DWP to hand parents payments worth up to £472 every single week

The exact date the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will raise payments for people on a string of benefits have been revealed. Parents are set for more cash from the DWP in the form of rising payments from April 1.

DWP and HMRC benefits will receive a 1.7% uplift, the Labour Party government has confirmed. Benefits including Child Benefits, Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments (PIP) will increase by 1.7 per cent next April, in line with inflation figures from September.

Liz Kendall later confirmed this in a written statement, making clear that the same uprating would apply to all disability benefits and to Carer’s Allowance. Universal Credit is a payment to help with your living costs. It’s usually paid monthly - or twice a month for some people in Scotland.

READ MORE Exact date UK hammered by -9C 'snow bomb' which will last 'five days'

Universal Credit - £157 per week

Like most benefits, Universal Credit rates will rise by 1.7% in April 2025. For joint claimants where one or both individuals are 25 or over, the standard allowance will rise from £617.60 to £628.099 per month, or £157ish a week.

Parents will also see an uplift in the monthly child element:

• For a first child born before April 6, 2017, the extra amount will be £338.99 (up from £333.33)
• For a child born on or after April 6, 2017, or a second child, the extra amount will be £292.81 (up from £287.92)
• For those with a disabled child, the lower rate additional payment will be £158.76 (up from £156.11), and the higher rate will be £495.86 (up from £487.58).

Child Benefit - £44 per week

Child Benefit is paid to anyone responsible for someone under the age of 16, or under the age of 20 if they are in approved education or training. In the current tax year, it is worth £1,331 to households for the first child plus £881 for each additional child.

At present, the rate paid for the eldest or only child is £25.60 a week and £16.95 per additional child. After a 1.7% increase, the new rates from April 6, 2025, will be £26.04 for the eldest and £17.24 for each extra child, working out at £44 for two kids.

Carer's Allowance - £84 a week

Carer’s Allowance is a benefit distributed to people who care for another person (who receives certain disability benefits) for at least 35 hours a week. At present, eligible claimants receive £81.90 a week. From April, this will rise to £83.29 a week.

Claire Atchia McMaster, director of income and external affairs at anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said: “We encourage everyone to complete a regular benefits calculation to ensure you are accessing all available support.You can do this on both the Turn2us and Policy in Practice websites. In 2023, 60 percent of users on the Turn2us Benefits Calculator identified new benefits they were eligible for.”

Maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay - £187 per week

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) will increase to £187.16 per week. New mums who don't qualify for standard maternity pay could be eligible for Maternity Allowance, which will also rise from £184.03 a week to £187.16.

The current statutory weekly rate of Paternity Pay, Adoption, and Shared Parental Leave Pay, is £184.03, or 90% of average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). These rates will also rise to £187.16 per week.

A new analysis by Policy in Practice found the total amount of unclaimed welfare benefits and support has increased to £22.7billion, up from £19billion last year.