Carers Allowance Crisis
2025In October 2024, after a year of relentless reporting, The Guardian helped deliver a breakthrough for Britain’s unpaid carers. Following a six-month investigation, the government announced a £45-a-week rise in the carer’s allowance earnings limit – the biggest increase in the benefit’s 48-year history.
The change means, from April 2025, carers can now earn up to £196 a week without losing their £81.90 allowance. It’s a vital reform for thousands who juggle part-time work with full-time care and a direct result of a campaign that gave voice to those too often ignored.
The Guardian’s investigation, led by Patrick Butler and Josh Halliday, uncovered how carers were being prosecuted even though many had tried to report their earnings to the Department for Work and Pensions. The pair revealed the devastating consequences of a system that punished carers for minor, often unintentional breaches, forcing them to repay thousands, and in some cases, leaving them with criminal records.
The campaign was powered by real stories. The Guardian reported on stories from Debbie Wilman, a cleaner from Stockport, who had to repay £900 after unknowingly breaching the limit while caring for her 87-year-old mother, and Rose Jones, a young woman who began caring for her disabled mum at just eight years old, only to be hit with a £2,145 bill after being wrongly advised by her job centre. Her story prompted an outpouring of public support, with Guardian readers raising over £3,000 to clear her debt. Rose said: “I’m both overwhelmed by how much support it’s had and really amazed that people feel that I was treated badly by the DWP because for so long I did feel like I was on my own in this situation.
“People have given so many kind comments. I feel very supported. It was like a weight on my chest for so long. I’ve been dealing with this for almost three years now.”
The Guardian’s reporting revealed that over 144,000 carers are currently repaying more than £250 million in overpayments. Many were never warned they had breached the limit.
The Guardian’s coverage became a rallying cry, highlighting the cruelty of the “cliff edge” rule that saw carers lose an entire week’s benefit for earning just £1 too much. The campaign didn’t just expose a broken system – it pushed for change. The government has now launched an independent review of carer’s allowance and committed to investigating how overpayments were allowed to spiral.
The Guardian’s journalists, Patrick Butler and Josh Halliday, were awarded the Paul Foot Award for their work – praised for its “enraging and heartbreaking” portrayal of a broken system.
