Carer's Allowance is a non-contributory benefit in the United Kingdom payable to people who care for a disabled person for at least 35 hours a week.
This policy was held to be unlawful sexual discrimination by the European Court in 1986 in the case of Jackie Drake.
The benefit is not entitled if the claimant earns more than £132 per week from paid employment after tax, National Insurance Contributions and allowable expenses including half of any pension contributions, work-related expenses such as the cost of a lease car, and up to 100% of care costs.
As of September 2018, the Scottish Government's social security agency, Social Security Scotland, makes extra payments to Scottish residents who are in receipt of Carer's Allowance on specific "qualifying dates," known as the Carer's Allowance Supplement.
In April 2019, the Labour Party announced that it would increase Carer's Allowance and raise the earnings threshold for it in line with the National Living Wage.