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Commentary - Child and Working Tax Credits statistics: Provisional awards - December 2023

Updated 4 April 2024

About this release

These statistics focus on the number of families benefiting from Child Tax Credit (CTC) and/or Working Tax Credit (WTC) in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as at 1 December 2023 .

This publication presents a breakdown of families by their profile position, age and gender, type of family and family size as well as the number of children in benefiting families, broken down by age.

It also includes statistics on families benefiting from each of the different elements of tax credits and provides information on the income used in calculating awards and the frequency of payments.

What are tax credits?

Tax credits are a system of financial support for families based on their specific circumstances.

The system, introduced in 2003, forms part of wider government policy to provide support to parents returning to work, reduce child poverty and increase financial support for families. The design of the system means that as families’ circumstances change, so does (daily) entitlement to tax credits.

Tax credits are based on household circumstances and can be claimed jointly by couples or by single adults.

Entitlement is based on the following factors:

  • age

  • income

  • hours worked

  • number and age of children

  • childcare costs

  • disabilities

For further information about who can claim please refer to the benefits page on GOV.UK.

Main headlines

The number of families claiming tax credits has steadily fallen since 2011, when changes to the tax credit system were implemented.

As at December 2023, there were:

  • 873,000 families claiming tax credits - this is a fall of 321,000 (27%) compared to the previous year (Figure 1)

  • 1,615,000 children in tax credit claiming families - this is a fall of 597,000 (27%) compared to the previous year

There have also been several policy changes during this period which have impacted these figures. These are:

  • changes to the tax credit system implemented in April 2011
  • the start of Universal Credit (UC) rollout in April 2013
  • the full rollout of the digital UC service across the country in December 2018
  • the closure of new tax credits claims in December 2018
  • the temporary WTC uplift from April 2020 to April 2021
Figure 1: Total number of families (millions) receiving CTC and WTC, from December 2009

Of the 873,000 families claiming tax credits in December 2023:

  • 334,000 (38%) were claiming both CTC and WTC

  • 254,000 (29%) were out-of-work and claiming CTC only

  • 188,000 (22%) were in-work and claiming CTC only

  • 97,000 (11%) were in-work and claiming WTC only

Section 1: Time series

In general, there has been a downward trend in the number of recipient families for all categories of benefits since December 2013 (Figure 2).

Between December 2013 and December 2023, the number of recipient families fell from:

  • 1,865,000 to 334,000 for in-work, WTC and CTC, a decrease of 82%
  • 1,389,000 to 254,000 for out-of-work, CTC only, a decrease 82%
  • 829,000 to 188,000 for in-work, CTC only, a decrease of 77%
  • 543,000 to 97,000 for in-work, WTC only, a decrease of 82%

The order of size of recipient categories has remained constant with the largest as ‘in-work WTC and CTC’, followed by ‘out-of-work, CTC only’, with ‘in-work, CTC only’ as third, and then finally ‘in-work WTC only’.

Figure 2: Breakdown of the recipient families (millions) by type of credits received, from December 2013

Section 2: Summary of composition of tax credits

The most common type of tax credit received for singles is ‘out-of-work, CTC’ where they make up 64% of claimants for this tax credit type. For couples, ‘in-work, WTC and CTC’ is most common type of tax credit received. This is followed by ‘in-work, CTC only’ with these families accounting for 80% of this group. The least common tax credit type is ‘in-work, WTC only’ for couples and ‘in-work, CTC only’ for singles.

Figure 3: Number of families (thousands) by type of award and family composition, December 2023
Table 1: Data for Figure 3, number and percentage of families (thousands) by tax credit type and working status, split by family type, December 2023
Tax credit type Singles (thousands) Singles (%) Couples (thousands) Couples (%) Total
Out-of-work, CTC 164 64 90 36 254
In-work, WTC and CTC 151 45 183 55 334
In-work, CTC only 37 20 151 80 188
In-work, WTC only 47 49 50 51 97

Section 3: Age, sex, and children in recipient families

Age of eldest adult in recipient families

Figure 4 shows that the number of tax credit claimants increases in line with age until the 40 to 44 age group, which has a total of 181,000 families claiming tax credits. After this the number of claimants fall in line with age.

