Bedford Claimant Count: Under-25s Up 27% in Two Years

Bedford’s headline claimant count looks like a story about nothing. In July 2026 there were 5,345 people claiming unemployment-related benefits in the borough, against 5,290 two years earlier. That is a rise of 55 people, or one per cent, in two years.

The age breakdown is a different story.

• Aged 18 to 24: 730 in July 2024, 840 in 2025, 925 in 2026. Up 195, or 26.7 per cent.
• Aged 25 to 49: 3,270, then 3,175, then 3,070. Down 200, or 6.1 per cent.
• Aged 50 and over: 1,280, then 1,240, then 1,330. Up 50, or 3.9 per cent.

One group rising sharply while a larger group falls is precisely why the total looks still. The figures come from the ONS Claimant Count series on nomis, which publishes the borough by age band every month.

Bedford’s young claimants are rising faster than the region’s

The under-25 line has climbed almost everywhere, so the question is whether Bedford’s rise is worse than average. Over two years it is.

Against the 45 local authority districts in the East of England, Bedford’s two-year rise ranks 18th. That is above the regional average but well short of the steepest. South Norfolk is up 58.9 per cent, South Cambridgeshire 55.6 per cent and Uttlesford 54.5 per cent. Central Bedfordshire, next door, is up 43.4 per cent, the fifth-steepest in the region.

The most striking figure in that table is not any single district. Of the 45 districts, 44 recorded a rise in under-25 claimants over the two years. Only East Hertfordshire was unchanged, at 260. Not one district in the East of England fell.

The last twelve months alone are less clear cut. Bedford’s 18 to 24 count rose 10.1 per cent between July 2025 and July 2026, slightly slower than the East of England’s 11.9 per cent. It is the two-year comparison where Bedford stands out, not the one-year one.

Where in the borough

Nomis publishes the count by ward as well. In July 2026 the borough’s claimants were concentrated in the wards closest to the town centre.

At the other end of the scale, Sharnbrook and Wyboston recorded 45 claimants of all ages each, and Great Barford and Riseley 50 each.

Ward figures are rounded to the nearest five, so they do not always add up exactly. The 28 wards sum to 5,350 against a borough total of 5,345. The 18 to 24 figures do sum exactly, to 925. There is no ward-level comparison to be made with last year: the current ward series carries no figures for July 2025, so year-on-year work has to be done at borough level.

What the number is, and what it is not

The claimant count is often reported as though it were unemployment. It is not, and the difference matters.

• It counts people claiming Universal Credit who are required to look for work, plus the remaining Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants. Some of them are in work on low earnings and still subject to work-search conditions.
• It excludes anyone out of work who is not claiming, or who is claiming but not in the work-search group.
• The figures are not seasonally adjusted, so July always carries school and college leavers who have signed on. That is why every comparison here is July against July, not against last month.
• Everything is rounded to the nearest five.

As a share of residents aged 16 to 64, Bedford’s rate was 4.4 per cent in July 2026, up from 4.3 per cent in each of the two previous Julys. That is above the East of England (3.3 per cent), England (4.0 per cent) and Great Britain (3.9 per cent). Among immediate neighbours, Central Bedfordshire is 2.6 per cent, Milton Keynes 4.0 per cent and Luton 6.5 per cent.

What it means for you

If you are 18 to 24 and looking for work in Bedford, the figures say plainly that there are more people in your position than there were two years ago: 925 rather than 730, in a borough where the count for people aged 25 to 49 has been falling throughout. That is not a reflection on you, and it is not confined to Bedford.

Support that exists now:

• Your work coach is the route to the extra youth support. The Department for Work and Pensions ran this as the Youth Offer, and its own guidance states that the Youth Guarantee Journey replaced the Youth Offer from June 2026. It covers Universal Credit claimants aged 16 to 24 and can include a referral to a Youth Hub or a youth employability coach for up to six months.
• Find your nearest jobcentre through the DWP’s jobcentre finder, which gives the address and opening hours for the office that handles your claim.
• The National Careers Service gives free careers advice in England by phone and webchat, whether or not you are claiming anything.

If you are an employer or a school in the borough, the two-year shape is the useful part. This is not a general downturn in Bedford’s labour market, because the largest age group in the count has been shrinking steadily. It is specific to the youngest workers, and it started before this summer’s leavers signed on.

Sources

• Claimant count by sex and age, dataset NM_162_1, Office for National Statistics via nomis. Figures for Bedford (E06000055), its neighbours, the 45 East of England districts, England and Great Britain for July 2024, July 2025 and July 2026, and Bedford’s 28 wards for July 2026, retrieved 22 August 2026.
• Help to find work for Universal Credit claimants aged 16 to 24, Department for Work and Pensions.

Related: our Bedford house prices page tracks what homes in the borough cost, and Bedford planning news follows the schemes that decide where the jobs go.