Can I get paid to care for a family member?

If you have dropped to four days at work and drive over most evenings, you are already giving up a great deal for a parent who is getting older. Add the medications, the repeat prescriptions and the hospital appointments, and it is fair to ask whether any of that work might be paid.

Often there is a route, through direct payments from the council, your parent’s own savings, or Carer’s Allowance. They pay out differently, though, and claiming one can cancel out another. Here’s how each works, and what to get in place before the first payment.

Can I get paid to look after my elderly parents?

You can get paid to look after your elderly parents if the council agrees to fund their care and they choose to employ you through a direct payment. If they fund their own care, they can pay you from their own money. Carer’s Allowance is a separate benefit for unpaid carers, not a wage, though you can sometimes hold it alongside paid care work.

The process starts with a needs assessment, which looks at what your mum or dad can no longer manage by themselves. The council then does a financial assessment to work out how much of that care it pays for and how much they will need to contribute.

How much could the council pay for?

Whether the council pays depends on your parent’s capital, and the threshold differs across the UK:

• England: council funding starts once capital is below £23,250.
• Wales: £24,000 for care at home, and no one pays more than £100 a week, however much they have.
• Scotland: personal care at home is free once the council assesses it as needed.
• Northern Ireland: Trusts do not usually charge for care at home, and no one over 75 pays for home help.

Check whether your parent gets Attendance Allowance, or Pension Age Disability Payment in Scotland, which is claimed through Social Security Scotland. Neither is means-tested, so a parent who struggles with washing, dressing or getting to the toilet safely at night may qualify even if their savings rule out council funding. They need a qualifying disability benefit before you can claim Carer’s Allowance.

Can I claim Carer’s Allowance for looking after a family member?

You can claim Carer’s Allowance if you care for someone at least 35 hours a week, earn no more than £204 a week after deductions, and are 16 or over and not in full-time education. Carer’s Allowance pays £86.45 a week in 2026/27.

In Scotland, Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer’s Allowance and is run by Social Security Scotland at the same weekly rate. Northern Ireland has a different version, which is run through the Department for Communities.

Carer’s Allowance does not make you an employee. There is no contract, holiday pay, or employment rights. It is taxable. It also comes with Class 1 National Insurance credits that protect your State Pension record.

Benefits your parent needs to claim

To qualify, your parent also has to be getting one of these benefits:

• The daily living component of Personal Independence Payment,
• Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest care rate,
• Attendance Allowance,
• Constant Attendance Allowance,
• Armed Forces Independence Payment, or
• in Scotland, Adult Disability Payment (daily living) or Pension Age Disability Payment

Earnings limit

There is no sliding scale on the earnings limit. If you earn £204 in a week, you get the full £86.45, but if you earn £205, you get nothing that week. All paid work counts, including wages from your parents’ direct payments.

The limit is measured on your earnings after deductions. Tax, National Insurance, half of any pension contributions, and some care costs come off first, so check the figure before you decide you earn too much.

The limit is now tied to 16 times the National Living Wage, so it rises each April rather than drifting behind pay rises as it used to. Tell the DWP, or Social Security Scotland if you get Carer Support Payment, whenever your earnings change.

Effect on your parent’s benefits

Carer’s Allowance can also take money away from your parent. If your parent gets the severe disability premium, or the severe disability addition in Pension Credit, they lose it once you are paid Carer’s Allowance. Both are worth £86.05 a week in 2026/27, so on paper a claim paying you £86.45 leaves the two of you 40p a week better off. In practice you are often worse off, because Carer’s Allowance is taxable and counts as income for means-tested benefits.

Can my family member use direct payments to pay me for their care?

Your parent can use direct payments to pay you if the council agrees the arrangement meets their assessed needs, which is more straightforward if you live at a different address. Councils set conditions for direct payments before they start.

A direct payment is your parent’s personal budget paid as cash instead of the council arranging care for them. It goes into an account they or someone acting for them controls, and they decide who provides the care.

If you live at a separate address, no rule prevents your parent from employing you, although some councils prefer registered agencies. Before it agrees, the council will want to see:

• a job description setting out what you will do
• an hourly rate in line with local care rates
• a payroll service handling tax and National Insurance
• timesheets showing the hours worked
• evidence that your parent’s assessed needs are being met

Wages from a direct payment count towards the £204 Carer’s Allowance limit, so even a few hours a week can end that claim. The council can recover payments made outside the agreed terms, so do not start work before the agreement is formal.

The rules are different if the NHS funds your parent’s care through continuing healthcare. In England, that money comes as a personal health budget, which can be taken as a direct payment. Under the National Health Service (Direct Payments) Regulations 2013, an integrated care board can only agree to a family member providing the care if it is necessary to meet your parent’s needs, and some boards will only consider a third-party organisation employing you. Wales and Northern Ireland do not offer personal health budgets in the same form, and Scotland handles this through self-directed support.

Can I get paid to care for a family member I live with?

You can be paid to care for a family member you live with if the council agrees it is necessary to meet their needs.

The rules depend on where you live in the UK. Wales is more flexible: a council can agree to pay a relative living in the same household when this promotes the person’s wellbeing.

In England, the Care and Support (Direct Payments) Regulations 2014 stop a direct payment being used to pay someone in the same household unless the council decides it is necessary. That covers a spouse or civil partner, a partner you live with as if married, a close relative in the same household, and their partners.

What about other parts of the UK?

Wales is more flexible: a council can agree to pay a relative living in the same household where this promotes the person’s wellbeing. Wales has the same test under the Care and Support (Direct Payments) (Wales) Regulations 2015, framed as necessary to promote your parent’s wellbeing, and Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care Trusts apply similar rules.

