UK residents who are pregnant or have a child under four - and are on low income - may be able to claim free money to help combat the cost of living crisis and inflating food costs.
The NHS Healthy Start scheme allows certain people to access pre-paid cards between £4.25 and £8.50 each week, or £17 and £34 each month to help with groceries.
However there's a bit of a catch. The only things you'll be able to purchase with the money are things like fruit, vegetables, dairy milk infant formula and vitamins.
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The Mirror reports that once you have applied and been accepted, your payment card, which is sent out to you, will be topped up every four weeks. You can apply for the scheme on the NHS website.
Who's eligible for the Healthy Start Scheme?
The Healthy Start Scheme is available to those living in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and you have to be more than 10 weeks pregnant to access the help or have a child under the age of for years.
To get the help you will also need to be claiming at least one of the following benefits:
- Child tax credit - only if your annual family income is £16,190 or less
- Income support
- Income-based jobseeker's allowance
- Pension credit - but only if you get the child element
- Universal credit - if your family earns £408 or less a month in take-home pay from employment
You can also apply if you are under 18 years and pregnant, even if you're not claiming any benefits, or you claim income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) and you're over 10 weeks pregnant.
If you live in Scotland, you can claim through the Best Start Foods scheme which has similar but slightly different eligibility criteria. In Scotland, you can claim if you're pregnant or have a child under three years old.
How much can you get from it?
Those eligible for the scheme In England, Wales and Northern Ireland can get:
- £4.25 a week for each week of pregnancy from the 10th week
- £8.50 a week for each child aged up to one year old
- £4.25 a week for each child between one and four years old
In Scotland, the amount you get paid depends on the age of your child.
These payments are:
- £18 every four weeks during pregnancy
- £36 every four weeks from your child being born up until they're one year old
- £18 every four weeks when your child is between the ages of one and three years old
With pregnancies, the Scottish Government says the payment is the 'amount per pregnancy' which means the money you get is the same whether you're pregnant with one baby, or if you are having twins or triplets.
Where can I use the prepaid card?
According to the NHS website, you can use your prepaid card in most places that sell milk, infant formula, fruit, and vegetables.
This includes:
- supermarkets
- convenience stores
- grocery stores
- drug stores and pharmacies
- markets
- dairy products stores
- news dealers and newsstands
- freezer and locker meat provisioners (such as butcher shops)
- petrol stations
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