Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit to the value of 21 hours of work a week at the National Living Wage rate.

Many carers who are receiving Carer’s Allowance are also in households receiving Universal Credit, whose structure of tapers and work allowances (where applicable) effectively takes precedence over the earnings rules in Carer’s Allowance for these carers. This helps ensure that, if they wish to work, carers on the lowest incomes are better off doing so. There is, however, no requirement for those caring for 35 hours or more a week to undertake work search whilst receiving Universal Credit. In work or out of work, these carers may also receive the Universal Credit Carer Element, worth around an additional £2,000 a year.

The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit itself will increase from £132 to £139 net earnings per week in April 2023. This means it will have increased by more than one third since 2010. Whilst the Government does not directly link the earnings limit to any other particular factor (including hours worked or the National Living Wage), it does keep it under regular review and increases it when it is warranted and affordable.