Young Carer Grant - Scotland - Can I get a Young Carer Grant - Scotland?

You can get a Young Carer Grant if you:

• Live in Scotland, and
• Are 16, 17 or 18 years old, and
• You provide 16 or more hours of care per week for someone who has been getting one of these benefits for at least three months:
  • the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), or
  • the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment Scotland
  • the middle or high rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), or
  • the middle or highest rate of Child Disability Payment Scotland
  • Attendance Allowance, or
  • Armed Forces Independence Payment, or
  • Constant Attendance Allowance.

You have to have been providing care for them for at least three months. They can be a family member, a friend or a neighhour.

If you care for more than one person who gets one of the disability benefits, you can add up the hours you spend caring. You can add up hours caring for up to three people, as long as they all get a disability benefit.

For example, Alina is 16.

Her younger sister gets Disability Living Allowance and Alina spends four hours per week providing care for her.

Alina’s grandpa gets Attendance Allowance and Alina spends 12 hours per week looking after him.

Alina can add up the hours she spends caring for her grandpa and her sister so she is providing 16 hours of care in total.

Young Carer Grant and Carer's Allowance

You can’t usually get a Young Carer Grant if you’re already getting Carer's Allowance. If you are entitled to Carer’s Allowance but aren’t getting it, you should wait until after you have been paid your Young Carer Grant before you apply for Carer's Allowance. 

You can get a Young Carer Grant if someone else gets Carer's Allowance for looking after the same person.

Young Carer Grant and Carer's Allowance

You can’t usually get a Young Carer Grant if you’re already getting Carer's Allowance or Carer Support Payment. If you are entitled to Carer’s Allowance but aren’t getting it, you should wait until after you have been paid your Young Carer Grant before you apply for Carer's Allowance. You can get a Young Carer Grant if someone else gets Carer's Allowance for looking after the same person.

How many people can get a Young Carer Grant?

Only one person can get a Young Carer Grant for looking after each disabled person.

For example, Dan, 16, and Pete, 17, both provide more than 16 hours per week care for their mum, who gets Personal Independence Payment. Only one of them can get a Young Carer Grant for looking after her. They agree between themselves that Dan should get the Young Carer Grant, so he makes the application for it.