How much is the Healthy Start card worth?

Healthy Start replaced the old paper vouchers in 2021 with a prepaid NHS Healthy Start Mastercard, topped up every four weeks. The value is £8.50 a week where there is a baby under one year old, and £4.25 a week during pregnancy and for children aged one to four — over a year that is a few hundred pounds of food shopping for a family on a low income.

Who can get it

You qualify if you are pregnant or have a child under four and receive a qualifying benefit. Pregnant women under 18 qualify automatically, whether or not they receive any benefit at all — a rule that is widely missed. Apply through healthystart.nhs.uk or the helpline on 0300 330 7010.

Where and what you can spend it on

The card only works at retailers registered with the scheme. Most large supermarkets are; many convenience stores and independents are not, and the card will simply decline there even though it is a Mastercard. Look for the NHS Healthy Start logo, or search for registered shops on the scheme website.

Eligible items are tightly defined:

• Plain cow’s milk and first-stage infant formula
• Fresh, frozen, tinned or dried fruit and vegetables
• Pulses

Juice, smoothies, ready meals, flavoured milk and follow-on formula are not covered, and a basket containing them is the usual reason a card is refused at the till. If every item is eligible and the payment still fails, ask the retailer to check their terminal, then report it to the helpline, which can also confirm your balance.

Two administrative points protect you from problems later. First, Healthy Start payments are disregarded for every benefit — they cannot trigger an overpayment or clawback on Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit or Housing Benefit. Second, you must tell the helpline if you stop being eligible, for example because your earnings rise above the threshold or your qualifying benefit ends; continuing to spend after that point creates a repayable overpayment. Entitlement stops automatically when your youngest child turns four, and if you have a new baby you should update your record so the higher weekly rate is applied.