Universal Credit Rates 2026/27

The standard allowance is £424.90 a month for a single claimant aged 25 or over, £338.58 if under 25, £666.97 for a couple where at least one is 25 or over, and £528.34 for a couple both under 25. Elements for children, disability, caring and childcare are added on top, then earnings and capital reduce the award.

Add your standard allowance to any elements you qualify for to get your maximum award. If you have earnings, you keep everything up to your work allowance where one applies, and above that your award falls by 55p for every £1 of net earnings. Deductions for capital, other income and the benefit cap are then applied. Because the calculation depends on your household, housing and earnings, it is easier to model than to look up — the Universal Credit Calculator does it step by step.

From 6 April 2026 the limited capability for work and work-related activity element splits into two rates. Claimants who had the element before April 2026, who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria, or who are terminally ill keep a protected rate of £429.80 a month. Anyone whose LCWRA element starts on or after 6 April 2026 receives £217.26 a month — £212.54 a month less — and that new rate is frozen in cash terms to 2029-30.

Yes. From 6 April 2026 the two-child limit no longer applies, so a child element is payable for every child in the household rather than only the first two born on or after 6 April 2017. The first child still attracts the higher £351.88 rate only where they were born before 6 April 2017; every other child is paid at £303.94 a month.

A work allowance is the amount you can earn each month before the taper starts, and you only get one if you have a child or limited capability for work. It is £427.00 a month if your award includes a housing cost element, or £710.00 if it does not. With no work allowance, the 55% taper applies to all your net earnings.

For every £1 of net earnings above your work allowance, your Universal Credit is reduced by 55p — so you keep 45p in the pound from Universal Credit, before Income Tax and National Insurance on the earnings themselves. Net earnings means pay after tax, National Insurance and any pension contributions, which is why a salary-sacrifice pension contribution can raise a Universal Credit award.

Capital up to £6,000 is ignored entirely. Between £6,000 and £16,000 you are treated as having assumed income of £4.35 a month for each £250 — or part of £250 — above the disregard, which is deducted from your award. At £16,000 or more of capital there is no entitlement at all.

Universal Credit reimburses 85% of eligible childcare costs, capped at £1,071.09 a month for one child and £1,836.16 for two or more. You normally have to pay the provider first and report the cost. You cannot use Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as claiming Universal Credit childcare costs, so it is worth comparing the two.