Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Woman opening an empty wallet
A complex benefits system means many carers can end up ineligible for carer’s allowance. Photograph: courtneyk/Getty Images
A complex benefits system means many carers can end up ineligible for carer’s allowance. Photograph: courtneyk/Getty Images

Unpaid carers lose out in benefits gap

This article is more than 1 month old

Carer’s allowance eligibility | Liz Truss’s bestseller | Save the election date | Earthworms rule | Reservoir pics

Re Jan Pahl’s letter (12 April) illustrating the very low value that carer’s allowance (CA) places on unpaid carers’ contributions to the care of their families, the gap between entitlement to and eligibility for CA is further proof of this. In 2022-23, 1.3 million people were deemed to be entitled to claim CA, but nearly 400,000 were ineligible because of the complex interactions with the disability benefits received by the person being cared for and/or other benefits received by the carer themselves or another member of the household.
Hilary Land
Emerita professor of family policy, University of Bristol

Liz Truss’s new book is an Amazon top 10 bestseller, along with three air fryer cookbooks, so it appears that there is a sizable appetite for overhyped hot air.
Graeme Innes-Johnstone
Elland, West Yorkshire

How about Thursday 10 October for the general election – the 50th anniversary of Labour’s fourth win under Harold Wilson’s leadership.
Christopher Graham
Hale, Greater Manchester

Followers of the 70s rock band Stackridge have long known No One’s More Important Than the Earthworm (Earthworm crowned UK invertebrate of the year…, 15 April).
Steve Jones
Bairrada, Portugal

As it looks like the six months of almost continuous rain is drawing to a close, can you cheer us up with some nice photos of full reservoirs before the drought sets in?
Tessa Doe
Seend Cleeve, Wiltshire

Most viewed

Most viewed