The true price of care
The system depends on carers, yet leaves many financially vulnerable, says Paul Lewis.
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Unpaid carers save the Government an estimated £184 billion a year. The charity Carers UK says that would be the cost if the state paid for the work that nearly six million people do caring for others who cannot fully look after themselves. They can be partners, relatives, friends or neighbours.
If they care for at least 35 hours a week for someone who receives a long-term disability benefit such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance, they can claim Carer’s Allowance (Carer Support Payment in Scotland). It is £83.30 a week, so their rate of pay is at most £2.38 an hour and many care for far longer – for some, it’s a 24/7 job. Minimum wage for those over 21 is £12.21 an hour. In Scotland, carers also get a supplement of £293.50 every six months.
If a carer also does some paid work and earns more than £196 a week, their entitlement to Carer’s Allowance stops – not just for that week but permanently until they claim again. HM Revenue & Customs informs the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of carers’ wages. But the DWP has admitted failing to act quickly to stop the benefit, leaving around 200,000 carers owing large amounts for payments they should not have had. These historic debts are being reviewed but most will not be written off.
Complex rules allow wages to be averaged over a reasonable period, usually five weeks but as much as a year for self-employed people. The DWP has now admitted it got these rules wrong in its guidance both to officials and carers, and many carers had their benefit wrongly stopped. It says these problems have been resolved for the future. But a carer whose wages fluctuate above and below the limit should ensure they have been correctly averaged.
Carer’s Allowance normally stops at state pension age (currently 66). No one can get both the allowance and the state pension. State pension is usually higher, so that is the one they get. However, it’s still worth people over 66 claiming Carer’s Allowance, as they keep what is called an underlying entitlement to it. And that will boost the amount they get from means-tested benefits such as pension credit, housing benefit and council tax support.