Changes to the benefits system will cost the economy of Dover district £34 million, according to research by a university.

The report, by Professors Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill from Sheffield Hallam University, was commissioned by the Financial Times and reveals that, on average, every working-age adult in Dover will be £491 worse off as a result of the changes.

More than 16% of the neighbourhoods in the district are already among the poorest 20% in Britain, which is above the national average of 15.1%. The government introduced the reforms to the benefits system in an attempt to reduce its deficits. The aim is to move people off benefits and into work.

But the research shows that of the overall impact on the district of £34 million, £8 million comes from changes to incapacity benefit, affecting 2,100 people; £6 million from the change in the rise in benefits which people can receive (affecting working age adults by £92 on average); and £3 million from changes to the Disability Living Allowance, affecting 1,000 people in the district.

The research measured the impact of the welfare cuts from 2010 to 2014/15 on individual local authorities. Calculations were based on the local caseload of claimants and official impact assessments of the likely losers.

Changes to child benefit will affect 13,100 households, with each working-age adult losing £75 a year on average. Tax credit changes will affect 8,200 households (£97 per working age adult); 6,100 households will be hit by changes to council tax benefit (£5 a year); 600 households will be affected by the so-called bedroom tax (£7 a year); the household benefit cap will affect 70 households (£5 a year); and the local housing allowance changes will affect 3,500 households (£48 a year).

The government is considering more welfare cuts as part of the summer review of spending, and there are fears this could hit economic regeneration and private-sector business prospects in poorer areas where the local population faces the loss of a large slice of purchasing power.

Prof Fothergill said: “A key effect of the welfare reforms will be to widen the gaps in prosperity between the best and worst local economies across Britain.

“Our figures also show that the coalition government is presiding over national welfare reforms that will impact principally on individuals and communities outside its own political heartlands.”