“表面上听起来确实很积极——我真心希望它确实如此，”无薪照护者盖伊·沙哈尔对政府决定废除臭名昭著的“照护者津贴悬崖边缘”规则说道。但沙哈尔对大多数过去遭遇不公正超额支付的照护者仍须偿还款项感到愤怒，尽管政府承诺未来会有所不同。他还指出，悬崖边缘规则还将维持四年，可能会让更多照护者掉入陷阱。
"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 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. And he notes that the cliff edge remains in place for four more years, potentially catching out more carers.
“他们实际上是在说：‘我们知道制度不公平，但我们仍将惩罚你们，因为你们曾是不公平制度的受害者，’”他说。
"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.
预计财政大臣将在预算案中宣布在照护者津贴福利中引入新的数字化递减系统，这实际上将终结一项导致数十万照护者面临毁灭性经济处罚的规则。
The chancellor is expected to announce the introduction of a new digital taper system into the carer's allowance benefit in the budget, in effect ending a rule that has landed hundreds of thousands of carers with life-shattering financial penalties.
无薪照护者总体上欢迎这一举措——普遍认为部长们正在积极但缓慢地推进改革，以解决一个内含不公且管理极其糟糕的制度，该制度催生了所谓的“照护者津贴丑闻”。但也有人难以置信，这个必须从头建设的新系统——能在2030年前上线，并觉得就业与养老金部（DWP）要想重获无薪照护者的信任，还有很多工作要做。
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 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.
沙哈尔和他的妻子奥克萨娜照顾患有自闭症的儿子丹尼尔，他们就是悬崖边缘规则的受害者。该规则规定，照护者如果收入超过允许的周收入上限——目前为204英镑——将损失整整一周的照护者津贴，现为86.45英镑。
Shahar and his wife, Oksana, who care for their autistic son, Daniel, were victims of the cliff 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.
一名照护者如果一年内每周仅超出上限1便士，全年超出总额仅52便士，却会被要求偿还4495.40英镑。去年，沙哈尔一家因五年前微不足道的收入超标，被突如其来地要求偿还1万英镑。
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. Last year, the Shahars were landed with a £10,000 repayment bill for relatively trivial earnings breaches dating back five years.
奥克萨娜平均每周仅比允许的收入上限多赚了 1.92 英镑，她一边照顾家人，一边做着兼职的最低工资工作。有些周，她拿到的工资仅比护理津贴收入门槛多出 38 便士。
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. In some weeks, she was paid just 38p more than the carer's allowance earnings threshold.
在这段时间里，她总共比规定多赚了 505 英镑 —— 却被正式开出了一张 10,130.45 英镑的账单，外加 50 英镑的民事罚款。沙哈尔一家正在法庭上对该罚款提出质疑，但压力真实且持续存在。
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. The Shahars are challenging the charge at tribunal but the stress is real and ongoing.
无薪护理者伊丽莎白·泰特照顾残疾儿子奥利弗，她对渐退制要数年后才实施感到震惊：“我们生活在科技时代；要花这么长时间简直荒谬。他们需要把这当作优先事项。”泰特曾是一名教师，现为私人家教和教育顾问，因无意中超过了收入门槛，最终背上了 1,623 英镑的账单。她说，护理津贴的“悬崖边缘效应”象征着一个“完全疯狂的体系”。
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. They need to make it a priority." 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".
她表示，改革护理津贴至关重要，但这需要成为对无薪护理在支撑英格兰社会护理安排中所起关键作用进行更广泛审视的一部分：“我们心甘情愿、充满爱意地照顾家人，最终却成了体制的牺牲品。”安德里亚·塔克多年来作为无薪护理者照顾母亲，她是少数成功挑战“悬崖边缘”罚款并胜诉的护理者之一，于 2025 年 2 月在法庭上成功推翻了一笔 4,600 英镑的超额支付追缴令。
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." 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.
因此，她无需偿还这笔钱，尽管在此过程中承受了数月的压力。她欢迎引入渐退制的决定，但认为因严苛规则而受到不公惩罚的护理者应获得补偿。
As a result, she did not have to repay the money, although she suffered months of stress along the way. She welcomes the decision to introduce a taper but believes carers punished unfairly by draconian rules should be compensated.
“正在偿还超额支付款项的人不应再继续偿还，已支付的款项也应退还给他们，”她说。
"People repaying overpayments should no longer have to, and they should be given back what they have already paid," she says.
塔克回忆说，多年来她都小心翼翼地监控自己在慈善商店兼职的月收入，以保持在限额之下。有些周，她会白干六小时，只为不冒失去护理津贴的风险。
Tucker recalls how for years she carefully monitored her monthly earnings from her part-time charity shop role to stay under the limit. Some weeks she would work six hours for nothing so as not to risk losing carer's allowance.
即便如此，当英国就业与养老金部（DWP）官员作出一项非法决定，认定她无法将收入按一年期平均计算时，她仍被判定为领取超额福利金。
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.
她表示，护理人员对这一“悬崖边缘”效应充满了原始的愤怒。“我的朋友正在以每月10英镑的速度偿还超额福利金。她因收到假期工资而超额领取了12.50英镑。她总跟我说：‘我希望我在还清之前就死掉。’”
There is raw bitterness among carers about the cliff edge, she says. "My friend is paying back their overpayment at £10 a month. She went £12.50 over as a result of receiving holiday pay. She always tells me: 'I hope I die before I have paid it all back.'"