You may get payments for a qualified adult and qualified children.
Who is a qualified adult?
If you are married or living with someone as husband and wife, you may qualify for an increase for them as a qualified adult.
If you have children living with you and you are single, widowed or separated, you may get an increase for the person who is caring for your child(ren), provided the person is aged 16 or over, living with and being supported by you.
You will not get an increase for a qualified adult if they:
- are receiving a social welfare payment (except Disablement Pension, Supplementary Welfare Allowance, Orphan's Allowance or Pension, Child Benefit or Family Income Supplement) in their own right,
- cannot receive unemployment payments while taking part in a trade dispute,
- are taking part in a full-time FÁS non-craft training course.
Who is a qualified child?
You can apply for an extra increase for each of your children under age 18 who normally live with and are being maintained by you. You may also get an increase for a child aged 18 and up to age 22 if they are in full-time education by day at a recognised school or college.
In the case of a couple, you may get weekly increases for qualified child dependants as follows:
- if you qualify for an increase for your spouse or partner, you will get the Full Child Dependant Increase,
- if your spouse or partner is also getting a social welfare payment, you will each get half the appropriate Child Dependant Increase with your weekly payment.
You cannot get a Child Dependant Increase if the child is getting a social welfare or Health Service Executive payment in their own right, for example, Disability Allowance or One- Parent Family Payment.