A quick summary of recent benefit changes and updates:

• The National Living Wage is going up to £8.21 an hour
  You are legally entitled to the National Living Wage if you are aged 25 or over, and not in your first year of an apprenticeship. Those under 25 and apprentices also benefit from rises in the Minimum Wage. The National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates apply across the UK.
  
  
• The rate at which Carer’s Allowance is paid has increased...
  from £64.60 to £66.15 and the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit has increased from £120 to £123 a week (after deductions). To find out more about how you might be affected, take a look at our Carer’s Allowance factsheet. 
  
  
• Other benefits that went up
  The carer premium (carer addition within Pension Credit) went up from £36.00 a week to £36.85 a week. The carer element is an equivalent amount paid with Universal Credit – this is increasing to £160.20 a month (approx. £37 a week). The rates for Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Attendance Allowance were also uprated. For more information on these benefits, see our benefits information.
  
  
• Continuing roll-out of Universal Credit (UC) 
  Universal Credit is a single means-tested benefit which replaces Income Support, income-based Jobseekers Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. 
  
  With the roll-out of UC across the UK, working age people wishing to make a new claim for means-tested benefits will have to claim UC.
  
  People already receiving means-tested benefits will only need to claim UC if they have a change in circumstances (that means they have to make a new claim for one of the above means-tested benefits). The managed migration of people on existing benefits to UC is due to start in late 2019 and will be completed by 2022.
  
  
• Carer's Allowance Supplement (in Scotland) 
  
  In 2018, the Scottish Government introduced an extra Carer’s Allowance Supplement payment, which is an extra payment for people in Scotland who get Carer’s Allowance on a particular date. Carer's Allowance Supplement is paid twice a year as a lump sum.
  
  The next two rounds of payments are:
  *£226.20 in June 2019 – you’ll receive this payment if you’re receiving Carer’s Allowance on 15 April 2019.
  *£226.20 in December 2019 – you'll receive this if you’re receiving Carer's Allowance on 14 October 2019.
  
  
• Free personal care for under 65s in Scotland
  
  From 1 April this year, free personal care came into force for under 65s in Scotland. See our advice page for more details.