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Carer's Allowance calculator

2026 and 2027 rates

Carer's Allowance is up to €270 a week if you are under 66, or €308 from 66, rising to €280 and €318 in January 2027. Since 2 July 2026 the first €1,000 a week of income (€2,000 for a couple) is ignored. Enter your household's income to estimate your rate.

Your age
Caring for
Household
Couple means married, in a civil partnership or living together.
Carer's Allowance a week 
Weekly means
 
Maximum rate
 
Carer's Support Grant
 
A year, with the grant
 
Means test
Payment

Carer's Benefit, for people who leave work to care, is a week with no means test.

This is an estimate based on the Department of Social Protection's published means test and rates. Only the Department can decide whether you qualify and at what rate, after a full means assessment. It is not financial or legal advice. Terms of use.

Illustration for the carer's allowance calculator

How the Carer's Allowance means test works

  1. Add up the household's weekly income: your gross pay and your partner's, less PRSI, pension contributions, union dues and travel costs, plus any other income that counts.
  2. Add the weekly value of savings and investments. The first €50,000 is ignored, then each 1,000 euro counts as 1, 2 or 4 euro a week. For a couple, the savings are halved, valued and doubled.
  3. Take off the income disregard: €1,000 a week single or €2,000 for a couple (from 2 July 2026). For a couple, halve what is left. That is your weekly means.
  4. Your rate is the maximum rate less 2.50 euro for each 2.50 euro (or part) of means above 7.60 euro, from the Department's rates table (SW19). Children add a Child Support Payment: full rate if you are single, half rate in a couple.

Example from Citizens Information. John earns €1,800 a week and Mary €250. They have €145,000 in savings. Halved, that is €72,500, which counts as 38 euro a week, doubled to €76. Their total means are €2,126. Less the €2,000 couple disregard leaves €126, halved to €63 a week. On the rates table that gives a carer under 66 €212.50 a week.

Rates

Weekly20262027
Carer's Allowance, under 66€270€280
Carer's Allowance, 66 or over€308€318
Carer's Benefit€271€281
Child under 12 (full rate)€58€64
Child 12 or over (full rate)€78€84
Carer's Support Grant (a year)€2,000€2,000

Not included: the rules for income from self-employment and farming, rent-a-room income, people who share care, and the Department's exact treatment of each type of income. The 2027 rates table is assumed to keep the same 2.50 euro steps.

Sources

Rates last checked 10 October 2026. Every figure is listed on rates and sources.

Figures marked as announced come from Budget 2027 and are not law until the Finance Act or Social Welfare Act that brings them in is passed.

Questions

How much is Carer's Allowance?
The maximum is €270 a week if you are under 66 and €308 if you are 66 or over (2026). Budget 2027 announced €280 and €318 from January 2027. Caring for 2 or more people adds 50%. Your rate can be lower depending on your means.
What is the income limit for Carer's Allowance?
There is no fixed limit, but from 2 July 2026 the first €1,000 a week of income is ignored for a single carer, and €2,000 for a couple (up from €625 and €1,250). With no savings or deductions, some payment is made up to about €1,275.10 a week of gross income for a single carer under 66, or €2,550.20 for a couple. Budget 2027 raises the disregards to €1,150 and €2,300 from July 2027.
Is my spouse's income counted?
Yes. The means test looks at your income and your spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's. Their earnings count after PRSI, pension contributions, union dues and travel costs. For a couple, the combined means after the disregard are halved.
How are savings counted?
The first €50,000 of savings and investments (not your home) is ignored. Above that, each 1,000 euro counts as 1 euro a week of means up to €60,000, 2 euro a week up to €70,000, and 4 euro a week above that. A couple's savings are halved, valued, and doubled.
What is half-rate Carer's Allowance?
If you get another social welfare payment, such as a State Pension, Illness Benefit or One-Parent Family Payment, you can keep it and get half-rate Carer's Allowance on top: up to €135 a week under 66 or €154 from 66 in 2026. You cannot combine it with Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance.
What is the Carer's Support Grant?
An annual payment of €2,000 for each person you care for, paid automatically in June to people getting Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit or Domiciliary Care Allowance. Other full-time carers can apply. Budget 2027 kept it at €2,000.
What is Carer's Benefit?
Carer's Benefit is for people who leave work to care for someone, based on PRSI rather than a means test. It is €271 a week in 2026 (€281 from January 2027), or €406.50 for 2 or more people, for up to 104 weeks for each person cared for. You can work up to 18.5 hours a week and earn up to €1,000 a week after deductions.
Can I work and get Carer's Allowance?
Yes, up to 18.5 hours a week of work, study or voluntary work in total, as long as the person you care for has care while you are away. Your earnings count in the means test.

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