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Overview of welfare reforms

Charlie Grosset explores the recent UK welfare reforms focusing on the emotional, social and financial impact on disabled people.

Image showing a woman who uses a wheelchair, sitting in a café, focusing on her laptop screen.

Overview of welfare reforms

Recent UK welfare reforms include an overhaul in benefit payments that will result in an estimated 1.2 million disabled people losing the eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (PiP) (The Guardian, 2025b). Yet, there has been limited discussion of the sweeping knock-on effects for disabled people and their loved ones. These cuts – a decision driven by the Chancellor’s reluctance to raise taxes – will have widespread effects on disabled people, particularly those who both require support as well as provide care for others (Disability Rights UK, 2025). These intersecting roles mean that, in an era of austerity politics, those affected already face financial instability and increased caregiving pressures, which will be further exacerbated through these changes. 

The proposed changes to PIP are predicted to have a ‘domino effect’, plummeting yet more disabled people into poverty. Those affected will not only lose their income from PIP –  2024/25 weekly rates of standard daily living being £72.65 – but  they will also lose access to linked benefits, such as council tax reductions, the Motability scheme, and a loved one’s Carer’s Allowance (Disability Rights UK, 2025). The latter is particularly relevant for disabled people caring for others: if the person they care for loses PIP, they will no longer qualify for Carer’s Allowance, leading to a sharp drop in household income of an estimated £9,600 a year. While the government justifies these changes with the narrative that they will encourage workforce participation and reduce benefit dependency, the reality for many is an increased risk of absolute poverty, social exclusion, suicide, debilitation and death (Ryan, 2019).

The ideologies underpinning these cuts are not new, and follow a long history of austerity measures that have left disabled people living in the UK struggling to afford basic necessities such as mobility aids, transport to medical appointments, heating and formal care support (Ryan, 2019). Over the past 15 years, successive UK governments have implemented deep cuts to welfare, systematically stripping support from the country’s most marginalised communities. With each new reform, these cuts have become increasingly severe, exacerbating inequality and further entrenching hardship.

The emotional, social and financial impact on disabled people caring for others

One critical issue overlooked in welfare debates is the financial impact on disabled people who both provide and receive care; people for whom the financial repercussions of these reforms are severe. Yet worryingly, the amount of disabled people caring for others in the UK has increased each year since 2018 (DWP, 2025), with Carer’s Allowance and PIP data from August 2024 revealing that 14.47% of Carer’s Allowance claimants were also in receipt of PIP (DWP, 2025), a figure rising from 7.72% in May 2018. Prompting urgent questions about the support disabled people caring for others will receive. Additionally, Census data shows that 28.96% of all self-identified family carers also identify as disabled (ONS, 2021). Marking a sharp comparison between these figures; that even before these new proposed welfare cuts, a significant proportion of disabled people are providing care without any welfare support. 

While it is important to note that it would be unwise to conflate being a disabled person with requiring support, research highlights that disabled people do need greater support and recognition for the care they provide (Edwards and Loughnane, 2024). Indeed, of the 14 people interviewed during my PhD research on the experiences of disabled people providing care for others, only three were able to work due to their own and their loved ones’ support requirements. This meant relying on PIP and Carer’s Allowance to supplement their income. An income that has been challenged due to this welfare reform. The Labour government’s narrative that this cut will incentivise disabled and mentally ill people to enter the workforce overlooks the realities of disabled people who also provide care – their contributions to society beyond the workforce; the barriers they face in securing employment, and the incompatibility this lived experience has with many employment opportunities (Scope, 2025).

Disabled people requiring support are already met with great suspicion and stigma (Tyler, 2020), with interviews also highlighting that disabled people carry the worry that their identity as a caregiver will be used against them when it comes to PIP assessments. One participant, Kwame (pseudonym) reflected on this:

My role as a carer for my brother is something I don’t like to talk about. For them [PiP assessors] he’s my carer, and if I mention that I care for him too, I don’t know what will happen to both of our own support

The proposed welfare reforms will likely add to the pressure felt by disabled people caring for others. Ryan uses the example of Rebecca Jenkins, a former care worker who became too sick to work due to ME, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and a heart condition. Now 56, she provides full-time care for her 88-year-old mother, Susan, who has multiple disabilities, including arthritis and suspected dementia. Rebecca assists her mother with all aspects of daily living, from getting in and out of bed to using the toilet and shopping. However, because Susan frequently stays in the hospital, Rebecca was advised that she does not qualify for Carer’s Allowance. Instead, they live off Rebecca’s PIP and other entitlements. The costs of disability care are already high, with an adapted taxi to hospital appointments alone costing £70. If Rebecca loses PIP, she will be forced to seek work despite her ill health, leaving her mother to be placed in a care home – ironically shifting costs onto the government rather than saving money (The Guardian, 2025b). 

This deep financial strain and dismissal of disabled people caring for others as a lived experience will take a significant emotional and social toll. The uncertainty surrounding benefit eligibility contributes to severe anxiety and stress (Ryan, 2019, Guardian, 2025a). Financial constraints will reduce access to community support and social opportunities, leading to greater isolation. As services such as accessible transport and respite care become unaffordable, disabled people in dual care roles may find themselves increasingly cut off from support networks. 

Conclusion and policy recommendations

The UK government’s welfare reforms disproportionately affect disabled people who provide and receive care, compounding their financial and emotional hardships. To mitigate these effects, policymakers should reconsider PIP eligibility criteria, introduce transitional protections for those losing benefits, and ensure Carer’s Allowance is not contingent on the care recipient’s PIP status. Frances Ryan’s critique of austerity highlights the necessity of a welfare system that upholds disabled people’s rights rather than forcing them into deeper hardship (Ryan, 2019). Without urgent policy changes, these reforms risk further marginalising huge proportions of UK society; people’s loved ones, friends and neighbours.

References

About the author

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Charlie Grosset PhD Student, University of Sheffield

Charlie Grosset is a second-year PhD student at the University of Sheffield, researching Critical Disability Studies, Social Policy, and Care. They completed a BA in Sociology and an MA in Social Research Methodology at the University of Sheffield in 2021, followed by two years at the social research company ‘Substance,’ where they worked on a range of projects using methods such as co-production and Social Return on Investment. Their PhD explores the experiences of disabled people who are family carers, using biographical life interviews and creative qualitative methods to highlight disabled people’s care work, interdependent care, and the impact of austerity and ableist social care systems.

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