Increase Carers Allowance to equal the national minimum wage.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Carers Allowance is currently £269 per month for 35 hours a week, which works out at roughly £1.92 per hour. National Minimum Wage for 18 year olds is currently £6.56 per hour. Carers Allowance is a taxable benefit and treated as a wage by the DWP.

Each carer saves the economy roughly 19k a year (https://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campaigns/press-releases/facts-and-figures) but receives a wage of £3238 per year. Caring is not normally a 35 hour a week job and some are caring for multiple family members with the increased costs associated with disabilities. Anybody could become a carer at any time of life, just as anybody could become disabled. Accidents and illnesses happen.
For govt info see https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may like to sign the petition we currently have open on this topic:

Make Carers Allowance equivalent to a fair wage & allow multiple claims
Make Carers Allowance equivalent to a fair wage & allow multiple claims

Timeline

3 Mar 2021	Petition opened for signatures
10 Mar 2021	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21

Status Rejected

Rejected 10 Mar 2021

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