UNIVERSAL CREDIT Introduction Who can get universal credit?

However, a change of circumstances may mean you have to claim UC instead, for example: • becoming responsible for a child for the first time; • a couple with children separating; • a lone parent becoming part of a couple; • becoming liable for rent for the first time; Existing claimants may be notified that their legacy benefits are ending and they need to claim UC by a specified date, even if the. [...] You cannot usually get a child element for a child born on or after 6 April 2017 if you already have two or more children included in your award, unless an exception applies: • a multiple birth, other than the first child in a multiple birth; • adopted by you from local authority care, or placed with you for adoption; • a child for whom you are responsible under ‘non-parental caring arrangements’,. [...] A child who comes under the exception for adoption or non-parental caring arrangement is entitled to a child element and is not counted for the purposes of the two-child limit. [...] If you are self-employed and on a low income, you may be assumed to have a certain level of earnings, equal to the minimum wage for the hours you are expected to work. [...] Work-focused interview requirement only: • lone parents or the main carer in a couple with a child aged one; • lone foster carers or the main carer in a couple, with a foster child under 16; • people who have become a ‘family and friends carer’ for a child in the past year.