Carer's Allowance
Carers may be able to get a benefit called a Carer’s Allowance. This is a contribution towards the income of carers who are unable to work full-time. It is not a wage for caring.
You may be able to get Carer’s Allowance if you:
- are 16 years-old or over
- meet conditions about which country you live in
- earn no more than the earnings limit
- are not in full-time education - 21 hours or more of supervised study each week - and, for at least 35 hours a week, care for someone who is getting Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest rate.
For Carer’s Allowance a week is the 7 days from Sunday to Saturday, so you can still get Carer’s Allowance if you provide care only at weekends.
You can still get Carer’s Allowance if you provide care at least 35 hours every weekend for a child who is away during the week. You may have to pay tax on your Carer’s Allowance.
The amount of savings you have does not matter for Carer’s Allowance.
Carer’s Allowance is only paid to one carer, so carers must decide who should claim. Carer’s Allowance can only be paid for caring for 1 person. More than 1 person in the same household can claim Carer’s Allowance but they must be caring for different people. For example, if both parents are caring for 2 disabled children and both meet the conditions for Carer’s Allowance, each could claim Carer’s Allowance for caring for 1 of the disabled children.