PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Carers' Benefits: Living Wage (6 September 2016)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the living wage on the earnings threshold for carers allowance; and if he will bring forward proposals to raise the existing threshold.

Asked by:
Anna Turley (Labour)

The primary purpose of Carer's Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not, and was never intended to be, a carer’s wage or a payment for the services of caring, nor is it intended to replace lost or forgone earnings in their entirety.

The earnings limit for Carer's Allowance is a net figure which is the figure left once income tax, National Insurance contributions and half of any contributions to an occupational or personal pension are deducted from earnings. There are also a number of other deductions which can be made that mean that people can earn significantly more than £110 per week and still be eligible for Carer's Allowance.

Whilst the Government does not link the earnings limit to any other particular factor (including the National Living Wage), we do keep it under regular review and increase it when it is warranted and affordable, and this will continue to be our approach. Most recently in April 2015 the earnings limit was increased by 8% to £110, far outstripping the general increase in earnings.

Answered by:
Penny Mordaunt (Conservative)
12 September 2016