Almost 1.7m Children in Households Caught up in Two-Child Benefit Cap
UNITED KINGDOM, JUL 10 – The two-child benefit cap affects 469,780 households and 1.6 million children, with critics urging its removal to address rising child poverty in the UK.
- On Thursday, new data revealed that almost 1.7 million children in Great Britain live in households impacted by the policy limiting child benefits to two children.
- The Conservative government introduced this two-child limit in 2017 to restrict child tax credit and Universal Credit payments to two children per household.
- The data reveals a 3% increase in affected households over the past year, with 469,780 Universal Credit claimants impacted and ethnic minorities disproportionately affected by poverty.
- Campaigners call the policy a "child poverty machine" that costs society more long-term, while Labour pledges to abolish the two-child limit at an estimated £1.4 billion annual cost.
- A taskforce addressing child poverty has been set up and is scheduled to deliver its findings in autumn, while campaigners emphasize that removing the two-child benefit limit is crucial to tackling the increasing levels of child poverty.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Over 1.6 million children live in families made poorer by the two-child limit on benefits – new data
New government statistics released today show the reach of the two-child limit. There are 1,665,540 children in England, Scotland and Wales living in households affected by the two-child limit, an increase of over 35,000 from the same time in 2024. The two-child limit restricts means-tested child benefits to the first two children in a household, subject to some exceptions. Its sister policy, the benefit cap, affects over 115,000 households, inc…

Almost 1.7m children in households caught up in two-child benefit cap
More than half (59%) of households affected by the policy are in work, the data showed.
Thousands of Children in Scotland Trapped by Two Child Cap as Calls Grow for Change
Every day, more than 100 children across the UK are pushed deeper into poverty by a policy many hoped would disappear with a change in government. But hopes are fading fast. The Labour government has confirmed it will keep the two child benefit cap in place, drawing fierce criticism from across Scotland and beyond. The policy, which limits financial support for families with more than two children, has left over 100,000 children in Scotland alon…
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