Benefit claims fall yet more people are without work

Job Centre, Mare Street. Photograph: Mike Cobb

Residents are less likely to be on benefits and more likely to be out of work according to research revealed last month by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The figures show that Hackney saw a fall of 1,740 benefit claimants since June 2010 but over the same period those seeking work but not receiving benefits rose by 800.

The research also showed that those not in any form of work, classed as economically inactive, rose by nearly 10,000 to 46,800 – nearly 30 per cent of Hackney’s population – a figure that was one of the highest in the country.

The coalition government sees this as a mark of success for their new approach to benefits. Mark Hoban, minister for employment, said: “The vast majority of people don’t want to live a life on benefits, so it’s good to see that in Hackney the number of people claiming welfare is dropping.”