“On the surface it sounds really positive – and I really hope that it is,” says unpaid carer Guy Shahar of the government’s decision to abolish the notorious carer’s allowance cliff edge.
asserted
Shahar → sound → edge
But Shahar is angry that most carers hit with unjust overpayments in the past will still have to repay them, for all the promise of a different future.
asserted
carers → hit → future
And he notes the cliff edge remains in place for four more years, potentially catching out more carers.
asserted
edge → note → carers
“They are effectively saying: ‘We know that the system was unfair but we will still punish you for having been the victim of an unfair system,’” he says.
asserted
he → say → system
The chancellor is expected to announce the introduction of a new digital taper system into the carer’s allowance benefit in the budget, effectively ending a rule that has landed hundreds of thousands of carers with life-shattering financial penalties.
asserted
that → expect → penalties
Unpaid carers have broadly welcomed the move – and there is a general acknowledgment that ministers are moving positively, if slowly, to reform a system with inbuilt injustices and terrible management that birthed what became known as the carer’s allowance scandal.
asserted
what → welcome → scandal
But there is also disbelief that the new system – which must be built from scratch – will be live before 2030, and a feeling that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a lot more to do to regain the trust of unpaid carers.
asserted
Department → be → carers
Shahar and his wife, Oksana, who care for their autistic son, Daniel, were victims of the cliff edge.
asserted
who → care → edge
This rule meant that a carer who earns more than the weekly earnings limit allowed – currently £204 – will forfeit their entire week’s carer’s allowance payment, now £86.45.
asserted
who → mean → payment
A carer who earned a penny over the limit for a year would breach it by 52p but would be asked to repay £4,495.40.
asserted
who → earn → 4,495.40
Last year, the Shahars were landed with a £10,000 repayment bill for relatively trivial earnings breaches dating back five years.
asserted
Shahars → land → breaches
Oksana had earned more than the allowed limit by just £1.92 a week on average while juggling caring with part-time minimum wage jobs.
asserted
Oksana → earn → jobs
In some weeks, she was paid just 38p more than the carer’s allowance earnings threshold.
asserted
she → pay → threshold
Over the period, she earned a total of £505 more than the rules allowed – but was duly issued with a bill for £10,130.45 – plus a £50 civil penalty.
asserted
rules → earn → 10,130.45
The Shahars are challenging the charge at tribunal but the stress is real and ongoing.
asserted
stress → challenge → tribunal
Unpaid carer Elizabeth Tait, who looks after her disabled son, Oliver, is staggered that the taper system is years away: “We live in the age of tech; it is ludicrous it is going to take so long.
asserted
it → look → tech
They need to make it a priority.”
asserted
it → need → ?
Tait, a former teacher and now a private tutor and educational consultant who ended up with a bill for £1,623 after unwittingly breaching the earnings threshold, says the carer’s allowance cliff edge symbolises a “whole crazy system”.
asserted
edge → end → system
Reforming carer’s allowance is essential but it needs to be part of a wider examination of the crucial role of unpaid care in propping up England’s social care arrangements, she says: “We care willingly and lovingly, and yet we end up a casualty of the system.”
asserted
we → reform → system
Andrea Tucker, who for years acted as an unpaid carer for her mother, is one of a handful of carers to challenge a cliff edge penalty and win, successfully overturning a £4,600 overpayment at a tribunal in February 2025.
asserted
who → act → February
As a result, she did not have to repay the money, although she suffered months of stress along the way.
asserted
she → have → way
She welcomes the decision to introduce a taper but believes carers punished unfairly by draconian rules should be compensated.
asserted
carers → welcome → rules
“People repaying overpayments should no longer have to, and they should be given back what they have already paid,” she says.
asserted
she → repay → what
Tucker recalls how for years she carefully monitored her monthly earnings from her part-time charity shop role to stay under the limit.
asserted
she → recall → limit
Often she would work six hours a week for free so as not to risk losing carer’s allowance.
asserted
she → work → allowance
Even so, she was hit with an overpayment when DWP officials decided – unlawfully – that she could not average her earnings over a one-year period.
uncertain
she → hit → period
There is raw bitterness among carers about the cliff edge, she says: “My friend is paying back their overpayment at £10 a month.
asserted
friend → be → 10
She went £12.50 over as a result of receiving holiday pay.
asserted
She → go → pay
She always tells me: ‘I hope I die before I have paid it all back.’”
asserted
I → tell → it
The Aporia
