In December 2024 and in June of 2025 we published a short series of articles focusing on the number of people claiming unemployment and disability benefits in specific areas of the UK. The data used as a basis for these pieces were sourced from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), who map them onto statistical geographical units known as Middle-layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs). The articles analysed the proportion of working-age adults in any of these locales claiming said benefits, relative to the whole population of the area.
However, the DWP continue to use outdated 2011 MSOA boundaries to plot the information, which presents issues with statistical analysis of the data within the current MSOA boundaries. Although the ONS provides a comparison table to assist in the application of statistical data to the current boundaries, it became apparent that for some areas the conversion was less than satisfactory. While the DWP had not raised an issue with our analysis, in light of the possibility of accuracy with the plotted data, we have removed the articles from the website.
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