Petition · past parliament

Bring Carer's Allowance rules in line with other working-age benefits

Closed 859 signatures

What the petition asks

Carer's Allowance is payable at £62.10 per week, whereas Job Seekers Allowance is up to £73.10. Moreover, the eligibility threshold requires at least 35 hours of care provided. In contrast Working Tax Credit thresholds are 30 hours, and 16 hours for certain categories.
Carer's Allowance recipients have a higher hour threshold than workers, for a lower rate of benefit than Job Seekers. The rate of Carer's Allowance undermines the value of the work undertaken (estimated at £119bn per year - Carers UK and the University of Leeds (2011) Valuing Carers 2011: Calculating the value of carers’), and the additional expenses that caring can incur - (Carers UK (2014) Facts about Carers).
CA should be £73.10 for 30 hours, and a lower rate introduced for 16 hours care.

Timeline

23 Feb 2016 Petition opened for signatures
23 Aug 2016 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 859
Status Closed
Opened 23 Feb 2016
Closed 23 Aug 2016

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.