Ministers have admitted Britain's benefits culture must be curbed as a map showed the hotspots for unemployment claims.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden hinted at tightening eligibility for universal credit.
He also did not rule out ending health-related universal credit payments for claimants under the age of 22.
Rachel Reeves is desperately scrambling to find ways of balancing the books at the Budget in November.
However, the last effort at reform was humiliatingly scuttled by Labour backbenchers. The scope for changes in the short-term have been limited by the government concession that the Timms review into Personal Independence Payment (Pip) will be completed before any new proposals.
