Carer’s Allowance threshold increases significantly today – Usdaw calls for an end to the ‘cliff-edge’

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “Usdaw has a long record of campaigning for a social security system that better supports people providing unpaid care, along with measures to help carers stay in paid work for longer. Raising the earnings threshold of Carer’s Allowance is an important step in the right direction and recognises that although carers must be providing at least 35 hours a week of care to qualify for the support, many still have to juggle the unpaid care they give with paid work to boost income. The new threshold of £196 is equivalent to just over 16 hours a week at the new national living wage rate of £12.21. 

“This is a welcome step in reforming the support available to unpaid carers. In the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor also committed to look at the ‘cliff-edge’ earnings threshold that results in the allowance being withdrawn where a carer’s earnings exceed it. Usdaw welcomes the commitment and will continue to call for an end to the unfair situation where earning a penny over the threshold means the entire £83.30 a week benefit is clawed back.

“The vast majority of care in the UK is provided by family and friends. Without their willingness and ability to provide care, local authority social services and the NHS would collapse under the strain. All too often, carers feel life is a pressure cooker of competing demands, with worries about money, time off work, their own health and that of the person they are caring for. With more people than ever providing care, we welcome Government action to recognise and properly reward their enormous contribution.”