What the Autumn Budget 2024 means for you

The government announced their Autumn Budget on Wednesday 30 October 2024. This was the first Budget from the new Labour government.

We'll explain how the changes are likely to affect your money and day-to-day life. This includes what the Budget will mean for the cost of living and people who get benefits.

We'll keep updating this page as we get more details about the Budget and what it means for you.

Find out more about the Autumn Budget on GOV.UK.

Benefits

If you’re under State Pension age and you get benefits, they’ll go up by 1.7% in April 2025. This includes benefits like Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

Child Benefit will also go up. You can claim Child Benefit at any age.

You can earn more while getting Carer’s Allowance

The ‘weekly earnings limit’ for Carer’s Allowance will be increased. If you're a carer, this means you'll be able to earn around £30 more each week from employment or self-employment. 

The current Carer’s Allowance rate is £81.90 a week.

If you work and get Carer’s Allowance, it’s important to not earn more than the weekly earnings limit - if you do, you might stop getting Carer’s Allowance.

The weekly earnings limit is likely to increase in April 2025. 

Companies can take less money from your Universal Credit payments

If you owe money to a company, they might be able to apply for part of your Universal Credit payments to go to them instead of you. This is called a 'third party deduction'.

At the moment, the third party deduction can be up to 25% of your Universal Credit standard amount. The standard amount is the basic amount you can get before things like childcare and housing costs are added.

The Autumn Budget will lower the amount that can be taken from your Universal Credit standard amount to 15%. This is likely to change in April 2025.

Check what to do if you get a third party deduction from your Universal Credit.

Work

The government has announced changes to the National Minimum Wage.

The National Minimum Wage is increasing

The National Minimum Wages will increase for everyone from April 2025. 

If you’re aged 21 or over, it will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour. 

If you’re aged 18 to 20 years, it will increase from £8.60 to £10 an hour.

If you’re an apprentice or you’re 16 or 17 years old, it will increase from £6.40 to £7.55 an hour. 

You won't pay more Income Tax and National Insurance

The amount of Income Tax and National Insurance you pay will stay the same. 

From April 2025, employers will pay more for National Insurance. The amount they'll have to pay will go up from 13.8% to 15%. They'll have to pay it for any employees who earn more than £5,000 a year.

To help small businesses with this, the amount of Employment Allowance they can get will increase from £5,000 to £10,500. Find out more about Employment Allowance on GOV.UK.

The cost of living

The government has announced changes to things like bus fares and petrol prices.

The cap on bus fares is increasing

The £2 cap on bus fares is increasing to £3. This means a single bus journey will cost up to £3. The cap won’t change again until December 2025.

Fuel duty is staying the same

The duty you pay on fuel prices will stay the same until April 2026. This is included in the price when you buy petrol or diesel.

If you don’t have enough money to live on

You might be able to get help to afford things like essentials and travel. Check if you can get help with the cost of living.

Keep checking back

We’re in the process of updating this page with more information about the Autumn Budget 2024.