Policy background Conditionality for responsible carers in universal credit
Conditionality is a core principle of universal credit and requires that people who can, must look for work in return for benefit. Conditionality refers to the requirements for claimants to engage in activities which increase their chances of obtaining paid work (or more or better paid work).
	Depending on their personal circumstances, a claimant may be subject to:
no work-related requirements;
a work-focused interview requirement only;
a work preparation requirement and work-focused interview requirement only; and
all work-related requirements.
	Conditionality for responsible carers of children currently operates as follows:
responsible carers with a child under 1 are subject to no work-related requirements;
those with a child aged 1 or 2 are subject to work-focused interview requirements;
those with a child aged 3 and 4 are subject to work-focused interview requirements and work preparation requirements; and
those with a child aged 5 and over are subject to all work-related requirements unless their circumstances mean they fall into one of the other groups (for example because of a health condition).
	The Act changes conditionality for responsible carers as follows:
those with a child aged 3 or 4 should be subject to all-work related requirements;
those with a child aged 2 should be subject to work-focused interview requirements and work preparation requirements; and
those with a child aged 1 should remain subject to work-focused interview requirements only.