When Rachel Reeves announced changes to benefits in the Budget this week it reignited a long-running national debate over handouts, with Kemi Badenoch labelling it a ‘Budget for Benefits Street’.
The Chancellor lifted the two-child benefit cap, allowing parents to claim Universal Credit (UC) and tax reductions for their third or subsequent children, and the decision has undoubtedly divided public opinion.
But there is nowhere the split is more evident than the Universal Credit capital of the UK.
The Lozells neighbourhood in Birmingham has the highest rate of people on benefits in the UK, with more than a fifth – 22.3 per cent – of working-age residents signed up to Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance.
It is one of the most deprived wards in the city and has a large proportion of residents with no qualifications.
The High Street sits in a state of disrepair and crime is so rife that it has one of the highest rates in the city.
But hard-working families in the area who toil away to make ends meet say they are fed up with their benefit scrounger neighbours who have caught on to how to ‘exploit’ the system.
When the Daily Mail visited the ward this week, residents told of their fears that it is ‘only going to get worse’ following the Budget announcements.
The Lozells neighbourhood in Birmingham has the highest rate of Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance claims in the country, according to Office of National Statistics data
The ward has 22.3 per cent of working-age residents claiming benefits. The top ten highest areas in the country for benefits claimants are all in Birmingham
At around 2pm on a weekday the high street was still dotted with people despite businesses lying largely empty.
The owner of a pharmacy in the area, who did not wish to be named, told the Daily Mail of how residents in the area had simply understood how to ‘exploit’ the system.
‘They’re taking everything from us and giving it to these people’, he said. ‘We work hard every day but they’re making it harder and harder for us.
‘They are wasting too much money on benefits and shoving us down the rabbit hole.
‘Unfortunately it’s bad but it’s only getting worse.
‘They’ve removed the benefits cap, you know the cap on the two-child limit, so three, four, five kids, they can carry on claiming as much as they want.
‘And then they’re upping Universal Credit by four per cent.
‘They’re helping these guys aren’t they? So what incentive is there for us? We might as well start benefits ourselves.
‘This black hole is never going to end. The more they put into the system the more they need.
‘Until they stop all the benefits, this is a never-ending cycle.’
Asked why he thinks Lozells specifically has such a high claimant count, he said: ‘If you realise how much you can make on benefits, wouldn’t everyone go on it?
‘They’ve all understood how it works here, so they just exploit the system.
‘Why would you work? They get up 12pm, have a nice breakfast, roam around, have a little bit of lunch, then tea, then come home and relax in front of the TV.
‘It sounds like a nice life doesn’t it? Instead of coming here and working 9am-7pm.
‘There’ll be loads more people going on benefits now, they’re making it more attractive.
‘There’s no incentive.’
The move to scrap the two-child cap, which Labour say is aimed at bringing 450,000 children out of poverty, is estimated to see another 25,000 families start claiming benefits, according to the fiscal watchdog.
Meanwhile, a freeze on income tax thresholds have been extended, which will see millions pulled into higher tax brackets as their pay increases in line with inflation.
When the Daily Mail approached one business owner, he laughed plainly and said ‘look at all the cars parked outside, they’re rich.’
‘They are all dodgy’, he said when asked about UC claimant rates in Lozells.
Further up the road, Haroon Nawaz, owner of Nawaz Fashions, one of the longest-running shops on the high street, told the Daily Mail he thinks the majority of benefits claimants in the area are ‘fraudulent’.
Haroon Nawaz, believes the majority of benefits claims in the area are ‘fraudulent’ and says people have gotten used to relying on the system
A residential street in the Lozells area, where overflowing bin bags are piled up along the street
The 42-year-old said: ‘I’ve worked all my life.
‘But you get lot of that here, of people sitting at home and claiming UC.
‘I’ll tell you what, the council should go door to door and check because I can tell you they aren’t genuine.
‘If you able-bodied you should be working.
‘The ones that claim anxiety are the worst, they can’t even spell anxiety.
‘Half of them are fraudulent.’
Explaining the high rates in the Lozells area, and more broadly Birmingham, he said: ‘They’re used to that system. It’s a rut. And they’ll have family telling them to do it.
‘I’m 42 and I’ve never had benefits.
‘95 per cent of people in Lozells can work. If you walk and you can pick up things then you can work.
‘It’s good the child cap change is helping families but half the people claiming it are fraudulent.
‘And it gives the rest of us a bad name in these areas, I’ve always worked.
‘If your hands and feet work then work. Don’t sit back in the system.’
