We are holding a focus group for 8-10 carers/former carers who are claiming (or have previously claimed) Carer’s Allowance while in paid employment. The focus group will take place on 25 April from 5-7pm, and will include a short break. It will take place online (using Teams) and you would receive £40 for this.This payment would count as earnings, so if this would affect your benefits we could provide this in separate smaller amounts.
Topics for discussion might include whether more information could be provided to carers about the earnings threshold; whether the earnings threshold should be increased to allow carers to work more hours or take on higher paid work if they wish to do so; any experiences carers have of unintentionally going over the earnings threshold for Carer’s Allowance; any other issues or challenges in claiming Carer’s Allowance; and whether the process of communicating with the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to Carer’s Allowance could be improved.
There are no right or wrong answers: we are interested in your experiences and your personal reflections. Any contributions you make will be made in confidence, and we would use pseudonyms (i.e false names) rather than real names. Please contact melanie.crew@carersuk.org for further details. We are also encouraging you to complete the following survey: