Young Carer Grant

This advice applies to Scotland. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Wales

What is the Young Carer Grant

The Young Carer Grant is a payment of £383.75 from Social Security Scotland.

It’s paid once a year to carers aged 16 to 18 years, who do at least 16 hours of caring a week on average, but don’t receive Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment.

You don’t need to have worked or paid National Insurance to get the grant, and it doesn’t matter what your income is or if you have any savings.

You can be at school, in further education like at college, in work or unemployed.

Who can get the Young Carer Grant

To claim the Young Carer Grant, you must be all of the following:

If you care for someone for 35 hours or more a week

If you spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone you may be able to get Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment.

You can’t get a Young Carer Grant if you’ve applied for, or already get, Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment.

If you think you’re eligible for Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment you should apply for the Young Carer Grant first. You can then apply for Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment after you’ve been paid the Young Carer Grant.

Carer Support Payment is replacing Carer’s Allowance in Scotland. It’s available in different parts of Scotland at different times.  

You should check if you can get Carer Support Payment where you live.  

If Carer Support Payment is not available where you live, check if you can get Carer’s Allowance.

There are some situations where you may be slightly worse off if you apply for Young Carer Grant before you apply for Carer's Allowance or Carer Support Payment. For example, if you delay applying for Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment you may miss the deadline for Carer’s Allowance Supplement. You can find out more about Carer's Allowance Supplement or get advice at your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

If you used to get Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment

You can apply for Young Carer Grant if you stop being eligible for Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment - for example, if you get a job and earn too much to get Carer's Allowance or Carer Support Payment.

If someone else gets a carer benefit for the person you care for

If someone else gets Carers Allowance or Carer Support Payment for looking after the same person you care for, you can still get the Young Carer Grant.

If you share caring responsibilities with another young person

You might share caring responsibilities with another young carer. You should decide between you who will apply because only one carer can be paid the grant for any of the people you care for.

You can take it in turns to apply. For example, your sibling could apply one year and you could get it the next year.

If someone else has already applied for a Young Carer Grant for one of the people you care for, you won’t be awarded the grant, unless your application is made more than a year later.

What benefits does the cared-for person need to be getting

The person or people you care for must have been getting one or more of these benefits for at least the last 13 weeks before you apply:

If you’re not sure what benefits the person you care for gets, you can still apply for the grant and say that you don’t know. However, it will take longer for the application to be processed because Social Security Scotland will need to find out what benefits they get.

If you care for someone who doesn’t get one of these benefits

You won’t get the Young Carer grant if the person you care for isn’t getting one of the benefits above. However you can still access the Young Carers Package.

The Young Carers Package gives you access to a range of discounts and opportunities, like cinema ticket offers and CV advice. The Young Scot website has more information on the discounts and opportunities available.

Does claiming a Young Carer Grant affect the benefits of the person I care for

The benefits of the person you care for won’t be affected when you apply for the Young Carer Grant.

What counts as caring

Lots of young people don’t realise they are young carers. Some people care for more than one person at a time.

The rules say that the care must involve activity that promotes the physical, mental or emotional well-being of the person you care for.

You must not provide the care as part of your employment or voluntary work.

You might be a young carer if you help someone with an illness or disability with tasks like:

  • picking up prescriptions

  • providing emotional support

  • preparing family meals

  • getting washed and dressed

  • taking responsibility for housework

  • looking after siblings.

How much time do you need to spend caring

You must have spent time caring in at least 10 of the 13 weeks before you apply. When you add up the amount of time you spent caring in the last 13 weeks it must be a minimum of 208 hours in total. If you spend the same amount of time each week caring, that is 16 hours a week on average. But you can still get the grant if there are some breaks, for example if someone you care for goes into hospital for a short time.

You can add up the hours you spend caring for up to three different people, as long as it adds up to 16 hours a week or more in total. All of the people you care for must get a certain disability benefit throughout the 13 weeks before you make your application.

The 13-week period ends on the day before your application is received by Social Security Scotland.

It’s common to underestimate the number of hours you spend caring. If you’re not sure how much you do, think about the different tasks that you do, how long they take and how often you do them. It might help to make a list.

How to apply

You can apply:

If you're a British Sign Language (BSL) user, you can use the contactSCOTLAND app to contact Social Security Scotland by video relay.

Before you apply for the Young Carer Grant, it’s a good idea to tell the person you care for. Once you’ve submitted your application, Social Security Scotland will send them a letter. This is to tell them that you've applied for the grant, and that Social Security Scotland will check what benefits they're getting. Their benefits will not be affected.

You’ll be asked for your National Insurance (NI) number, and the NI number for each person you care for. You should have been sent your NI number when you turned 16. If you don’t know it, you can still make the application, but it will take longer for your application to be dealt with.

You can ask Social Security Scotland to send you a free text message or email when they get your application.

Sending evidence 

You might need to give Social Security Scotland some evidence to support your application. You can do this electronically or by post.

Uploading documents online is the fastest way to send your evidence. Check how to upload documents on the Social Security Scotland website.

If you've applied by post, you’ll get a letter from Social Security Scotland asking you to send them evidence. You should send photocopies rather than the original copies.

You only have to send one piece of evidence showing where you live. Sending more evidence won’t make your application stronger and won’t mean it’s decided faster.

You won’t normally be asked to send evidence to prove the amount of care that you provide, or the type of care.

Giving incorrect information

If you deliberately give Social Security Scotland incorrect information, you might be committing a criminal offence.

