Can we afford for one of us to go part-time?
A worked example for a couple where one partner cuts their hours to care for a parent, with the costs of paid care alongside.
A worked example for a couple where one partner cuts their hours to care for a parent, with the costs of paid care alongside.
Sam is 52 and earns £50,000. Sam's partner earns £38,000. Sam's mother needs more help, so Sam asks to drop to three days a week for five years.
Salary falls to £30,000. After income tax and National Insurance at 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, take-home pay falls from about £39,520 to about £25,120. That is £1,200 a month, and £72,000 over five years.
With 8% of salary going into a workplace pension, contributions fall by £1,600 a year, or £8,000 over five years. At 3% a year above inflation that is worth about £11,400 at 67, in today's money.
On £30,000 Sam still pays enough National Insurance for each year to count, so the State Pension record is unaffected.
It is £86.45 a week, but only if earnings are £204 a week or less after tax, National Insurance and expenses. On three days a week Sam earns too much to get it.
carehome.co.uk puts the UK average weekly cost of a care home at £1,298 for residential care and £1,535 for nursing care. That is about £67,500 and £79,800 a year. Home care for a few hours a week costs far less, and the council can give you local rates.
Sam's cut in hours costs the household about £14,400 a year after tax, plus the pension. Set that against what the same help would cost to buy, and against what Sam's mother can pay from her own income and savings.
Care needs can grow. Plan for the arrangement lasting longer than five years, and for Sam needing to cut hours again.
Ask the employer in writing whether the change is temporary or permanent.
If Sam has brothers or sisters, agree who gives time and who gives money before the arrangement settles.
Run the household's numbers with Sam's lower income in the free projection, and see whether the retirement date moves.
The council assesses your parent's income and savings, and the rules differ in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Age UK publishes free factsheets for each. Products for paying care fees, such as care annuities and equity release, need regulated advice, which Buzz is not authorised to give. We can introduce you to Equity & General, who are authorised by the FCA.
If your earnings fall to £204 a week or less after tax, National Insurance and expenses, and you care for at least 35 hours a week, you may get Carer's Allowance, with National Insurance credits. If you care for 20 hours a week or more without it, Carer's Credit protects your State Pension.
Yes. A Financial Plan for a couple models both incomes and both pensions, so you can see what Sam's change does to the household, and to Sam's own retirement.
The take-home figures use the income tax bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Scottish bands give a different answer. In Scotland, Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer's Allowance.
An hour with a planner on whether the Financial Plan suits your position.
A written plan: every year to age 100 with UK tax applied, each risk measured in years, and your next ninety days.