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

Protesting I guess.

Or we write in droves to our local MPs, but will they take much notice? Probably not.

This thread has confused me more than anything.

I’m now wondering why I’m claiming cares allowance when carers element seems exactly the same but not classed as “income” ?

I had to enter my carers Allowance as income for DS’s uni applications which was confusing. If I was was just receiving carers element I imagine there would be no income to enter?

This really frustrates me. Family Carers are taking so much of a burden away from the state and it really isn't recognised. We should be helping them so much more and they often still miss out on respite care or PA care as indicated by the little boys mum earlier just because ttey fundamentally can't get folk to take on the job - and when family do its a kick in the teeth tokenism for pay and as others have said neither here nor there is on universal credit

It's a long one but I'd like to get this off my chest if anyone is willing to listen?

As a fellow carer I'm really pleased that the earnings limit is going up for those carers who can work, and that the government is also looking into the problem of the 'cliff edge' cut off point for those earnings. So far, so good.

However there is absolutely nothing for me as a full-time carer. I care 24/7 for my profoundly disabled, now young adult, DC who is at home full-time. As a result I cannot take on any paid work. I do feel that carers like me are the forgotten carers, often hidden behind closed doors.

I did have a career before my DC was born. So far I have lost at least £600,000 in lost earnings and also in the future I will only get a tiny fraction of the workplace pension I would have had. At the same time I have probably saved the state £5 million in residential care costs by instead caring for my DC myself at home.

In return for that 24/7 care and sacrifice, I currently receive £81.90 per week Carers Allowance, which works out at about 48p an hour. Very reluctantly I have to rely on Universal Credit but, as others have said, every penny of my Carers Allowance is deducted from the Universal Credit, leaving me with about £227 a month.

When I start getting the small workplace pension at 60, it will be just enough to mean I will no longer be entitled to any Universal Credit. In one way that will be a boost for me psychologically - not to have to rely on and deal with the Universal Credit system - but I am concerned about the impact on things like help with Council Tax, eligibility for a social broadband tariff and potentially just being over the threshold for paying income tax. That could all make me even worse off. Because Carers Allowance is taxable, if I do have to pay tax then, for providing 24/7 care at age 60+, I will only receive Carers Allowance of £65.52 per week, which works out at 39p an hour.

It gets even worse for carers when we start receiving the State Pension. Carers aren't allowed to receive Carers Allowance and the State Pension together. That means that for providing 24/7 care at the age of 67+ I'll receive absolutely nothing in Carers Allowance at all. The small workplace pension will mean I won't be entitled to Pension Credit either, which I understand is the gateway to help with winter fuel costs, Council Tax and so on.

Being a 24/7 carer is full of love, but it is also back breaking, soul destroying, exhausting, lonely and full of fear for the future. Is what we give and give up not worth more than between 48p an hour and nothing?

it's bloody ridiculous. I work 18h but earn quite a bit above NMW. I would have to cut my hours to 8h to qualify and I cannot do my job in so few hours. Both of my DC have complex needs. I currently provide 24/7 suicide watch whilst squirrelling through my hours from home. working absolutely is killing me but I cannot afford to live on CA.

They should really have increased CA to 35h of NMW. If we do this work on behalf of the government, they should just pay that. So much focus if carers who manage to work alongside. when will any government realise that caring for someone 35h or more is work. arseholes.

Totally agree that more needs to be done -

The £81.90 a week allowance goes to people who care for someone who is older or disabled for more than 35 hours a week.
Currently, carers who get the benefit are only allowed to earn up to £151 a week. Anyone who goes over that, even by a few pennies, faces a cliff edge, which means they lose all their allowance.
The government can then clawback any overpayment. It is a confusing system which has left some already vulnerable people facing significant debts.
Now, carers will be able to earn an extra £45 a week – allowing overall earnings of up to £10,000 a year - without losing any of the benefit.
The chancellor has also said the financial cliff-edge will be looked at.

Exactly this

It’s one of those things I suppose that will help some people and not others.

Those who work and weren’t previously eligible may be eligible now (I think the article I saw reckoned this would mean 60,000 more people will now be eligible) so it’s good for those people, and for those who work and are able to can now earn extra each week without losing carer’s, so it’s a benefit for those people.

It’s the theme of the whole budget really, to get anybody who can work, to work, so this is a bit of an incentive.

But of course there are people who can’t work who don’t benefit from this change.

This is my situation too.

I have a disabled DS who is 14 years old and still in nappies. Needs support day and night, and can't manage any activities on his own, including washing. His twin sister is also disabled, and has reasonably high care needs too.

Both children are now home educated as there simply isn't spaces in the local SEN schools. So they are with me 24/7.

My DM, who lives in an annexe attached to my house, has cerebral palsy. I am her carer.

DP collapsed at work two years ago and will never be able to work again. He doesn't need "care" most of the time but his condition means I can't leave him alone in the house, and he can't go out without me. He can no longer drive or do the majority of chores around the house.

I work as close to F/T hours as I can manage. But that means working through the night. I am often up working until 5 or 6am, in between going up and down to both my DC. My DD normally needs me intermittently up until around 3-4am.

I cannot tell you how utterly, utterly exhausted I am. Or how broke we are. But if I don't carry on, everything will come crashing down and we'll have no home. So I struggle on actively caring for three people, and heavily supporting a fourth. And working in my self-employment.

I get UC. If I claim Carer's Allowance, it comes straight off my UC, pound for pound so I'm no better off. So I didn't bother claiming Carer's Allowance because there's no benefit.

Being "allowed" to work more for Carer's Allowance makes zero difference to me and the many, many carers in a similar position.

Carer's Allowance is taken off your UC so whether my earnings are £145 or £190, I won't see a single penny of my Carer's Allowance anyway.

So again single parents are penalised for being single....we need to get gingerbread onto this, maybe?

I can't work FT due to caring for my child (who gets DLA), so I work PT. I can't apply for carer's allowance as I earn £800 a month. I'm shattered. If I kicked my husband out I would actually be better off. That's when you know the system is broken!

Sorry, mine is the carer's element of UC so perhaps that is different? Nothing is deducted at all from my UC.

You also don't get this carers element if you're on LCWAW yourself for some reason. Even though having an illness yourself isn't related to the care you put in for your disabled family member.

Okay so I'm a bit confused, if anyone can clear this up....does anyone actually get carers allowance who needs it? My point is that if you're only working 16 hours, well you're going to be on UC then aren't you, to pay your rent and bills etc, as a part time wage isn't going to cover that by itself? Then that carers will be taken off you £1 for £1 anyway.

The only situation I can think of is if one person in couple of a disabled child works and the other partner works part time alongside caring and so neither claim UC, they can get some carers allowance to top up their income.

But that essentially locks single people out of receiving carers allowance, because no single person can survive on 16 hours a week alone, without needing a UC top up? Unless the person you're caring for is an adult and claims the UC for the rent etc on top of their PIP and the carer lives with them.

So basically single parents are excluded from carers allowance, is this right?

I don't think its right that you have to. PIP is for extra costs associated with your disability. If you have to pay all of that to carers then what about other costs many disabled people have such as extra heat or laundry, specific clothing needs, particular diet? Not to mention the unfairness that someone with a disability severe enough to need to pay carers is worse off than someone able to manage without. Carers are saving the public purse huge amounts of money and should be paid from the public purse. I don't think the money should be clawed from people with disabilities who are often already economically disadvantaged.