# The Universal Credit Regulations 2013, Regulation 8: Cases where the minimum age is 16

Extent: E+W+S

(1) For the basic condition in section 4(1)(a) of the Act (at least 18 years old), the minimum age is 16 years old where a person—
(a) has limited capability for work;
(b) is awaiting an assessment under Part 5 to determine whether the person has limited capability for work and has a statement given ... in accordance with the Medical Evidence Regulations which provides that the person is not fit for work;
(c) has regular and substantial caring responsibilities for a severely disabled person;
(d) is responsible for a child;
(e) is a member of a couple the other member of which is responsible for a child or a qualifying young person (but only where the other member meets the basic conditions in section 4 of the Act);
(f) is pregnant, and it is 11 weeks or less before her expected week of confinement, or was pregnant and it is 15 weeks or less since the date of her confinement; or
(g) is without parental support (see paragraph (3)).
(2) Sub-paragraphs (c), (f) and (g) of paragraph (1) do not include any person who is a care leaver.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(g) a young person is without parental support where that person is not being looked after by a local authority and—
(a) has no parent;
(b) cannot live with their parents because—
(i) the person is estranged from them, or
(ii) there is a serious risk to the person's physical or mental health, or that the person would suffer significant harm if the person lived with them; or
(c) is living away from their parents, and neither parent is able to support the person financially because that parent—
(i) has a physical or mental impairment,
(ii) is detained in custody pending trial or sentence upon conviction or under a sentence imposed by a court, or
(iii) is prohibited from entering or re-entering Great Britain.
(4) In this regulation—
“parent” includes any person acting in the place of a parent;
“care leaver” means—
(a) in relation to England..., an eligible child for the purposes of paragraph 19B of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 or a relevant child for the purposes of section 23A of that Act;
(b) in relation to Scotland, a person under the age of 18 who—
(i) is looked after by a local authority; or
(ii) has ceased to be looked after by a local authority but is a person to whom a local authority in Scotland is obliged to provide advice and assistance in terms of section 29(1) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 or a person who is being provided with continuing care under section 26A of that Act,
and who, since reaching the age of 14 has been looked after by a local authority for a period of, or periods totalling, 3 months or more (excluding any period where the person has been placed with a member of their family);
(c) in relation to Wales, a category 1 young person or category 2 young person within the meaning of section 104(2) of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.
“confinement” means—
(a) labour resulting in the birth of a living child; or
(b) labour after 24 weeks of pregnancy resulting in the birth of a child whether alive or dead, and where a woman's labour begun on one day results in the birth of a child on another day she is to be taken to be confined on the date of the birth.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/376/regulation/8 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/universal-credit-regulations-2013/regulation-8
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.