A carer must be living with the person he or she is looking after, or be in a position to provide full time care and attention to a person who is not living with him/her. They must also be providing care on a full time basis. In the case of caring for a child under 16 the child must be in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance.
A person can qualify for half rate Carers’ Allowance while in receipt of a One Parent Family payment subject to meeting the other conditions attached to the scheme.
A person cannot get Jobseeker's Benefit (JB) or Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) and Carer’s Allowance or half-rate Carer's Allowance because they must be actively seeking employment and be available to take up employment to qualify for JA and JB. However, they may qualify for half-rate Carer's Allowance if their spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is getting JA or JB and claiming for them as a qualified adult dependant.