This photo is Carol and Sandra from Leicestershire carers. They’re making a point about working carers. Over half of all carers are in some sort of paid work. That’s over 3 million people juggling a paid job with their caring responsibilities – not an easy job. Many people end up going part-time and sadly many leave paid work altogether – they simply can’t get the support they need to carry on.
If you care for someone for more than 35 hours a week you can get a benefit called Carer’s Allowance – worth about £54 a week. However if during the other 133 hours of the week you’re in paid work then you’ll come up against something called the Carer’s Allowance “earnings limit”. This is currently £100 a week. At minimum wage that means you can work about 17 hours a week. But if you got a tiny pay rise and found you were suddenly earning £101 a week then you lose the entire benefit.
Carers UK wants the government to stop making life difficult for working carers. Paid work’s not just about money, it’s about keeping contact with the outside world and having a life of your own. The benefit’s system should recognise that many people are doing a balancing act and that caring brings extra financial costs.
If you want to see a better deal for those people who juggle work with care, and for all those people who simply can’t get out to work because of their caring responsibilities – then join our campaign and tell the next government it’s time to support carers.
Filed under: Virtual Protest
I am in tolal agreement I work have a family and look after my mother in law but dont get carers allowance How much would it cost the goverment to send someone in, in the morning afternoon and then at night.?
I find this limit scandalous and completely without justification or indeed sense.
Firstly why limit the ambitions of carers and limit the use of valuable skills to help them and the economy never mind better provide for those they care for.
Surely if carers earn more, then they pay proportionally more tax for the economy? Instead it seems the current scheme perversely seeks to keep people below an income where they can have a comfortable standard of living.
It’s claimed its not a means tested benefit….it clearly is because if you have the ability to earn over a measly £100 per week then you lose it. That’s less than 20 hours on minimum wage!
I would agree that full time jobs and caring may not go hand in hand, but this ridiculous limit prevents people working in part time employment as well.