Informal Caregiver Allowance Calculator
Anyone who puts life on hold to care for a dependent family member may be entitled to a monthly benefit from Social Security: the support allowance for the main informal caregiver. The value is not fixed: it depends on the household’s income, the caregiver’s own income and the cared person’s dependency benefit. This calculator runs the law’s two steps in the right order, with the 2026 values, and shows how much you would receive per month and what makes the amount rise or fall.
Count everyone living with you, including the person you care for: each adult besides you weighs 0.7 and each minor 0.5. In the household income, add everyone's gross monthly income, leaving dependency benefits out.
In the caregiver's own income, do not count the social insertion income (RSI), the inclusion benefit (PSI) supplement or the solidarity supplement for the elderly (CSI). The dependency benefit is, for example, the 1st-degree dependency supplement (€131.20 in 2026); with more than one cared person, use the lowest one.
You qualify for the main informal caregiver's support allowance: from the reference value of €590.84 (1.1 times the 2026 IAS), €331.20 of the caregiver's own income and the dependency benefit are deducted. To receive it you need the main informal caregiver status recognised by Social Security.
How this result is reached
| 1. Household means test | |
|---|---|
| Household gross monthly income | €200.00 |
| Sum of weights (1 + 0.7 per adult + 0.5 per minor) | 1.5 |
| Reference income (limit €698.27) | €133.33 · within the limit |
| 2. Allowance amount | |
| Reference value (1.1 times the IAS) | €590.84 |
| Caregiver's own income | −€200.00 |
| Cared person's dependency benefit | −€131.20 |
| Base allowance | €259.64 |
| Voluntary social insurance increment | — |
| Total monthly allowance | €259.64 |
The means test counts the gross income of the whole household, cared person included, but not dependency benefits. The deduction from the allowance counts the caregiver's own income and the cared person's dependency benefit, but never the RSI, the PSI supplement or the CSI.
The allowance requires the recognised main informal caregiver status: caring permanently for someone who receives the 2nd-degree dependency supplement, the third-person assistance subsidy or, in the cases set by law, the 1st-degree supplement; the cared person cannot live in an institution and the main caregiver cannot receive money for work, for the care provided, or unemployment benefit.
The allowance cannot be combined with, for example, unemployment benefits, the old-age pension (except certain early pensions), the absolute invalidity pension, the CSI or study grants; it can be combined with the RSI, the PSI, the survivor's pension and the prenatal family allowance, among others.
Out of scope: the status-recognition process itself, the full legal definition of income (capital and property count under their own rules), the Azores and Madeira regional schemes, and the non-principal informal caregiver, who has no right to the allowance.
Indicative values, computed with the 2026 IAS. The decision on the allowance rests with Social Security. This information does not replace the law and is not financial advice.
Who can receive the allowance
The allowance is exclusive to the main informal caregiver: someone who cares permanently for a dependent person and has the status recognised by Social Security. Being the main caregiver requires not receiving money for work or for the care provided, and not receiving unemployment benefit. As a rule, the cared person must receive the 2nd-degree dependency supplement or the third-person assistance subsidy; in temporary-dependency situations, the 1st-degree supplement can suffice, with a medical assessment. The non-principal caregiver, who helps regularly but not permanently, has other rights (leave, flexible hours, respite), but not this allowance.
Step one: the household means test
Before computing the amount, Social Security checks whether the household passes the income test. Add the gross monthly income of everyone living in the home, including the cared person, but leaving dependency benefits out. Then divide by the household’s weighting: 1 for the applicant, 0.7 for each other adult and 0.5 for each minor. The result is the reference income, which in 2026 cannot exceed €698.27, that is, 1.3 times the €537.13 IAS.
Step two: the allowance amount
Passing the means test, the allowance starts from the 2026 reference value: €590.84 per month, 1.1 times the IAS, set by Ordinance 100/2022 in the wording Ordinance 291/2024/1 gave it from January 2025. Two amounts are deducted from it: the caregiver’s own monthly income and the dependency benefit the cared person receives (with more than one cared person at home, the lowest one counts). Whatever remains is the monthly allowance.
What is never deducted
The law protects three benefits: the social insertion income (RSI), the first-right supplement of the inclusion benefit (PSI) and the solidarity supplement for the elderly (CSI) do not enter the deduction, even if the caregiver receives them. And there is an asymmetry worth knowing: the cared person’s dependency benefits do not count towards the household means test, but the dependency benefit is deducted from the allowance amount. The same benefit stays out of one sum and inside the other.
The voluntary social insurance increment
The main informal caregiver can enrol in the voluntary social insurance, the optional scheme that builds protection for invalidity, old age and death, paying the special 21.4% rate on the IAS: €114.95 per month in 2026. Whoever does receives the allowance increased by half the contribution paid, an extra €57.48 per month. In practice, the future pension is built at half cost: you pay €114.95 and recover €57.48 in the allowance. The voluntary social insurance calculator details this scheme.
What the allowance can be combined with
The support allowance can be combined with the social insertion income, the inclusion benefit, the survivor’s pension, the prenatal family allowance and, under tight conditions, with early old-age pensions. It cannot be combined with unemployment benefits, the normal old-age pension, the absolute invalidity pension, the solidarity supplement for the elderly or study grants. Since 2026, the allowance no longer counts as income for other social benefits.
What stays out of this estimate
The calculator applies the official formula to the values you enter; it does not replace Social Security’s analysis, which uses the full legal definition of income: capital income and property beyond the home count under their own rules (generally 5% of the value, divided by 12), income refers to the second month before the request, and variable pay uses a 3-month average. Also out of scope: the status-recognition process itself, the caregiver’s respite scheme and the Azores and Madeira regional regimes.
Worked example
Maria cares for her son João, a minor who receives the 1st-degree dependency supplement (€131.20 in 2026). They live alone together; Maria has own income of €200 per month. Means test: €200 divided by the 1.5 weighting (1 for Maria + 0.5 for João) gives €133.33, below the €698.27 limit. Amount: €590.84 − €200 − €131.20 = €259.64 per month, €3,115.68 over 12 months. If Maria enrols in the voluntary social insurance and pays €114.95 per month, the allowance rises by €57.48, to €317.12 per month.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the informal caregiver allowance in 2026?
Who is entitled to the support allowance?
How is the household reference income calculated?
Is the dependency supplement deducted from the allowance?
Are the RSI or the CSI I receive deducted?
How much more do I get if I enrol in the voluntary social insurance?
Can I work and receive the allowance?
Is the allowance paid 12 or 14 times a year?
Can the cared person live in a care home?
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Sources
- Guia Prático: Estatuto do Cuidador Informal Principal e Cuidador Informal não Principal (ISS, I.P.) · Instituto da Segurança Social, I.P.
- Lei n.º 100/2019, de 6 de setembro: aprova o Estatuto do Cuidador Informal · Diário da República
- Portaria n.º 291/2024/1, de 12 de novembro: fixa o subsídio do cuidador informal principal em 1,1 IAS e o limite de rendimento em 1,3 IAS · Diário da República
- Portaria n.º 480-A/2025/1, de 30 de dezembro: valor do IAS para 2026 (537,13 €) · Diário da República
Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: 2026-08-01