A scathing new report has shed light on the systemic failures of the UK’s carer’s allowance system, revealing how vulnerable individuals who have selflessly dedicated their lives to caring for loved ones have been left feeling “overwhelmed”, “ashamed” and even driven to consider suicide.
The independent review, led by Liz Sayce and sparked by a Guardian investigation, paints a devastating picture of a policy riddled with “systemic flaws” and a culture that assumes “negligence as a default”. It describes how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has failed to notify some carers that they were accruing enormous debts for years, leaving them feeling “criminalised” by a system that was supposed to support them.
The report reveals that nearly three-quarters of the 1 million people claiming the £83.30-per-week carer’s allowance are women, and that claimants are disproportionately living in poverty, with 40% struggling with their own mental or physical health. One carer told the inquiry they “lost weight” and “couldn’t sleep” after being ordered to pay back money, while another said they didn’t even tell their own family, feeling “so shocked” and “ashamed”.
Tragically, this distress had a direct impact on the health of both the carers and those they care for, with some feeling so pushed to the brink that local authorities had to step in and take over the care, at a cost to the state.
The review also lays bare the “ruthlessly efficient” way the system was designed to hit internal targets, with officials only investigating half of the real-time alerts that flagged when carers had breached their earnings limit – leaving 230,400 people unaware they were accruing huge debts between 2018 and 2024.
Sayce was unequivocal that the “brutal ‘cliff edge'” policy, whereby those who overstep the weekly earnings limit by as little as 1p must pay back the entire week’s benefit, must be urgently addressed. The DWP has vowed to consider reforms, but warned that any fixes would take time.
The report also reveals the “disproportionate” way carers were treated as “guilty before being proven innocent”, with more £50 civil penalties imposed on carer’s allowance claimants than any other benefit. In total, 852 unpaid carers were referred by the DWP for criminal prosecution in the six years to 2024, with a further 1,510 landed with fines of up to £5,000.
Sayce concluded that carer’s allowance is “an outdated benefit [that] has become ever less fit for purpose” – incompatible with modern working patterns and at odds with a time when millions more people are providing unpaid care.
While the DWP has promised to review decisions relating to around 185,000 carers over the past decade, there was no official apology or offer of compensation. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden acknowledged the department had “inherited this mess from the previous government”, but insisted they were now “making good for those affected” and “rebuilding trust”.