Overview

Carers UK undertook a large piece of work looking at carers and poverty published in September 2024, Poverty and Financial Hardship of Carers in the UK, a WPI Economics Report for Carers UK, supported by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, providing robust evidence of carers’ poverty and setting out key recommendations for change. This included recommended changes for older carers’ financial support.

Since the publication of that report, the decision was made by Government to change eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments to those in receipt of Pension Credit only. This created an added and urgent imperative to look more deeply into older carers, poverty and the relationship with Pension Credit.

Along with Age UK, Independent Age and many others, Carers UK ran take-up campaigns to try to increase awareness of and appropriate claims for Pension Credit, with Carers UK focussing primarily on older carers. 

This work brought into sharp focus the need to change the processes by which older carers apply for additional financial support, as well as the need to increase payments for older carers facing poverty and who receive little other recognition. This report explains the history of older carers’ financial support, and the processes and solutions for tackling carers’ poverty and improving outcomes and wellbeing.

Key recommendations

Simplify claims processes

-DWP should ensure there is an automatic check for entitlement to Pension Credit for carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance when reaching State Pension age.

-DWP should create a simple tick box on forms and one route of establishing entitlement to Carer Addition when applying for Pension Credit, without having to apply for Carer’s Allowance separately.

* For those people already in receipt of Pension Credit who start caring and might be entitled to Carer Addition, DWP needs to find ways to radically simplify this process eg by not having to apply for Carer’s Allowance separately if they would otherwise meet similar conditions. It should deliver this new system within a year.

DWP should work with the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland to ensure that these measures also apply in relation to Carer Support Payment.

-Introduce these new measures before Winter 2025 to ensure better take-up of Pension Credit by carers.

Make carers and others aware of entitlements

- DWP should create simple awareness campaigns, using digital and traditional methods, to ensure that unpaid carers are aware of potential new entitlements to Carer’s Allowance. Social Security Scotland should create similar campaigns to raise awareness of Carer Support Payment.

Lift older carers out of poverty

- The UK Government should raise the level of Carer Addition by £36.60 per week lifting 20,000 older carers out of deep poverty at a cost of £300 million per year.

- As a minimum, raise the level of Carer Addition by £11.10 per week lifting 10,000 older carers out of poverty at a cost of £80 million per year.

Recognise and value older carers

- DWP should model the introduction and delivery of a new additional payment for older carers on top of their State Pension which recognises caring.

- DWP should introduce the new payment within three years.

- The Scottish Government should deliver on its commitment to consider the introduction and delivery of a new additional payment for older carers on top of their State Pension which recognises caring.

- The Scottish Government should introduce legislation to deliver this new payment within the first session of the new Parliament elected in May 2026