All top ten areas in the UK with the highest UC and Jobseeker’s Allowance rates are in Birmingham, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics as of October 2025.
While business owners and workers told of their frustration at those claiming benefits, other residents told us how a lack of job opportunities in the area has left them with no choice.
Basant Singh, 40, has been looking for a job for two years. He told of how he receives housing and child benefits but the payments are not enough to live off.
He said: ‘It’s the lack of jobs and people are not skillful enough for them.
‘Where this government is going wrong is they’re letting newcomers come in and go straight on benefits. They look well but just want money from the government.
‘I was born and bred in England and I’m 40 and I’m struggling to get a job.
‘Two years I’ve been out of work.
Basant Singh says he has been out of work for two years and claims housing and child benefits
Benefits Street star White Dee speaking to the Daily Mail from her community hub in Handsworth about why deprivation and UC rates are so high
The high street in the deprived ward was lined with fried chicken stores and phone repair shops
‘I’ve worked all over, at the market, at Birmingham Airport, lots of retail work.
‘But there’s no jobs. Also it’s all done online now with so many people applying for the same jobs. And people’s experience is not even getting first priority.
‘It’s worse here because Birmingham is like a second London now, there are more people in this city than expected.’
Speaking of the scrapping of the two-child cap, he said: ‘They are kids that need food at the end of the day. If they don’t get it then it’s wrong.
‘I receive housing and child benefits. I’ve got three kids but because my daughter is 17 now I don’t get any payments for her. So it doesn’t change it for me.
‘If they had scrapped it earlier then that would have been helpful for me.
‘The increase to UC is not much. The extra £5 a month is not going to do anything.
‘It doesn’t even get you bread and milk these days. Prices are going up and up and up.
‘They need to up it even more, at least by about £30 or £40 a month.
‘At the moment if we get roughly £600 a month then we’re not left with much after.
‘And if you try and save that then if you go over £7,000 they stop your benefits too.’
Some locals who were in employment were more sympathetic towards those on benefits, stating that a lack of opportunity and funding in the area, paired with issues such as deprivation and crime, meant residents were struggling to find work.
One man, who wished to be named as just Ahmed said: ’It’s the lack of opportunity.
‘One of the things that could work here is an apprenticeship for young people.
‘There’s a lot of barriers for people who grow up here as it is and there are no opportunities either.
‘It’s all good for people sitting in Whitehall to say people are just signing on to Universal Credit. But what are they doing to help?
The Lozells ward in Birmingham has high rates of crime and large numbers of residents with no qualifications
‘Youth services in this area have been cut. There’s a lot of criminality in this area. And kids are just after instant gratification but they are shown no alternative.
‘They need positive intervention.
‘Then people will start taking ownership of their lives and get off UC.
‘I personally think this is easily fixable. You need positive intervention. But politicians aren’t doing this.
’This is a community who need these opportunities to be brought to their door.
‘It’s easy for people to sit from afar and jump to conclusions about the area and particular communities.
‘But there are real struggles in this area.’
Handsworth sits in second place as the area with the highest level of UC claimants.
Star of Channel 4’s 2014 Benefits Street White Dee runs a community hub from Handsworth where she helps those battling homelessness.
She explained why Handsworth and Lozells have such high rates of deprivation as well as unemployment: ‘Unregulated shared accommodation, houses of multiple occupancy.
‘People are going into supported accommodation where they are not receiving any support. Rogue landlords are getting to charge £250-350 a week for a bedroom in squalid conditions.
‘It’s unsupported and unregulated. So then the area is going to change.
‘It’s a society thing as well. I hate to say it but crime statistics then go up because of addictions and vulnerabilities.
‘I don’t judge anybody because I’ve been judged but if you’re pulling up outside my house at 2am in the morning selling crack, get away from my house. It’s horrible. And they know where to come to sell it, who to target.
‘The support services aren’t there. They’re just under so much pressure and so much strain that they are just breaking. They can’t keep up with demand.’
Meanwhile Muhammed Shah, an employee at DFC Chicken on Lozells High Road, also told of how the Birmingham area is struggling with a lack of job opportunities.
He said: ’There is a shortage of jobs everywhere but especially in Birmingham.
‘So you have to travel a little to find work. Anywhere you can find work you have to go.
’I live in Olton and come in to Lozells from there everyday because there are no vacancies.
‘Every area has its good and bad.
’If someone is not earning up to the standard then it is their legal right to be able to claim benefits.
‘If you can work then of course it’s preferable you work.’
