DWP Christmas Bonus Increase 2024 Eligibility, Benefits If the petition is successful, the £10 Christmas bonus from the Department for Work and Pensions could rise to £165. People who claim certain benefits each December receive a Christmas bonus, paid by the DWP. Usually paid in the first week of December, the “Christmas bonus” is a one-off, tax-free payment made to people receiving the state pension or claiming PIP, Living Allowance and Carer’s Allowance as well as other benefits – if they meet the eligibility criteria during a particular eligibility period.
A petition could increase the £10 Christmas bonus paid through the Department for Work and Pensions to £165. The petition is calling on the next Labour Party administration to increase the amount in line with inflation. If you are part of a married couple, in a civil partnership, or living together and you both receive one of the qualifying benefits, you will both receive a Christmas bonus payment according to DWP guidance. You should receive the Christmas bonus automatically; you do not need to ask for it.
Who is Eligible for the Christmas Bonus?
To be eligible for the Christmas bonus, individuals must be physically present or currently residing in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the qualifying week. Officially announced later this year, this qualifying week will run from December 2, 2024 to December 8, 2024. Find out the benefits available to UK residents living in or visiting a European Economic Area (EEA) nation or Switzerland. You must also receive at least one of the following benefits during the ‘qualifying week’, which is often the first week of December.
What are the Qualifying Christmas Bonus benefits?
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Carer Support Payment
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance is given under war pensions or Industrial Injuries schemes)
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (after the primary phase of the benefit commenced during the first 13 weeks of claim)
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefits at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Credit – the guarantee element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
- Paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions programs, unemployability supplement or allowance
- War Disablement Pension at State Pension Age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
Economic & Social Implications of Christmas Bonus Increase
- By giving potential buyers more money, the government could boost economic activity in underdeveloped areas.
- On the other hand, opponents of increasing the Christmas bonus argue that it could put further pressure on an already strained support system.
- Taxpayers would pick up the cost of increasing the stimulus; in the current budgetary climate, when public services are already strained, some wonder whether the government can afford to pay more.
- Raising the Christmas bonus raises the question of whether it will set a benchmark for further increases in other areas of the social system, hence encouraging excessive spending. A one-off Christmas bonus is given to people who receive some DWP benefits.
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