What hours of work are needed?



If you don’t have children, you need to work the following hours to get WTC:



• if you are aged 25-59, you need to do paid work of at least 30 hours a week;



• if you have a disability and are aged 16 or over, you need to do paid work of at least 16 hours a week;



• if you are aged 60 or over, you need to do paid work of at least 16 hours a week.



If you have children, you need to be aged at least 16 and work the following hours to get WTC:



• if you are single, you need to do paid work of at least 16 hours a week;



• if you are in a couple, your joint paid working hours need to be at least 24 a week, with one of you working at least 16 hours a week.



So, if you are a couple and only one of you is working, that person will need to work at least 24 hours a week. 


If your joint working hours are less than 24 hours a week, you can still get WTC if one of the following applies:



• one of you is aged 60 or over and working at least 16 hours a week;



• one of you is disabled and working at least 16 hours a week;



• one of you works at least 16 hours a week, and the other is entitled to Carer’s Allowance — even if they don’t get any payments because they receive other benefits instead;



• one of you works at least 16 hours a week, and the other is “incapacitated”, an in-patient in hospital, or in prison (serving a custodial sentence, or remanded in custody awaiting trial or sentence).