Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance

What the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is
How to qualify
Rates of payment
Apply
Operational Guidelines

Important Note

If you qualify for the 2022 Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment you will automatically receive a confirmation letter before 20 June.

If you have not received an award letter by the end of June, you will need to apply for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance online at www.MyWelfare.ie,

The online application will be open from 20 June.

The closing date to apply for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is 30 September.

What the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is a means-tested once-off payment aimed at helping families with the extra costs of clothing and footwear when children start school each autumn.

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme is open from 1 June to 30 September each year.

How to qualify

To qualify for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, you must meet the following conditions:

you must be in receipt of a qualifying social protection payment or participating in an approved employment, education or training support scheme
you must be in receipt of an increase for a qualified child (IQC) in respect of each child for whom the allowance is being claimed (except in certain circumstances)
each child being claimed for must be:

aged between 4 and 17 or

aged between 18 and 22, and returning to second-level education in the autumn

the assessable income for your household must be within a set income limit
you and each child in respect of whom the allowance is claimed must be resident in the State

Rates of payment

Child’s age	Rate
4 – 11	€160
12 – 22	€285

Remember, children between 18 and 22 years old must be in second-level education to qualify.

Apply

Through a matching process in the department, many customers will receive the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment automatically. Award letters issue to these customers in June.

If you have not received an award letter for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance by the end of June, and you satisfy the qualifying conditions, you will need to make an application online at www.MyWelfare.ie, even if you automatically received the payment last year.

To apply online you must have a verified MyGovID account. Details can be found here on how to verify your MyGovID account.

The closing date to apply for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance for 2022 is 30 September 2022.