Administrative Earnings Threshold increase

The Administrative Earnings Threshold increased in January 2023 to £617 per month for single people and £988 per month for couples, according to a timetable of benefit changes published by Turn2us¹. The threshold is the amount a claimant can earn before being expected to look for more work or better paid work¹.

The same timetable lists other changes across 2023 and 2024. The Department for Work and Pensions intends to move all tax credits only claimants onto Universal Credit during 2023/2024¹. Extra cost of living payments were set at £900 for people on means-tested benefits, including Universal Credit, Pension Credit and income-related Employment and Support Allowance; £300 for people over pension age; and £150 for people who get disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance¹. Most benefits and the state pension were uprated by 10.1% in April 2023, and the benefit cap was uprated by the same amount¹.

In Scotland, payments of the new Low Income Winter Heating Assistance benefit were to start in February 2023¹. The Scottish Government intended to have transferred all recipients of child Disability Living Allowance to Scottish Child Disability Payment by spring 2023, and Scottish Carers Assistance was to begin in late 2023 and be fully rolled out in spring 2024¹. Changes to Support for Mortgage Interest rules were also listed for spring 2023, with the waiting period reduced from 9 months to 3 months and changes to zero earnings rules¹. From September 2023, in-work conditionality changes were to require people earning the equivalent of over 15 hours per week at the National Living Wage, but less than full time hours, to look for more work or better paid work¹.

A separate guide from One Parent Families Scotland, last updated in February 2026, gives different figures for the threshold. It states that the amount a claimant is allowed to earn has increased from £892 per month to £952 per month for individual claimants, and that those earning below that level are expected to look for more work². It also states that a single parent who is not in paid employment and whose youngest child is age 3 is now required to seek employment or face potential sanctions, and that a single parent in paid employment is expected to work at least 30 hours per week to receive Universal Credit if their children are aged between 3 and 12². The two sources do not cover the same period and the figures differ; the Turn2us timetable is dated January 2023 and the One Parent Families Scotland page was last updated in February 2026¹.

Why it matters for households

The threshold determines when a Universal Credit claimant is treated as earning enough to be left alone, and when they are expected to look for more work or better paid work¹. For a single person, earnings below £617 a month in January 2023 placed them on the side of the threshold that carries work search requirements; for a couple the figure was £988 a month¹. The later figures reported by One Parent Families Scotland, £892 rising to £952 a month for individual claimants, indicate the level has moved since².

Claimants who do not meet their work-related requirements without a valid reason can have their Universal Credit reduced or stopped temporarily, which the guide describes as a sanction². Requirements can include attending job interviews, actively seeking employment, participating in training programmes and taking part in work experience². Anyone claiming Universal Credit has to complete a claimant commitment with their work coach before payments start².

The other measures listed for the same period affect household income directly: the 10.1% uprating of most benefits and the state pension, the 10.1% uprating of the benefit cap, and the cost of living payments of £900, £300 and £150 depending on which benefits a household receives¹. The Cost of Living Payments page sets out what was paid and when. Carers in Scotland were affected by the planned transfer to Scottish Carers Assistance, and families by the transfer of child Disability Living Allowance to Scottish Child Disability Payment¹; Carer's Allowance covers eligibility, the earnings limit and overlapping payments.

What happens next

The timetable lists the tax credits to Universal Credit move as running through 2023/2024, Scottish Carers Assistance as beginning in late 2023 and being fully rolled out in spring 2024, and the in-work conditionality change as taking effect from September 2023¹. No further dates beyond those are given in the sources.