Single families make up a higher proportion of the lower age bands, with this trend reversed for ages 40 to 49 onwards.

Figure 4: Number of families (thousands) by adult age band and family composition, December 2023
Table 2: Data for Figure 4, number and percentage of families (thousands) by adult age band, split by family type, December 2023
Age Singles (thousands) Singles (%) Couples (thousands) Couples (%) Total
Under 25 1 97 0 3 1
25 to 29 14 87 2 13 16
30 to 34 47 72 18 28 65
35 to 39 78 58 57 42 135
40 to 44 84 46 97 54 181
45 to 49 69 40 103 60 173
50 to 54 53 38 87 62 140
55 to 59 27 33 55 67 82
60 to 65 15 30 36 70 51
66 and over 10 36 18 64 29

Age bands for couples are based on the age of the eldest adult.

Children in recipient families

The majority (71%) of families receiving CTC had either one or two children. Couples generally make up a higher proportion of larger families, with 75% of families with 5 or more children composed of couples, compared with 38% of 1 child families.

The distribution of children includes all children or qualifying young people in families receiving tax credits. This may not be equal to the number of children for whom the family is receiving the child element of CTC due to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, affecting children born after 6 April 2017 unless they are covered by an exception.

Figure 5: Number of families (thousands) receiving CTC by number of children and family composition, December 2023
Table 3: Data for Figure 5, number and percentage of families (thousands) receiving CTC by number of children, split by family type, December 2023
Number of children Singles (thousands) Singles (%) Couples (thousands) Couples (%) Total
1 child 171 62 107 38 277
2 children 117 42 160 58 277
3 children 44 31 99 69 143
4 children 15 27 40 73 54
5 or more children 6 25 19 75 25

Since new claims for tax credits for tax credits ended in January 2019, the average age of children in families claiming CTC has increased. 7% of children in claiming families were under 5 in December 2023. 825,000 children in claiming families (52% of all children) were aged 10 to 15.

Figure 6: Number of children in families (thousands) receiving CTC by child age band and family composition, December 2023
Table 4: Data for Figure 6, number and percentage of children in families (thousands) receiving CTC by child age band, split by family type, December 2023
Child age Singles (thousands) Singles (%) Couples (thousands) Couples (%) Total
Under 5 50 43 66 57 116
5 to 9 145 35 266 65 411
10 to 15 319 39 506 61 825
16 and over 111 44 139 56 250
Unknown age 3 19 11 81 14
Total 628 39 987 61 1,615

Sex of adults in recipient families

Women make up the majority of single families for both out-of-work (95%) and in-work (88%) families.

Table 5: Number and percentage of single families (thousands) by family type, split by sex, December 2023
Family type Female (thousands) Female (%) Male (thousands) Male (%) Total
Out-of-work families 155 95 9 5 164
In-work families 206 88 29 12 235

Of the 289,000 couple families with a sole worker:

  • 37,000 (13%) had a female sole worker
  • 252,000 (87%) had a male sole worker

There were an additional 95,000 couple families where both adults were in work.

‘Worker’ is defined here as an adult working for a minimum of 16 hours per week.

Section 4: Hours worked and childcare of in-work recipient families

Figure 7 shows average weekly support with childcare costs for claimant families. The costs claimed for range from under £20 to over £150 a week. Lone parents across all cost bands make up the majority for eligible childcare costs.

Figure 7: Number of families benefiting from the childcare element (thousands) by cost band, split by family composition, December 2023
Table 6: Data for Figure 7, number of families benefiting from the childcare element (thousands) by cost band, split by family composition, December 2023
Cost band Singles Singles (%) Couples Couples (%) Total
Under £20 4.2 69 1.9 31 6.1
£20 to £39.99 4.9 70 2.1 30 7.1
£40 to £59.99 3.7 71 1.5 29 5.2
£60 to £79.99 2.6 70 1.1 30 3.7
£80 to £99.99 2.0 69 0.9 31 2.9
£100 to £119.99 1.6 69 0.7 31 2.3
£120 to £149.99 2.0 68 0.9 32 2.9
£150 and over 6.6 55 5.4 45 12.1

In 263,000 families claiming tax credits, the main worker worked full-time (35 hours per week). The majority (78%) of these families were couples.