Read more about Scottish benefit fraud.

Help to apply from Social Security Scotland

You can get help to apply for Scottish benefits from Social Security Scotland’s local delivery service. Phone Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222 to make an appointment.

You could arrange:

  • a home visit

  • a video or phone call

  • a meeting in a local community centre.

A client support adviser can go through the application with you. They’ll answer questions about the application and help you with any supporting information you need to provide.

You can also fill in a form to authorise someone to speak to Social Security Scotland on your behalf. This might be helpful if you feel unable to find the information you need or understand things about your application. You can download a third-party authorisation form on mygov.scot.

Get help from an advocate if you're disabled

If you’re disabled or have a health condition, you can get help from the Independent Advocacy Service with appealing a Social Security Scotland decision. The service is provided by VoiceAbility.

You can get an advocate to help you express your views, get the information you need and make decisions.

You can get an advocate by:

You won’t be eligible for the service if you already have someone acting for you, such as an appointee or someone with a power of attorney.

How it’s paid

The payments will usually go into your bank, building society or credit union account.

If you don’t have a bank account, check our advice on getting a bank account.

It can be paid to someone else’s bank account if you prefer. Make sure you ask the other person first and you can access the money when you need it.

If you don’t have access to a bank account, you can ask Social Security Scotland to give you vouchers instead. These vouchers can be used at various retailers. You should apply by calling Social Security Scotland if you want to do this.

Can you get more than one grant

You can only get one grant per year, and a maximum of 3 grants in total.

You can apply for the grant once a year when you’re aged 16, 17 and 18 years.

You can apply again 12 months after your first application. When you apply for the grant, you’ll be asked if you want to be sent a reminder letter in 12 months time, telling you when you can apply again.

You’ll only be asked if you want a reminder letter if you will be 18 years or under in 12 months time.

Will the money affect other benefits

The grant shouldn't affect your other benefits or council tax reduction.

If you get Universal Credit, a Young Carer Grant won't be counted as savings for 52 weeks. This means if you spend the payment before you get the next one, it shouldn't affect your Universal Credit claim.

What can you spend the money on

The Young Carer Grant was created to help young carers make the most of their leisure time and to help with school costs. For example, you could use it for driving lessons, socialising, school books, or going on holiday.

Young carers also have access to a Young Carers Package, which gives you access to a range of discounts and opportunities, like cinema ticket offers and CV advice. To get more information on the discounts and opportunities available visit the Young Scot website.

Get a young carer statement

Your council might be able to arrange practical help for you, like arranging for someone else to step in for a while to give you a break or providing extra support for the person you care for.

Find more information about getting a young carer statement.

If your application is refused

If you’re not awarded the Young Carer Grant, Social Security Scotland will send you a letter explaining why.

If you disagree with their decision you can ask them to look at it again. This is called a 're-determination’.

Each refusal letter comes with a re-determination form. You can also request one by phoning Social Security Scotland.

You have 31 days from the day you got the letter to ask for a re-determination. You are assumed to receive a letter 48 hours after Social Security Scotland has sent it, unless you can show that there was a delay in you getting the letter. This can be extended up to 12 months with good reason.

Find out more about asking for a re-determination.

If you’re refused the grant because the person you care for doesn’t get a disability benefit, you should tell Social Security Scotland if they are later awarded it.

You can access discounts and more in the Young Carers Package on the Young Scot website, even if you don't get the Young Carer Grant.

If you're paid by mistake

If you're paid a Young Carer Grant by mistake or you're paid too much money, you may have to pay the money back to Social Security Scotland.

Find out how Social Security Scotland decide if you have to repay an overpayment.

Rules about living in Scotland

To get the Young Carer Grant, you must usually be:

  • ordinarily resident in Scotland - this means you normally live in Scotland

  • habitually resident in the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.

There are different rules for some nationals of EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

If you're not sure if you can get the Young Carer Grant because of where you live, get advice.

Check if you need to meet the habitual residence criteria

You might be able to apply for the Young Carer Grant if you’re ordinarily resident in Scotland and one of the following applies:

  • you're a refugee

  • you have discretionary leave to enter or remain in the UK

  • you have leave to remain under the destitution domestic violence concession

  • you've been granted temporary protection as a displaced person

  • you've been granted humanitarian protection

  • you've been deported to the UK from another country and are not subject to immigration control.

Check the conditions you must meet if you’ve left another country because of conflict or if you live in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

If you've left another country because of conflict

Some people don't need to meet the habitual residence test or the past presence test. 

You don’t need to meet these tests if you: 

  • were living in Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights or Lebanon before 7 October 2023 and left because of the violence from that date onwards 

  • were living in Sudan before 15 April 2023 and left because of the violence from that date onwards 

  • were living in Ukraine before 1 January 2022 and left because of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022.

In these cases, you must also meet one of these conditions: 

  • you have leave to enter or remain in the UK 

  • you have a right of abode in the UK 

  • you’re a British or Irish citizen. 

If you're from Afghanistan, you don't need to meet the habitual residence test or the past presence test if you've been granted leave: 

  • under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy or the ex gratia scheme for locally employed staff in Afghanistan

  • as the dependant of someone who has been granted this leave

  • under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.

If you live in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland

You might be able to get a Young Carer Grant if you live in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

The UK must be the country responsible for paying benefits to you, and you must have a 'genuine and sufficient' link to Scotland.

This means that if you live outside Scotland but would otherwise be entitled to a Young Carer Grant, then you can get it as long as you meet all the other conditions.