Redbridge's claimant count barely moved in July, at 12,650. But claims by 18 to 24-year-olds are up 23% in two years, one of the five steepest rises in London.
12,650 people in Redbridge were claiming benefits mainly because they were out of work in July 2026, according to ONS figures published through nomis this month. That is 6.0% of every resident aged 16 to 64.
The total has hardly moved. It was 12,550 in July 2025 and 12,400 in July 2024. Two years of data, and a change of 250 people.
Underneath that flat line, one age group has moved a great deal.
Claims by under-25s are up almost a quarter
Claims by 18 to 24-year-olds in Redbridge have gone up in each of the last two years:
- July 2024: 1,615
- July 2025: 1,835
- July 2026: 1,990
That is a rise of 23% in two years, and 8.4% in the last year alone.
Over exactly the same period, claims by 25 to 49-year-olds in the borough fell, from 7,740 to 7,365. One group going up and a larger group coming down is why the headline total looks so still.
Steeper here than across London
Young people’s claims have been rising nationally, so the question is whether Redbridge is simply following the trend. It is not. It is running ahead of it.
Over the two years to July 2026, claims by 18 to 24-year-olds rose by:
- 23.2% in Redbridge
- 15.7% across the United Kingdom
- 14.2% across London
Ranked against the 32 London boroughs outside the City of London, where the numbers are too small to compare, Redbridge has the fifth-steepest two-year rise, a fraction ahead of Ealing. Only Kingston upon Thames (31.0%), Greenwich (28.1%), Bexley (27.0%) and Bromley (23.9%) rose faster.
Where the borough sits overall
On the overall claimant rate, Redbridge is mid table for London. Its 6.0% is the 13th highest of the 33 boroughs. London as a whole was 5.6% and the United Kingdom 3.9%.
| Area | Claimants | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | 11,575 | 7.5% |
| Newham | 20,385 | 7.5% |
| Waltham Forest | 12,680 | 6.5% |
| Redbridge | 12,650 | 6.0% |
| London | 349,355 | 5.6% |
| Havering | 7,750 | 4.5% |
| United Kingdom | 1,690,970 | 3.9% |
What this number is, and what it is not
This is the claimant count, and it is not the unemployment rate. The two get mixed up constantly, so it is worth being exact:
- It counts people claiming benefits, principally Universal Credit, where they are required to look for work. Someone unemployed who claims nothing does not appear.
- It includes some people who are working, if they are on low earnings and still subject to work-search conditions.
- These figures are not seasonally adjusted, and July always carries school and college leavers. That is why every comparison here is July against July.
- ONS rounds these counts to the nearest five, so small month-to-month moves should not be read closely.
The figures do not explain themselves. They show how many young people in this borough are signing on, not why, and nothing in the release identifies a cause.
What it means for you
If you are a young person looking for work in Redbridge. The council runs a Redbridge Youth Hub employment support page, which links to Connexions Redbridge for careers advice, the National Careers Service and the King’s Trust. Its jobs and apprenticeships section covers volunteering and work experience. Adults of any age can use Work Redbridge, which lists training courses and job-search workshops.
If you employ people here. The pool of local under-25s looking for work is about 375 people larger than it was two years ago. The council’s apprenticeship levy transfer scheme is aimed at smaller employers taking on apprentices.
If you are reading this as a measure of the local economy. Set it against what is happening to property in the same borough. Redbridge house prices rose 3.6% in the year to June while London fell 2.5%, which we covered in our report on the latest Land Registry figures. The borough average and the borough’s jobs market are not telling the same story.
Sources
- Claimant count, Redbridge, July 2026, ONS via nomis
- Claimant count by sex and age (dataset NM_162_1), ONS via nomis, used for the age breakdowns and the London rankings
- Redbridge Youth Hub: employment support, Redbridge Council
Correction, 20 September 2026. Two points on the figures above.
The July 2026 total published here was 12,650. In the release of 15 September 2026 the ONS revised it to 12,385, a reduction of 265. The Jobseeker’s Allowance part of the claimant count is fixed three weeks after the count date, but the Universal Credit part allows revisions to one previous month, so the newest month in any release is the one most likely to move. The July 2025 and July 2024 totals quoted above are unchanged. The July 2026 figure for the age band below was also revised, from 1,990 to 1,975; July 2025 moved from 1,835 to 1,840.
This article also described the age band as 18 to 24. The nomis series it was drawn from covers 16 to 24-year-olds. The figures themselves are the ones published for that band; only the label was wrong.
The August 2026 figures, and how they compare with the rest of London, are in our report on the latest release.
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