More than 630,000 graduates are claiming benefits amid fears over the rise of 'Mickey Mouse' degrees, official figures have revealed.
According to the first data of its kind released to Parliament, a total of 639,000 people with an honours degree or similar level qualification are claiming Universal Credit.
This means that more than one in nine claimants (11.9 per cent) are graduates, just four per cent lower than the proportion with no qualifications (15.9 per cent), which came to 849,000 people.
The data, from the Labour Force Survey for March to May this year, has been released to Parliament by the UK Statistics Authority, as the full-time employment rate for graduates has fallen from 61 per cent to 59 per cent.
It comes as more graduates face earning the minimum wage, with the salary gap between the country’s lowest earners and students leaving university becoming increasingly closer.
