PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Carer's Allowance (13 July 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who would be eligible to claim carers allowance if the hours of care requirement are reduced from 35 hours to (a) 30 hours, (b) 25 hours and (c) 20 hours.

Asked by:
Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)

The threshold of providing at least 35 hours care a week has been in place since Carer’s Allowance (CA) was first introduced in 1976, and has been maintained by successive Governments as a reasonable point at which many carers would find it difficult to combine their caring responsibilities with a full-time job.

The Government has not made any estimates of how many additional people would become entitled to CA if the number of hours of care required to be provided were reduced.

There is support for those caring for less than 35 hours a week in the benefit system - including Carer’s Credits and changes to jobsearch requirements in Universal Credit which can be tailored to reflect caring responsibilities. (Carer’s Credits can be awarded to those providing care for over 20 hours a week, helping carers maintain their National Insurance records, thereby protecting their State Pensions, regardless of whether or not they are also working.)

Answered by:
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative)
19 July 2021