Government confirms payment date for Christmas bonus

The Christmas Bonus will be paid in early December.

There are just 59 days to go until Christmas is here. The Government has confirmed the payment date for the Christmas bonus. The additional payment will be made less than three weeks before Christmas Day. Recipients will receive the payment from December 5th. People on long-term social welfare payments are entitled to the Christmas Bonus. This year, the Christmas Bonus will be 100% of the normal social welfare payment. Those eligible for the payment include those on the One-Parent Family Payment, Disability Allowance, and the Benefit payment for 65-year-olds. Those on Back to Work Family Dividend and the Carer's Allowance will also get a Christmas Bonus. You can view the full list eligible for the bonus here. Earlier this month, the dates for the social welfare bonus payments were changed. Government originally announced that payments will be made on October 31st. However, that has since been changed because of the upcoming bank holiday weekend. Post offices will be closed on Monday, October 31st, which means the payments will be made a few days earlier. Government officials confirmed that some bonuses will be paid on Saturday, October 29th rather than October 31st.