To think very few carers will benefit from the “ increase “ in carers

If the intention was to encourage carer’s to work, or to work more hours, then yes it does work for it’s intended purpose.

if there is nowhere to send the disabled person whilst the carer works, how can most carers work? there was absolutely zilch in the budget for increasing access to respite and social care provision so carers can get a break from their main job (caring) to head out for a second job to actually earn some cash.

I suppose it’s one where how well thought out it is depends on what the intention was behind it.

If the intention was to encourage carer’s to work, or to work more hours, then yes it does work for it’s intended purpose.

If the intention was to enable more carer’s to be eligible by raising the earnings limit, then yes it does work and it well thought out and it means (by their figures) that 60,000 more people will now be able to claim it.

If the intention was to help ALL carer’s, then yes it’s not well thought out.

Unfortunately though labour’s plans are aimed at encouraging anybody who CAN work, to work, so it’s planned to incentivise those people but provides no benefit to those who actually cannot work.

It's not very well thought out is it.

I haven't looked at it in a while but from what I remember, when working, it was better to go slightly over the CA threshold and lose it because it meant you retained more of you UC entitlement (plus you still got the other pros of being on UC). Whereas working but staying under the CA threshhold meant you lost your UC instead.

Now those same people will just lose their UC because they'll still be entitled to CA.

I gave up a great career to become a carer for an elderly relative.

Relative claims attendance allowance (not means tested) for several health reasons.

I claim carers allowance

I live on my savings & a small self employed wage

I do not claim UC

However, I am thinking of getting a second PTime job, because relatives health has currently stabilised.
I welcome the extra that a carer can now earn & claim.

However, the amount paid to carers is pitiful compared to what care they provide.

It is not an easy option to be a carer !

A lot of the budget will not help a lot of working people. Those on minimum wage will earn more, but will then lose it from any top-up Universal Credit.🤷‍♀️

It won't help me in any way as I can't work anyway as I've got 2 autistic sons and another on the way. If I was able to work it would be good it be able to earn more

It's so bad. I was talking to a guy at the bus stop with epilepsy who said people think he's making it up...like why would people think someone has all that time and energy to go around making up such stories like that?!

Absolutely! My husband is physically disabled, the rest of us are variously neurodivergent so we all do what we can to help each other.
I’d hoped for a bit better understanding now we no longer have a Tory govt. but disability discrimination is so deeply entrenched.

The other thing I forgot to add, is that a disabled person caring for another disabled person, isn't the two of them out and about thriving in the world and therefore ability to care through love, equals ability to work and not need financial support....it's literally leaning on one another like crutches and surviving/hobbling their way through life.

Their logic is ridiculous isn't it?!

The thing is there's such a wide spectrum of illness and disability symptoms out there, that one person's strength is another person's weakness.

I have fibromyalgia and hypermobility and struggle massively with mobility, concentration, fatigue etc, but I'm still able to care for my ASD daughter as most of her needs are cognitive, so I can help support her emotionally, socially etc, and she does things for me like get things from another room (when she's up for it!) and I have to guide her a lot to pick things up from the floor after playing, as I'm not able to bend easily and regularly. I'm pretty sure as she gets into her teens, she'll be helping me a lot with housework and I'll be helping her navigate her unique world. So I can be disabled and also a carer, and both come with their own different sets of financial needs.

Yes it is. You might mean your carers element but that's a completely different benefit to carers allowance so isn't relevant to this thread.

This sounds right, it should benefit us as my husband will be able to drop his hours to 16, to care more for his mother, while I continue working full time, as I get the higher wage, but it seems unfair for single people.

The work allowance is only £404 for those with the housing element. For those without the housing element it is £673. And not all UC have a work allowance.

Yes, the usual ableist approach that if you’re disabled, you’re fit for nothing. Our doctors’ surgery told me my husband possibly be a carer as he’s disabled himself and the government says the same.
But when it comes to paid work, it’s a different story! Of course you can find work from your hospital bed! 🙄

This will benefit one small group of carers - those who work between 12 and 16 hours a week but also have a partner who earns too much for them to claim UC. Other than that, nearly all carers are also claiming UC!

There is a lot wrong with carer’s allowance, but this isn’t the only group who will benefit. There are other sub-sections of the carer population who will benefit. For example, single carers who are able to work part time but have capital over the UC limit. Another example, single carers without children who aren’t eligible for the housing element caring for someone outside their household e.g. a parent so aren’t eligible for UC because their earnings and CA deductions wipe out the UC elements they would be entitled to.

This budget was never going to make anyone feel better off, even those on the lowest incomes who were most likely to vote Labour.

@TwentyFourSevenCarer Are you claiming SMI Council tax discount for your offspring? You are also entitled to a discount as live in carer for them. It should reduce CT by at least 50% depending on your Council area.

You are right, the system is appalling. None of the information and help needed is readily available. It makes doing an already difficult job even harder.

Essentially any household that has an income that's low enough to qualify for Universal Credit will be affected by this (excluded, to use your phrase).

If you're in a low income household but have savings of more than £16,000 - maybe a house sale, inheritance, divorce settlement etc, than you won't qualify for Universal Credit. In that case, you will be entitled to receive full Carer's Allowance provided you earn/work less than the allowed threshold.

So to answer your question, it's not exclusively single parents that will be affected, and not every single parent - but most of them.

Single parents will be disproportionately affected but there are plenty of people in two-parent households that will be affected too, particularly if one or more of the parents has a disability. So you could probably argue that disabled individuals who provide care to others will also be disproportionately affected.

Basically, the households that possibly are in most of the need of the support are the ones that won't benefit from the change.

It is important to claim even if it is then deducted. It pays Class 1 NI credits which count towards your State Pension and other contributions based benefits. Carer Credits, which is the UC alternative, only pays Class 3 NI contributions.

Because it's my husband I care for and his PIP, every single penny of it, is needed to keep the roof over our head and pay the bills. There is no separate or spare amount that he could bung me!