Dataset: Benefit Cap (UC Cumulative Caseload)
Description
Households may flow on and off the cap numerous times as their circumstances change. The benefit cap official statistics contain data on the number of households no longer subject to the cap as at the reporting month.
The outcome for a household flowing off the cap under Universal Credit is reported as at the next assessment period following the one in which a household was last capped. This means the outcome is fixed at that point, unless a household is re-capped at a later date; if a household has multiple spells on and off the cap, the outcome after the latest spell will be reported.
There may be a number of reasons why a household no longer has their Universal Credit capped. From August 2018 the only outcome reported for households moving off the cap under Universal Credit is if they become exempt because of their earnings. This means that their earnings in the assessment period following the assessment period in which they were last capped exceed an earnings threshold. The earnings thresholds are given in the table below. The threshold applies for assessment periods that begin on or after 1 April for the given financial year:
| Financial Year | Earnings Threshold (household earnings per assessment period after tax and National Insurance contributions) |
|---|---|
| 2016-17 | £430 |
| 2017-18 | £520 |
| 2018-19 | £542 |
| 2019-20 | £569 |
More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-cap-statistics-background-information-and-methodology
Classification
Applicable to: All capped households:
- Exempt as household earnings above earnings threshold
- Other outcome
- Still capped
Total number of categories: 3
Quality Statement
Earnings information is taken from Universal Credit (UC) data on the count date (second Thursday of the month).
Figures for Universal Credit capped households relate to Universal Credit Full Service only. Due to data quality and reporting it is not possible to produce robust experimental statistics on the number of households that were capped under Universal Credit Live Service.