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This petition was submitted during the 2019 to 2024 Parliament

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Closed Create benefit for full-time carers of disabled children paying £332.50 a week

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Some parents are unable to work as they need to provide full-time care to their child, through the day or the night or for both. We want the Government to introduce a benefit for parents who are full-time carers of their disabled children, set at £332.50 a week (35 x minimum wage of £9.50 an hour).

There is not enough support to help with the loss of income for parents that are unable to work and need to provide full-time care. The child’s DLA does not to replace an income, it is to ‘help with extra costs of looking after a child’ with disabilities. The Carer's Allowance benefit equates to £1.99 an hour for 35 hours a week, and is ‘a benefit that provides some financial recognition that a carer may not be able to work full-time’. Many parents who are full-time carers to disabled children will not be eligible for Universal Credit.

Many nurseries and schools are not trained or equipped to cater for all disabilities, and the Government should support all parents who need to be full-time carers for their disabled children.

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    This petition will stay open until 30 November 2022.