Carers
Carer’s Allowance calculator: will your earnings pass the weekly limit?
Enter your take-home pay and the costs you can deduct; the result is the amount paid a week.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Carer’s Allowance pays £86.45 a week in 2026/27 to someone caring for at least 35 hours a week for a person on a qualifying disability benefit. The main obstacle for carers who work is the earnings limit: your earnings must be £204 a week or less after income tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses. Those expenses are more generous than many people think. Half of what you pay into a pension comes off, as do work equipment and travel between workplaces your employer does not refund. Money you pay someone other than a close relative to look after the disabled person or your children while you work can be deducted up to half of your earnings. Pensions, contributions from people you live with and most lodger income are not earnings at all. The calculator applies these rules in order and tells you how far you are from the limit. It is a cliff edge: a penny over and the allowance is lost for that week.
Carer’s Allowance paid a week
£86.45
Counted earnings £180.00: £24.00 under the £204.00 limit
| Earnings after tax and NI | £180.00 |
| Earnings counted | £180.00 |
The limit is a cliff edge: one penny over and nothing is paid for that week. Carer’s Allowance counts as income for Universal Credit and is taxable. In Scotland the equivalent is Carer Support Payment.
Two carers, one limit
Priya cares for her father for 40 hours a week and works part time. She takes home £236 a week, pays £30 into her workplace pension and £45 to a childminder for her son while she works. Half of the pension contribution and all the childcare come off, because £45 is less than half of her earnings. Her counted earnings are £176.00, £28.00 under the limit, so she gets the full £86.45 a week.
Her colleague Dan takes home £212 with nothing to deduct. He is £8.00 over and gets nothing, even though he earns less than Priya. Being a few pounds over costs him £4,495 a year, which is why it pays to list every allowable expense.
| Priya | Dan | |
|---|---|---|
| Take-home pay | £236.00 | £212.00 |
| Less half of pension contributions | £15.00 | £0.00 |
| Less care costs | £45.00 | £0.00 |
| Earnings counted | £176.00 | £212.00 |
| Carer’s Allowance a week | £86.45 | £0.00 |
What the calculator checks, and what it does not
It applies the deductions listed on GOV.UK’s eligibility page, the limit from the DWP rates table (up from £196 last year) and, if you enter one, the State Pension overlap. It assumes the other conditions are met: you are 16 or over, not in full-time education or studying 21 hours a week or more, and the person you care for gets PIP daily living, DLA middle or highest care, Attendance Allowance or another qualifying benefit. It does not show the effect on other benefits: Universal Credit is reduced by the full allowance, and the person you care for may lose a severe disability premium, as GOV.UK explains. Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit and the full Carer’s Allowance guide cover those effects.