Data for Good series

Inbest platform includes a data analytics application to help our partners unlock the value of data to understand, measure and improve their impact on customers’ lives and the communities they serve. Check our Analytics page to learn what this application does and how it helps.

We are starting a Data for Good series to illustrate how the benefits system works and how it helps financially vulnerable people. We will leverage on our data analytics application to:

Explore the circumstances, financial situation and benefits entitlement of the different segments of benefits applicants.
Detail the main characteristics of the benefits system and highlight the impact of policy changes.
Engage the community of professionals passionate about financial inclusion to raise awareness of the challenges faced by vulnerable people and propose possible solutions.

In this first article, we will take a look at the main characteristics of benefits applicants’ circumstances, financial situation and benefits entitlement.

Personal circumstances

The average age of the users of our benefits calculator is 42 years old, while 55% of our users are between 26 and 45 years old. In terms of household type, our users are spread between the main types of households and those households with dependent children, 47% have one child, 36% two children and 13% three children. Finally, 23% of households have at least one member with a long-term illness or disability that affects their ability to perform their daily and mobility activities.

Financial situation

The average household take-home income per month of our users is £1,493, which is 60% of the UK national average of £2,500. More worrying is that 27% of our users do not have any monthly income and 80% of our users have less than £600 in savings, significantly above the UK national level of one in three households.

Benefits entitlement

Overall, 94% of our users were entitled to some benefits, and on average, they were entitled to £774 in benefits each month and £100 in one-off payments. Benefits entitlement depends on households’ circumstances and financial situation, and single parents, households with a disable member and low-income households have the highest benefits entitlement.

We hope you find this article interesting and are looking forward to reading our Data for Good series. Please reach out if you have any question, feedback or suggestions to explore a particular topic.