Of the 131,000 families where the main worker worked 16 to 23 hours, 80% were single (Figure 8).

There were an additional 24,000 couples whose combined hours exceed 30 per week and benefit from the 30-hour credit. This made a total of 105,000 single families and 310,000 couples which benefitted from the 30-hour credit.

Figure 8: Number of weekly hours (thousands) worked by main worker, December 2023
Table 7: Data for Figure 8, number and percentage of families (thousands) by weekly hours worked by main worker, split by family type, December 2023
Family type Singles (thousands) Singles (%) Couples (thousands) Couples (%) Total
16 to 23 hours 105 80 26 20 131
24 to 29 hours 25 26 71 74 96
30 to 34 hours 47 37 81 63 129
35 or more hours 58 22 205 78 263

Section 5: In-work families benefitting from disability elements

In December 2023 there were:

  • 48,000 disabled workers benefitting from the disabled worker element
  • 31,000 severely disabled adults benefitting from the severely disabled adult element
  • 111,000 disabled children in families benefitting from the disabled child element, of which 43,000 benefitted from the severely disabled child element

The main data tables 5.1 to 5.4 provide more details on those in-work families benefitting from the four disability elements including the total number of disabled adults or children, the size of the benefitting families and the number of families also benefitting from other elements of tax credits.

Section 6: Annual incomes of in-work recipient families

The amount of tax credits a family receives depends on their level of income. Awards based on an income up to £7,455 (the income threshold for year-ending 5th April 2024) receive their maximum entitlement whereas for incomes above this amount the award is tapered (see the Child and Working Tax Credit Entitlement section for details).

The vast majority (87%) of families receiving tax credits had incomes under £30,000 (Figure 9). The most common income bracket was £10,000 to £19,999.

Figure 9: Numbers of in-work families (thousands) by range of income used to taper awards, December 2023
Table 8: Data for Figure 9, number of in-work families (thousands) by income used to taper awards, December 2023
Income Number of families (thousands) % of families
Up to £7,455 73 12
£7,455 to £9,999 78 13
£10,000 to £19,999 249 40
£20,000 to £29,999 135 22
£30,000 to £39,999 63 10
£40,000 to £50,000 17 3
Over £50,000 3 1

Section 7: Type of payments to in-work families with children

Tax credit recipients can choose whether they are paid in weekly or four-weekly instalments.

Figure 10 shows that weekly CTC payments are more common than four-weekly payment cycles.

Figure 10: Numbers of in-work families (thousands) with children by payee and chosen frequency of payment, December 2023
Table 9: Data for Figure 10, number and percentage of families (thousands) by payee, split by family type, December 2023
Payee Weekly Weekly (%) Four weekly Four weekly (%) Total
Single females (thousands) 121 67 60 33 181
Single males (thousands) 5 64 3 36 7
Couple female payee (thousands) 145 58 104 42 249
Couple male payee (thousands) 49 58 36 42 85

Section 8: Regional analysis of recipient families

There are detailed breakdowns of the level of support provided in each region, the numbers of families benefitting from the childcare element as well as the disabled worker element and disabled child element. Geographical splits at Local Authority Level, Westminster Parliamentary Constituency Level and Scottish Parliamentary Constituency Level can be found in the geographical tables.

Section 9: Transfer to UC and other claim end reasons

Most new claims for tax credits were stopped in January 2019. When a claim ends, a ‘claim end reason’ is recorded. The main reasons recorded are ‘UC Migration’ or ‘household breakdown’. Claims can end or be terminated for a range of other reasons which have been combined in this section into the ‘terminations and other group.

Figure 11 shows that since January 2019, there have been 1,439,000 tax credit recipients identified as having their tax credits claim terminated due to a move to UC. The monthly transfer to UC between January 2023 to December 2023 was between 7,000 and 41,000.

There was a higher number of transfers in April and May 2020. This was due to the impact of COVID-19.

Since January 2019, 284,000 claims have ended due to household breakdown and 2,096,000 claims have ended or been terminated for other reasons.

There were a larger number of claims terminated in autumn due to annual renewal process for tax credits and due to the start of the academic year when dependent children leave education and families are no longer eligible for tax credits.

Figure 11: Cumulative total of tax credits claimants (millions) who have had their claims ended since January 2019

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