Numbers and rates of income support claimants. Income Support is intended to help people on low incomes who do not have to be available for employment. It can normally be claimed by people who are: - aged 16 or over; - not working or working under 16 hours per week (and/or with a partner working under 24 hours); - not required to be available for full-time employment; and - in receipt of insufficient income to meet prescribed needs. The main types of people who receive it are lone parents, the long and short-term sick, people with disabilities and other special groups. Rates are as a percentage of all people aged 16-64 from ONS mid-year estimates. This dataset is based on 100% of claims so is not subject to any sampling error. In outputs figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Data relate to a single point in time, the reference date, and provide a snapshot of claims at that point. The reference date is the last day of the month in question. Data are not seasonally adjusted so any comparisons should be made year on year. Exercise caution when using time series as figures are affected by the introduction of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in April 2003. After August 2003 there was a sharp decline in the total number of claimants. This is due to the migration of most existing Minimum Income Guarantee claimants (1.8 million) to Pension Credit, which was introduced in October 2003. Figures under 500 are subject to high sampling variation and should be used with caution. - These figures are missing. Download from NOMISweb https://www.nomisweb.co.uk
