AQW 53110/22-27 Written question to the Minister for Communities
To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to AQW 51323/22-27, to detail the (i) number; and (ii) proportion of Universal Credit households with earnings from employment or self-employment, broken down by household type, including (a) single adults without children; (b) couples without children; (c) lone parent households; and (d) couple households with children.
Asked by Sian Mulholland MLA on 25 September 2026
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 25 September 2026
- Answer due by
- 12 October 2026
- Answered
- 5 October 202610 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for Communities
- Priority question
- No
Answer
Pursuant to AQW 51323/22-27, in May 2026, 68,400 (30%) of the 226,800 households receiving Universal Credit had earnings from employment or self-employment.
The number and proportion of these households by household type are as follows:
| Household Type | Households in Payment with Earnings | Proportion of Households in Payment with Earnings |
| Couple | 2,930 | 4% |
| Couple with child(ren) | 15,230 | 22% |
| Single | 11,650 | 17% |
| Single with child(ren) | 38,590 | 56% |
| Total | 68,400 | 100% |
Source: Universal Credit Full service (UCFS) system at May 2026. These figures are subject to change due to retrospective updates to UCFS data. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten and percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Totals may not sum due to rounding.