Jobseeker's Benefit calculator (pay-related)

The cap, explained

Each step has a maximum: 60% of pay stops rising at €450 (pay of €750 a week, €39,000 a year), 55% stops at €375 (€681.82 a week) and 50% stops at €300 (€600 a week, €31,200 a year). Above those, extra salary adds nothing. With fewer than 260 paid contributions there is one step, 50% up to €300 for 26 weeks. Everyone who qualifies gets at least €125 a week.

PRSI credits

Each week you are paid (under 66) adds a credited contribution to your record, so a 39-week claim keeps 39 weeks on your record for the State Pension (Contributory) and other benefits. Credits do not count as paid contributions when you claim the pay-related benefit again: you need new paid weeks for that, and a new claim within 12 months counts the weeks you already used.

How it differs from Jobseeker's Benefit and Jobseeker's Allowance

• Old flat-rate Jobseeker's Benefit (jobs that ended before 28 March 2025, and now only part-time, casual, seasonal and short-time workers): €254 a week whatever you earned (less below €300), with increases for a partner and children, 3 waiting days, and a disqualification of up to 9 weeks for under-55s with a redundancy payment over €50,000.
• Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit: linked to your pay, no waiting days, no partner or child increases, redundancy ignored.
• Jobseeker's Allowance: means-tested (your partner's income and your savings count), €254 a week at 25 or over (€163.70 under 25), €264 and €173.70 from January 2027, and it can continue after the benefit runs out.

Frequently asked questions

How much Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit will I get?
With 260 or more paid PRSI contributions: 60% of your average weekly gross pay for the first 13 weeks (up to €450), 55% for the next 13 (up to €375) and 50% for the last 13 (up to €300). With 104 to 259 contributions: 50% for 26 weeks, up to €300. Nobody gets less than €125. The caps apply from €750 a week of pay (€39,000 a year), so most full-time workers get €450, then €375, then €300: €14,625 over 39 weeks.

How are my previous earnings worked out?
The Department gets your pay from Revenue. It takes your gross earnings in the 12 months that end 8 weeks before you lost your job, and divides them by the number of weeks of Class A or H PRSI you paid in that period. A job lost on Monday 7 April 2025 uses pay from 10 February 2024 to 10 February 2025 (the Department’s own example).

Can I wait before applying, or take a break first?
Apply within 6 weeks of losing your job. A claim made within 6 weeks is backdated to the first Monday after your last day of work, for the weeks you were available for and looking for work. After 6 weeks you no longer have 4 weeks of PRSI paid in the 10 weeks before you apply, so the pay-related benefit is not payable, and a later backdating needs good cause and is limited to 6 months. If you want time off, claim first: once you are on it you can break your claim for up to 13 weeks and pick up where you left off, and you can be abroad for up to 2 weeks a year if you tell your Intreo office 2 weeks before.

Does my redundancy lump sum affect it?
No. A statutory or voluntary redundancy payment does not affect the pay-related benefit, whatever the amount. Under the old Jobseeker’s Benefit, people under 55 with more than €50,000 could be disqualified for up to 9 weeks; that rule does not apply here. Your lump sum only matters if you later switch to the means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, which counts savings.

Is there a waiting period?
No waiting days. It is paid from the first full week of unemployment, starting on a Monday, and collected each Wednesday at your post office. If your last day is a Friday, your first paid week starts the next Monday. (The old Jobseeker’s Benefit did not pay the first 3 days.)

Can I work part-time and still get it?
Not in the same week: it is only for weeks you are fully unemployed. If you take part-time or casual work of up to 3 days a week, you can get Jobseeker’s Benefit for the other days instead, at a rate set by the same earnings, with one fifth of the week’s rate taken off for each day worked. Those weeks count towards your 39 or 26 weeks.

What does it do for my PRSI record?
Under 66, you get a credited PRSI contribution for each week it is paid, which protects your State Pension and other benefits. From 66 to 70 (only while you defer your State Pension) there are no credits.

Is it taxed?
Yes. The Department pays it without deducting tax and tells Revenue, which reduces your tax credits and rate band for the rest of the year, so the tax comes out of your next job’s pay or your spouse’s.

Would Jobseeker’s Allowance pay more?
Possibly, if you have a partner or children (the pay-related benefit has no increases for them), if your earnings were low, or from the fourth month on. Jobseeker’s Allowance is means-tested: your partner’s income and your savings count. You can switch to Optional Jobseeker’s Allowance at any time during the claim; the weeks count towards the 39.

Did Budget 2027 change it?
No change to the pay-related rates has been announced: Citizens Information still shows €450, €375 and €300 and the €125 minimum. Jobseeker’s Benefit and Jobseeker’s Allowance rise by €10 to €264 from January 2027.

Rules and sources

• Rates, caps, €125 minimum, 39 or 26 weeks, PRSI conditions, earnings averaged over the 52 weeks ending 8 weeks before the job ended (÷ Class A/H weeks paid), payment from the first Monday, 6-week late-claim rule, 13-week breaks, the 65–66 extension (156+ paid contributions), 66–70 only with a deferred State Pension and no credits, a credit each week, redundancy not a disqualification, part-time days on Jobseeker's Benefit: DSP Operational Guidelines: Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit (updated 21 August 2026), read 4 November 2026.
• The 7 April 2025 earnings example and "apply within 6 weeks": gov.ie: Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit (updated 25 March 2026), read 4 November 2026.
• 2026 rates, the 15 December 2025 example, Optional Jobseeker's Allowance and no Budget 2027 change shown: Citizens Information: Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit (edited 16 October 2026), read 4 November 2026.
• Jobseeker's Benefit rates by earnings (€254, €198.90, €163.70, €114), 5-day week and part-time deduction, 3 waiting days, 234 or 156 days, the redundancy table, +€10 from January 2027: Citizens Information: Jobseeker's Benefit (edited 27 October 2026), read 4 November 2026. The 2027 reduced Jobseeker's Benefit rates are not yet published, so 2026 amounts are used below €300 of pay.
• Jobseeker's Allowance and Jobseeker's Benefit 2027 rates: Citizens Information: Social welfare rates 2027 (edited 7 October 2026), read 4 November 2026.

General information, not advice. This is an estimate: the Department of Social Protection decides your rate from your Revenue record, and it pays only full weeks here. Apply at MyWelfare.ie or your Intreo Centre. By DecisionsCalc.

Related

• What can I claim? One check for every support your household may get
• Budget 2027 calculator: your take-home pay in 2027 when you start work again
• Working Family Payment calculator · State Pension (Contributory) calculator