HomeCaring Periods Scheme

The HomeCaring Periods Scheme makes it easier for people who take time out of their working life to care for children or adults to qualify for a State Pension (Contributory).

Under the Scheme, time when you were caring for someone can be included in your social insurance record.

The HomeCaring Periods Scheme is a way of calculating the State Pension (Contributory) for people who applied after 1 September 2012. This way of calculating pension rates is called the Total Contributions Approach.

The HomeCaring Periods Scheme and the Homemaker's Scheme cannot be used together to calculate your pension entitlement.

The Homemakers Scheme is used when the yearly average number of social insurance contributions is being used to calculate the rate of pension.

Anyone who was born on or after 1 September 1946 and has cared for someone full time can apply for the HomeCaring Periods Scheme.

You can get a HomeCaring Period on your social insurance contribution record for each week you were not employed or signing on for credits and you were providing full-time care for:

• A child or children under 12 years of age (only parents or foster parents can get a HomeCaring Period for a child under 12 years of age)
• A child or children aged 12 or over who needed an increased level of care
• An adult who needed an increased level of care

Up to 1,040 HomeCaring Periods (equivalent to 20 years) may be included on your social insurance record.

To qualify for a HomeCaring Period, at the time you provided care you must:

• Have been aged over 16 and under 66
• Not have been employed, self-employed, or doing voluntary work, training or education courses which add up to more than 18.5 hours a week (you can have worked but must have earned less than €38 gross per week)
• Not have been getting a social welfare payment, with the exception of Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance or Carer's Support Grant.

Only one person can get a HomeCaring Period on their social insurance record for supporting a particular child or adult at any one time.

The HomeCaring Periods Scheme will not be applied to any period of time when you were living outside Ireland, except in cases where provisions under EU posted worker regulations apply.

Read more about the HomeCaring Periods Scheme on Gov.ie.

Automatic entitlement

You are no longer automatically entitled to the HomeCaring Period Scheme if you get Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance, Child Benefit, or the Carers Support Grant.

Previously, you would be automatically entitled to the scheme if you were getting one of these payments and there were weeks on your social insurance contribution record where you were not employed or signing on for credits.

The HomeCaring Periods Scheme can only be used when your State Pension (Contributory) is calculated under the Total Contributions Approach.

The Total Contributions Approach provides an Aggregated Contributions Method to calculate the total number of contributions you have paid. This method is used to calculate pension rates instead of assessing the yearly average number of contributions.

Using the Aggregated Contributions Method, if you have 2,080 or more social insurance contributions (or 40 years of full-time employment) you will qualify for a maximum personal rate of State Pension (Contributory).

If you have less than 2,080 contributions, up to 520 credited contributions (10 years) and up to 1,040 HomeCaring Periods (20 years) may be used as part of your pension calculation to help you qualify for a maximum pension.

However, your combined credited contributions and HomeCaring Periods cannot be more than 1,040 (20 years).

If your combined total of paid contributions, HomeCaring Periods and credited contributions is less than 2,080, you will qualify for a reduced rate of pension. For example, a combined total of 1,560 of paid contributions, made up of HomeCaring Periods and credited contributions, would entitle you to 75% of the maximum pension (1,560 / 2,080 = 75%).

You can apply for the HomeCaring Periods Scheme once you have reached pension age and submitted your application form for a State Pension (Contributory).

You should apply to the DSP for the HomeCaring Periods scheme if you were:

• Caring for a child under 12, but not their natural parent, for example a foster parent or an adoptive parent or
• Caring for an adult or a child over the age of 12 who required continuous and regular assistance throughout the day, but you were not getting a carer’s payment or DCA

You can apply for the HomeCaring Periods Scheme online on MyWelfare.ie. You need a verified MyGovID account.

If you cannot apply online, you can call (01) 471 5898 to request a HomeCaring Periods Scheme application form (pdf). You can also get this form from your local Intreo Centre or Branch Office, or from your local Citizens Information Centre.