Tag: two child limit

Celebrities call on UK Government to scrap cruel two-child policy

Over 40 celebrities have joined anti-poverty charity Trussell in calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the two-child limit in the upcoming autumn budget.

The two-child limit, which restricts support from the social security system to just two children, is punishing children for their existence and forcing families to food banks. Removing the two-child limit in the autumn budget is the most effective way to protect children from hunger, give them a decent start in life, and help them reach their potential.

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Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to implore that you fully remove the cruel two-child limit which is pushing 109 more children into hardship every single day. Ending it is the right thing to do – we need you to do it now.

The two-child limit, which restricts support from the social security system to two children, even when their parents can work, is punishing children for their existence and pushing families to food banks. We cannot stand by while this continues to happen.

Millions more people are facing hunger than a couple of years ago, and families with children are at particularly high risk. 4 in 10 families with 3 or more children face hunger, around twice as high as the rate for families with one or two children and almost 1 in 3 (29%) food bank parcels provided by the Trussell community go to families with three or more children, despite them making up just 11% of the UK population. This is not right.

Every week, food banks meet parents who’ve been doing everything they can to protect their children from hunger. Skipping meals for weeks so there’s enough for the kids to eat, making games out of wrapping up in blankets to avoid turning on the heating, trying to pretend everything’s okay – but it’s not okay.

Removing the two-child limit is the most effective way to protect children from hunger, give them a decent start in life, and help them reach their potential – there is no time to waste in a child’s life. It is your duty to act on your commitment to tackling child poverty – we need you to fully remove the two-child limit now.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Pegg

Bill Nighy

Mark Bonnar

Jason Manford

Stanley Tucci

Joely Richardson

Kalvin Phillips

Jodie Whittaker

Anna Maxwell Martin

Christopher Eccleston

Tyrone Mings

Romesh Ranganathan

Si King

Charlotte Ritchie

Tom Grennan

Aisling Bea

Ben Willbond

James Acaster

Miquita Oliver

Levi Roots

Tom Kerridge

Becky Hill

Brian Cox

Rosemary Shrager

Adam Buxton

Jason Isaacs

AJ Odudu

Julie Graham

Daisy May Cooper

Charlie Cooper

Lydia West

Arabella Weir

Arlene Phillips

Kellie Shirley

Glenn Tilbrook 

Daisy Haggard

Suzi Ruffell

Rosie Jones

Mark Hoyle (Ladbaby)

Rox Hoyle (Ladybaby)

Teacher Tommy T (Teacher and content creator)

Dr Emeka Okorocha (Doctor and content creator)

Armando Iannucci

Mike Rosenberg.

SCOTLAND TO SCRAP THE CAP

Scottish Government scrapping the two child limit to help end child poverty

The Scottish Government will effectively scrap the impact of the two-child limit from 2nd March 2026, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has confirmed.

On a visit to Busy Bees Bellfield parent and toddler group in Portobello, Ms Somerville said the introduction of the Two Child Limit Payment will mean 20,000 fewer children will be living in relative poverty in 2026-27, according to Scottish Government modelling.

Speaking ahead of a statement to parliament on the publication of the annual report on Best Start, Bright Futures, the Scottish Government’s child poverty strategy, Ms Somerville said: “The Scottish Government has consistently called on the UK Government to end the two-child cap.

“Reports suggest that they are looking at the impact it is having. But the evidence is clear and families and Scotland can’t wait any longer for the UK Government to make up its mind to do the right thing and scrap the cap once and for all.

“The Two Child Limit Payment will begin accepting applications in March next year. At less than 15 months from when we announced this in the Scottish budget, this will be the fastest that a Scottish social security benefit has been delivered.

“This builds upon the considerable action we have taken in Scotland, including delivering unparalleled financial support through our Scottish Child Payment, investing to clear school meal debts, and continuing to support almost 10,000 children by mitigating the UK Government’s Benefit Cap as fully as possible.

“However, austerity decisions taken by the UK Government are holding back Scotland’s progress. Modelling published in March makes clear that if the UK Government act decisively on child poverty, they could help to take an estimated 100,000 children out of poverty this year.”

The two child limit cap was introduced by the UK Conservative Government in 2017. Since their Westminster victory last year Keir Starmer’s Labour government has refused to scrap the cap.

Poverty Alliance: Spending review misses need for fundamental change

Commenting on the Chancellor’s Spending Review, Poverty Alliance chief executive Peter Kelly said: “People in the UK are desperate for a government that delivers a just and compassionate country – and that’s one of the reasons so many voted for change at the last General Election. They will feel that today’s Spending Review falls short.

“There was a positive story to tell on capital spending and increased resources for health and housing are welcome and will have benefits for the Scottish Government too.

“But that story masks cuts to day-to-day spending in unprotected areas. We all rely on public services, but when libraries, buses and social care system see cuts, it will be people living on low incomes that feel that impact the hardest because they are more likely to use and rely upon those services.

“After 14 years of austerity, any spending cuts will drive living standards down further. We’ve been down that road before and it’s not what people voted for.

“This review also includes £5bn worth of cuts to social security for disabled people which are expected to push 400k people into poverty. It is completely unjust to see the UK Government once again try to balance the books on the backs of disabled people. That also has financial implications for the Scottish Government’s devolved social security benefits.