Scotland works differently. Under the Self-directed Support (Direct Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 2014, you, your parent and the council must all agree, you must be capable of meeting your parent’s needs, and one of the circumstances in regulation 8(3) must apply. Regulation 9 blocks the arrangement entirely if you are your parent’s guardian or attorney with power over decisions about that support, so holding power of attorney in Scotland can rule out being paid.

In England and Wales, “necessary” is judged on your parent’s individual situation. Councils have agreed to pay a relative in the same household where:

• care is needed at unpredictable times through the night
• a parent with dementia becomes distressed with unfamiliar carers
• personal care is only accepted from a particular family member
• agencies in the area cannot reliably cover the hours

If one of these describes your mum or dad, make this clear when you ask, and bring supporting documentation such as a GP letter, a record of a failed agency placement, or notes on how they respond to unfamiliar carers.

Can my mum or dad pay me privately to care for them?

Your parent can pay you privately if they are funding their own care without the council’s permission. Regular paid care makes them your employer, so they need to run payroll, enrol you in a pension and keep records.

The strongest reason to do this properly is what happens if your parent’s savings later drop and they apply for council funding. The financial assessment asks where the money went. Wages for care you provide do not count against your parent, but gifts do; without a contract, payslips, and bank records, the council can treat the money as deprivation of assets and assess your parent as though they still had it.

Before the first payment, agree on these five things:

• Employment status: regular hours, set duties and a fixed rate normally make you an employee rather than self-employed. HMRC decides on the facts of the arrangement, not on what you call it.
• Tax and National Insurance: your parent becomes an employer and may need to operate PAYE. A payroll service can handle this.
• Pension: if you are 22 or over, under State Pension age and earning more than £10,000 a year, your parent must enrol you in a workplace pension and contribute to it.
• Signed written agreement: covering hours, duties, rate of pay, holiday and notice.
• Records: keep timesheets and payslips, and pay by bank transfer rather than cash.

An accountant or payroll service can set this up, and both Carers UK and the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group explain the employer duties in detail.

What if I have power of attorney for the person I care for?

Power of attorney does not let you pay yourself. If your parent still has capacity, they can choose to pay you. But if they lack capacity, paying yourself is a conflict of interest and needs Court of Protection approval first.

A property and financial affairs LPA lets you pay someone else for your parent’s care, but you cannot use your position as attorney to your own advantage. The Office of the Public Guardian’s guidance on family care payments, updated in April 2026, says an attorney who provides care and takes payment must get court approval. If you pay yourself without it, the Public Guardian can investigate, the court can remove you as attorney, and you can be ordered to repay the money.

A family care payment covers informal care with no job description, agreed hours or holiday, and HMRC treats it as a voluntary payment that is not taxed. Set hours and duties make it employment, and the payroll and pension rules above apply.

Before you apply:

• Note down anything your parent said about paying you while they had capacity
• Work out a rate using the court’s benchmark, the commercial cost of care less 20 per cent
• Check it is affordable against your parent’s income, savings, age and likely future care needs
• Account for anything you already receive, such as living in their home rent-free
• Tell the rest of the family what you propose, in writing

These payments are not meant to replace a salary. Court of Protection forms are on GOV.UK, though most families use a solicitor. In Northern Ireland this goes through the Office of Care and Protection, and in Scotland through the Public Guardian (Scotland), where the direct payments rule above also stops an attorney with power over that support being paid at all.

What other financial help can family carers get?

You can claim Carer’s Credit, which protects your National Insurance record if you care 20 hours a week or more. Universal Credit, Pension Credit, and Council Tax discounts may also apply, and a carer’s assessment can bring practical support.

Carer’s Credit fills the gaps in your National Insurance record if you do not qualify for Carer’s Allowance, including if you earn above £204 a week. There is no payment attached, only the credit, and it is free to claim through GOV.UK.

If you live with your parent, you may be able to get a Council Tax discount. Carers providing at least 35 hours a week are not counted as adults in the household, provided the person they care for gets a qualifying disability benefit. If that leaves one adult counted, the bill drops by 25 per cent; if no one is counted, 50 per cent. Your income and savings make no difference. It does not apply if you care for a spouse, a civil partner, or your own child under 18, and Northern Ireland has rates rather than Council Tax. Check the qualifying benefits with your council, as they word this differently.

Carer’s assessment

You also have a legal right to a carer’s assessment, separate from your parent’s, looking at your own health, work, sleep, and what you want to keep doing. It is a legal entitlement across the UK, called an adult carer support plan in Scotland, and it can lead to a carer’s direct payment, cover so you can have a break, or help with transport. Ask for it specifically when you contact the council, because staff will not always offer you one.

Carers in Scotland who get Carer Support Payment are awarded the Scottish Carer Supplement automatically, and can request a Carer Additional Person Payment if they care for more than one disabled person. Carers UK and your local carers centre can point you towards grants for household costs and short breaks.

How do I arrange to get paid for caring for a family member?

To get paid for caring for a family member, start by asking your parent’s council for a needs assessment, then ask whether their personal budget can be taken as a direct payment and used to employ you.

Get each decision from the council in writing.

Set up payroll and a written agreement before the first payment, and get court approval first if you are their attorney and they lack capacity.

Ask the council for a free needs assessment, and check whether your parent claims Attendance Allowance, PIP, or the Scottish equivalents.

Ask whether their personal budget can be taken as a direct payment and used to employ you, and what evidence they need if you live together.

Check the effect on your £204 earnings limit and on your parent’s severe disability premium or Pension Credit.