aching about it. You get what you get given in life.’
Rebecca Amy, 34, said: ‘I just think it is unfortunate that there are not enough jobs for people to have and that is why they are on benefits. They want to work but there is not the opportunity.
‘I have been trying to look for work for the past ten years of something stupid and I have been declined work or it just has not happened. I think there are no job opportunities here.
‘It is also very hard to survive on benefits. It is not enough money. I think sometimes people do take advantage of the system.’
Ranjit Singh, 52, has an interview coming up for a permanent job but has struggled to find work for months.
He said: ‘I have applied for ten permanent positions but I only have found a part-time job as bus driver doing the school runs.
‘I have never applied for benefits in my life. I went down the Job Centre and got temporary job the first day so I did not need them.’
Bhola Singh Dhillon, 56, came to the UK in the 1990s from India and immediately got a job in the haulage industry.
The lorry driver said: ‘I have always worked. I have never signed on in my life. A lot of people who sign on may have good reasons – mental health issues or cannot work because of injuries.
‘But some people may be too lazy to work – and their parents have never worked. I drive for Marks & Spencer’s. I came to England in the 1990s and always been a lorry driver.’