The short answer
- Carer’s Allowance is £86.45 a week, or £4,495.40 a year.
- You can earn up to £204 a week after tax, National Insurance, half your pension contributions and some care costs.
- At the £12.71 National Living Wage, that is about 16 hours a week.
- There is no taper: earning over the limit loses the whole payment for that week.
Who can get Carer's Allowance
- You are 16 or over and care for someone for at least 35 hours a week.
- They get a qualifying benefit: Attendance Allowance, the daily living part of PIP, the middle or highest care rate of Disability Living Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, or Constant Attendance Allowance at certain rates.
- You are not in full-time education, meaning 21 hours or more of supervised study a week.
- Your earnings are £204 a week or less after deductions.
You do not have to be related to or live with the person you care for. The 35 hours can include time spent shopping, cooking or doing paperwork for them, as well as personal care. In Scotland, Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer’s Allowance, with the same earnings limit.
The £204 earnings limit
The limit rose from £196 to £204 a week in April 2026. It is set at roughly 16 hours at the National Living Wage, so that carers can keep a part-time job. The test is applied week by week, to the earnings you are paid in that week, or averaged if your pay varies.
| Hourly pay | Most gross pay | Most hours |
|---|---|---|
| £12.71 | £204.00 | 16.05 |
| £15.00 | £204.00 | 13.60 |
| £20.00 | £204.00 | 10.20 |
At these levels pay is below the tax and National Insurance thresholds, so the gross and counted earnings are the same. Above about £242 a week, tax and National Insurance start to be taken off first.
How earnings are counted
Starting with your gross pay, the Carer’s Allowance Unit takes off:
- Income Tax;
- Class 1 National Insurance;
- half of what you pay into a pension;
- what you pay someone, other than a close relative, to look after the person you care for or a child under 16 while you work, up to half of your earnings after the deductions above.
Expenses your employer repays, such as mileage, are not earnings. Statutory Sick Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay do count. Income from savings, pensions or renting a room does not count towards the earnings limit at all.
How many hours you can work
Divide £204 by your hourly rate to get a rough maximum. At the National Living Wage of £12.71, 16 hours a week gives £203.36, just under the limit. A 17th hour takes you to £216.07 and over it.
The cliff edge
- 16 hours: pay£203.36
- 16 hours: Carer's Allowance£86.45
- 16 hours: total£289.81
- 17 hours: pay, over the limit£216.07
- 17 hours: Carer's Allowance£0.00
You would need to work about 24 hours a week at this rate before you were better off than at 16 hours. Universal Credit and other benefits work on a taper, but Carer’s Allowance does not.
Large overpayments
The Department for Work and Pensions has recovered large sums from carers whose earnings went slightly over the limit for months. An independent review in 2025 led to changes in how these cases are handled, but you must still repay overpayments, so check every pay rise and change of hours.
Using pension contributions
Because half of your pension contributions come off your earnings, paying more into a workplace pension can bring you back under the limit while building savings.
- Gross pay£216.07
- Pension contribution, 12%£25.93
- Half of that taken off−£12.96
- Earnings that count£203.11
That is £60.52 a week more than working 17 hours without the pension, and the £25.93 goes into the pension pot, usually with a contribution from your employer too. Ask your employer whether you can choose a higher rate.
Claiming care costs
If you pay a care worker, sitting service or childminder while you are at work, the cost can be taken off your earnings, up to half of what you earn after tax, National Insurance and pension.
- Gross pay£300.00
- Income Tax and National Insurance−£16.32
- After tax and NI£283.68
- Care costs allowedUp to half of £283.68−£120.00
- Earnings that count£163.68
The carer must not be a close relative, such as a parent, child, brother, sister or partner. Keep invoices or receipts and send them with your claim.
If your pay varies
If you work irregular hours, are on a zero-hours contract or are paid monthly, the Carer’s Allowance Unit can average your earnings over a period, over a period that reflects your normal pattern of work. A single high week can then be balanced by lower weeks.
- Test
- Each week on its own
- Risk
- Overtime in one week loses that week
- Test
- Converted or averaged to a weekly figure
- Tip
- Monthly pay is multiplied by 12 and divided by 52
A one-off bonus or holiday pay can push one week over. Tell the unit about it so they can work out which week it belongs to.
Self-employed carers
If you are self-employed, your earnings are your profit after allowable expenses, minus Income Tax, Class 4 National Insurance and half of any pension contributions, averaged over a week. Keep good records and send accounts or a profit and loss statement when asked.
State Pension and underlying entitlement
Carer’s Allowance is an overlapping benefit with the State Pension and some others. If your State Pension is £86.45 a week or more, you are not paid Carer’s Allowance. If it is less, you get the difference.
It is still worth claiming. Underlying entitlement adds a carer addition of £48.15 a week to Pension Credit and a carer premium to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.
- Under State Pension ageCarer's Allowance paid
Plus Class 1 National Insurance credits.
- At State Pension ageState Pension overlaps
Underlying entitlement only, if your pension is £86.45 or more.
- If on Pension CreditCarer addition
An extra £48.15 a week.
Carer's Allowance and Universal Credit
Carer’s Allowance counts as unearned income for Universal Credit and is taken off pound for pound. But caring for 35 hours a week adds a carer element of £209.34 a month, whether or not you get Carer’s Allowance. Getting Carer’s Allowance also exempts the household from the benefit cap, and caring for 35 hours means you are not asked to look for work.
Because the £204 limit is checked separately from Universal Credit, some carers on Universal Credit are better off staying under it, even though their Universal Credit falls by the same amount.
Avoiding overpayments
- Check your payslip each time your pay or hours change.
- Report any change straight away online or by phone.
- Keep copies of what you report and when.
- If you are close to the limit, consider a pension contribution or fewer hours.
- If you are told you have been overpaid, ask how it was worked out and get advice before agreeing to repay.
Carer's Credit if you cannot get Carer's Allowance
If you earn too much for Carer’s Allowance, or care for at least 20 hours a week rather than 35, you may still get Carer’s Credit. It is a National Insurance credit that protects your State Pension, and there is no earnings limit.
The person you care for must get a qualifying disability benefit, or a health or social care professional must confirm that they need the care. You need 35 qualifying years for the full new State Pension, so years spent caring can be protected.
Breaks from caring
You can keep Carer’s Allowance during short breaks from caring, such as a holiday or when the person you care for goes into respite care. You can have up to 4 weeks off in any 26-week period, or up to 12 weeks if either of you is in hospital. Tell the Carer’s Allowance Unit about each break.
Other help for carers
- A carer’s assessment from your council, which can lead to respite care, equipment or a personal budget.
- Council Tax discounts, as some carers living with the person they care for are disregarded for Council Tax.
- Flexible working and up to one week of unpaid carer’s leave a year from your employer, from your first day in the job.
- Grants and support from carers’ charities and local carers’ centres.
Before you accept a pay rise
The National Living Wage and the earnings limit both rise most Aprils, but not always by the same amount. A pay rise in April, or a new job at a higher rate, can push the same hours over the limit.
Before accepting more pay or hours, work out your new counted earnings. If you would go over, you could reduce your hours slightly, increase your pension contribution, or claim care costs, so that you keep both the pay rise and the allowance.
Two jobs, or work and self-employment
If you have more than one job, your earnings from all of them are added together before the limit is applied. Each employer works out tax and National Insurance separately, so check each payslip and add up the figures. If you are employed and self-employed, your weekly profit is added to your earnings from the job.
Two small jobs can take you over the limit even if neither does on its own. Keep a simple record of what each one pays each week, so you can spot a problem before it becomes an overpayment.