Jobseeker's Allowance (contribution-based): every value since 1948
The weekly personal rate of contribution-based (now New Style) Jobseeker's Allowance for a single person; before October 1996 DWP's table gives Unemployment Benefit, which it replaced.
Department for Work and Pensions gives 66 values for this rate, from £1.30 in July 1948 to £95.55 in April 2026. Each row is a date on which the rate was set; between the first and the latest it went up 61 times, and 4 rows repeat the previous value. The largest rise from one value to the next was +25.0%, in February 1958 (from £2.00 to £2.50). Across the whole series the cash value changed by +7,250.0%. The value in April 2025 was +1.7% on the one before; ONS CPI inflation for calendar year 2025 was 3.4%. Ten years before the latest value, in April 2016, it was £73.10. DWP's expenditure tables put total spending on Jobseeker's Allowance at £313 million in 2024/25, with an average caseload of 68 thousand.
Single person, 25 or over
| From | Single person, 25 or over (a week) | Change on previous value | CPI inflation that calendar year (ONS, D7G7) |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | £95.55 | +3.8% | not yet published |
| April 2025 | £92.05 | +1.7% | 3.4% |
| April 2024 | £90.50 | +6.7% | 2.5% |
| April 2023 | £84.80 | +10.1% | 7.3% |
| April 2022 | £77.00 | +3.1% | 9.1% |
| April 2021 | £74.70 | +0.5% | 2.6% |
| April 2020 | £74.35 | +1.7% | 0.9% |
| April 2019 | £73.10 | – | 1.8% |
| April 2018 | £73.10 | – | 2.5% |
| April 2017 | £73.10 | – | 2.7% |
| April 2016 | £73.10 | – | 0.7% |
| April 2015 | £73.10 | +1.0% | 0.0% |
| April 2014 | £72.40 | +1.0% | 1.5% |
| April 2013 | £71.70 | +1.0% | 2.6% |
| April 2012 | £71.00 | +5.2% | 2.8% |
| April 2011 | £67.50 | +3.1% | 4.5% |
| April 2010 | £65.45 | +1.8% | 3.3% |
| April 2009 | £64.30 | +6.3% | 2.2% |
| April 2008 | £60.50 | +2.3% | 3.6% |
| April 2007 | £59.15 | +3.0% | 2.3% |
| April 2006 | £57.45 | +2.2% | 2.3% |
| April 2005 | £56.20 | +1.0% | 2.1% |
| April 2004 | £55.65 | +1.8% | 1.3% |
| April 2003 | £54.65 | +1.3% | 1.4% |
| April 2002 | £53.95 | +1.7% | 1.3% |
| April 2001 | £53.05 | +1.6% | 1.2% |
| April 2000 | £52.20 | +1.6% | 0.8% |
| April 1999 | £51.40 | +2.1% | 1.3% |
| April 1998 | £50.35 | +2.4% | 1.6% |
| April 1997 | £49.15 | +1.9% | 1.8% |
| April 1996 | £48.25 | +3.9% | 2.4% |
| April 1995 | £46.45 | +2.2% | 2.6% |
| April 1994 | £45.45 | +1.8% | 2.0% |
| April 1993 | £44.65 | +3.6% | 2.5% |
| April 1992 | £43.10 | +4.1% | 4.2% |
| April 1991 | £41.40 | +10.8% | 7.5% |
| April 1990 | £37.35 | +7.6% | 7.0% |
| April 1989 | £34.70 | +6.0% | 5.2% |
| April 1988 | £32.75 | +4.1% | |
| April 1987 | £31.45 | +2.1% | |
| July 1986 | £30.80 | +1.1% | |
| November 1985 | £30.45 | +7.0% | |
| November 1984 | £28.45 | +5.2% | |
| November 1983 | £27.05 | +8.2% | |
| November 1982 | £25.00 | +11.1% | |
| November 1981 | £22.50 | +9.0% | |
| November 1980 | £20.65 | +11.6% | |
| November 1979 | £18.50 | +17.5% | |
| November 1978 | £15.75 | +7.1% | |
| November 1977 | £14.70 | +14.0% | |
| November 1976 | £12.90 | +16.2% | |
| November 1975 | £11.10 | +13.3% | |
| April 1975 | £9.80 | +14.0% | |
| July 1974 | £8.60 | +17.0% | |
| October 1973 | £7.35 | +8.9% | |
| October 1972 | £6.75 | +12.5% | |
| September 1971 | £6.00 | +20.0% | |
| November 1969 | £5.00 | +11.1% | |
| October 1967 | £4.50 | +12.5% | |
| January 1965 | £4.00 | +18.3% | |
| March 1963 | £3.38 | +17.4% | |
| April 1961 | £2.88 | +15.2% | |
| February 1958 | £2.50 | +25.0% | |
| May 1955 | £2.00 | +23.5% | |
| July 1952 | £1.62 | +24.6% | |
| July 1948 | £1.30 |
CPI: ONS series D7G7, for the calendar year the period starts in. About these tables · CSV
Related pages
Sources and receipts
- Abstract of DWP benefit rate statistics 2025: data tables, Department for Work and Pensions.
File: data-tables-abstract-of-dwp-benefit-rate-statistics-2025.ods. Read 2026-10-15. SHA-256
88418e37624a12186fbbd90f24f5dd31907b5743b1357e027f7b8bfd77da85d3 - Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027, Department for Work and Pensions.
Read 2026-10-15. SHA-256
c9ecaacbc351d6d9558982356f12251224815e34b4d00747f2a3b40f7a598b01 - Consumer price inflation time series (MM23), Office for National Statistics.
File: mm23.csv. Read 2026-10-15. SHA-256
1b78749ea634755b83064d88f4fc6f7dd177e0c41d8b573c9d8172b8d3fff641