By James Rodger Kelly Williams
State pensioners are being encouraged to see if they are eligible to claim an additional 拢79 every week from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). With DWP Pension Credit , you could pocket an extra 拢67.42 a week for each child or young person you’re looking after. This is bumped up to 拢78.10 a week for the first child if they were born before 6 April 2017 . The child or young person must usually be living under your roof and be under 20 years old. If they’re 16 or over and under 20, they must be enrolled in (or accepted for) approved training, such as Foundation Apprenticeships or a course of non-advanced education (for instance, they’re hitting the books for GCSEs or A levels). If they’re in education, it must be for more than 12 hours a week on average. If the child or young person has a disability, you could also bag an extra amount of either: 拢36.54 a week if they receive DLA, PIP or ADP OR 拢114.12 a week if they’re blind or they get the highest rate care component of DLA or CDP, or the enhanced daily living component of PIP or ADP. You could get an extra amount to cover your housing costs, such as ground rent if your property is a leasehold, some service charges or charges for tents and site rents. The amount you could get depends on your housing costs, reports Birmingham Live . Also working parents can give up the Child Benefit credits they receive and donate them to their child鈥檚 grandparents or other adult family members for the previous tax year. Grandparents and parents must apply for the credits to be transferred. A record number of grandparents and family members are applying for a government scheme that can add thousands of pounds to their state pension, new Government data has revealed. Each year of transferred credit is currently worth 拢330 in additional state pension income for 2025/26, potentially adding nearly 拢6,600 over a 20-year retirement. Importantly, there is no minimum number of hours a person needs to provide care to be eligible for the scheme. The Government introduced the system in 2011 to ensure that those who gave up or reduced work to care for children could still build up state pension entitlement, provided they were below state pension age at the time of care. Thanks to this scheme, family members caring for children under 12 to receive transferred National Insurance credits from parents who are already building qualifying years through their own contributions With just a couple of months until the summer holidays, many parents may already be calling on grandparents for help with childcare. While the informal support provided by relatives is often essential, it can also come with financial benefits if families take the time to transfer unused National Insurance credits to eligible carers. For more information, click here .