Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 148A

Entitlement to jobseeker's allowance in certain circumstances

Section 148A provides a transitional jobseeker's allowance arrangement for lone parents whose youngest child has reached the age at which one-parent family payment ends but is still under 14 years old.

• Parents who lose one-parent family payment because their youngest child has reached the qualifying age threshold can claim jobseeker's allowance under modified rules until that child turns 14.
• To qualify, the claimant must declare they are the parent, step-parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian of at least one child under 14 who normally lives with them, and that they are not cohabiting.
• A week of unemployment is treated as any period of seven consecutive days, and two such weeks separated by no more than 52 weeks count as one continuous period of unemployment.
• Several standard jobseeker's allowance conditions are disapplied, making this a more flexible arrangement than the ordinary scheme.