“After almost a year in power, we had expected the UK Government to take action on the two-child limit – an unjust policy that forces 80 children into poverty every single day. Thousands more children will be in poverty by the time the Chancellor considers the policy again at the Autumn Statement.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We’d like to see the Government take a different road at the next budget – and make changes to their self-imposed fiscal rules and look seriously at the tax options being put forward by Tax Justice Scotland and our UK counterparts, so we can pay for the things our economy and society needs to function.”

Swinney: Removing two child limit will help thousands

Progress to eradicate child poverty

Thousands of families will be helped as part of the Scottish Government’s plans to remove the two child benefit cap, First Minister John Swinney has said as he repeated calls for the UK Government to end the policy immediately.

The First Minister made clear that if the UK Government was to scrap the policy, the investment the Scottish Government intends to allocate to its mitigation would be used on other measures to tackle eradicate child poverty.

At an event in Stirling hosted by The Robertson Trust, Mr Swinney addressed representatives from community and third sector organisations across Scotland and set out his vision for a country in which no child lives in poverty.

The First Minister said: “The eradication of child poverty is my government’s number one priority, and I want it also to become our nation’s number one goal.

“The cornerstone of our approach is investment in more dignified and generous social security support.

“It includes the resources we need to build the systems that will allow us to effectively remove the two child cap for families in Scotland.

“I can offer two guarantees today. Firstly, if we are able to safely get the systems up and running in this coming year, the first payments will be made in this coming year – helping to lift thousands more children out of poverty.

“And secondly, if the UK government does the right thing and abolishes the two-child cap across the UK, the resources we have committed to this policy will continue to be used on measures to eradicate child poverty in Scotland.”

Vision for eradicating child poverty in Scotland: First Minister’s speech – 15 January 2025 – gov.scot

CPAG, the Child Poverty Action Group, estimates that mitigating the two-child limit in Scotland could lift around 15,000 children out of poverty: 

https://cpag.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-12/Cost_of_a_Child_Scotland_2024.pdf

The Scottish Fiscal Commission has also published estimates of the number of children in Scotland impacted by the two-child limit this year, and who would benefit from mitigation were it to commence in 2026-27 (39,000 in 2025-26, rising to 42,000 in 2026-27. 

Mitigating the two-child limit and the Scottish Budget | Scottish Fiscal Commission.

Budget: Charities unite in call to scrap two child limit

UK Government must scrap the unfair two-child limit at the Budget, say leading children’s charities

Since the Labour party took office on 4th July, and by the time the Budget is announced, a staggering 12,500* children have been plunged into poverty due to the two-child limit on benefit payments. This shocking surge adds to the 1.6 million children already suffering under this unnecessary policy.

Leading children’s charities (the End Child Poverty Coalition, Save the Children, Action for Children, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Centre for Young Lives, Gingerbread, Barnardo’s and the National Children’s Bureau) have joined together to call on the government to include scrapping the two-child limit in the Budget on 30th October. Two of these organisations, Save the Children and CPAG, are also assisting the government with evidence gathering ahead of the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025.**

These charities are supported by the 120 members of the End Child Poverty Coalition, an alliance of national, regional and local anti-poverty organisations, united in the view that child poverty in the UK can be addressed via government action.

Joseph Howes, CEO of Buttle UK and Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition said: ‘The two-child limit must be scrapped: children cannot wait any longer for government action.

“We don’t say only two children in a family can go to school, or that the third sibling cannot receive hospital treatment, so why do we limit benefit payments to only two children? By scrapping this policy, this government would be recognised as one that turns the tide on rising levels of child poverty across the UK’.

Victoria Benson, CEO of Gingerbread said: ‘Scrapping the two-child limit is a quick and cost-effective way to lift children out of poverty and it’s disappointing that our Government hasn’t committed to doing this.

“The majority of families hit by the two-child limit are single parent families who are already almost twice as likely to be living in poverty, compared to couple parent families.

“There is no doubt it is a cruel policy that has done little to meet its aim of increasing employment levels and yet it has left hundreds of thousands of single parent households in poverty. 

“If our Government wants to tackle child poverty it must scrap the two child limit as soon as possible.’

Becca Lyon, Head of Child Poverty for Save the Children UK, said: ‘The time for action on the two-child limit to benefits is now and the UK Government must scrap this cruel policy.

“Children cannot wait any longer to receive the same amount of money as their siblings. Our society should be one where being born after your siblings shouldn’t exclude you from support. These are political choices, and the Budget is a chance for the UK Government to right the record for thousands of children.” 

The two-child limit to benefit payments is an unfair policy which limits the amount of money families in receipt of social security payments receive for the third or subsequent child born after April 2017. Families affected by it miss out on up to £3455 per child per year.

The policy pushes families into poverty. Recent analysis published by CPAG has shown that for every day this policy remains in place, 109 children are being pulled into poverty.* End Child Poverty Coalition analysis has shown there is a strong positive correlation between child poverty figures and the number of children living in families impacted by the two-child limit.***

Unless this issue is urgently addressed, the government’s upcoming Child Poverty Strategy will fall short of delivering meaningful change. Lifting the two-child limit is a critical step towards to halting the harmful cycle of deprivation and despair.

Children can no longer wait for change. The ‘sibling tax’ must be scrapped.

*More information on the government’s plans to engage on the Preventing Child Poverty Strategy here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy

**109 children a day are pulled into poverty by this policy every day, research has found https://cpag.org.uk/news/10000-children-dragged-poverty-two-child-limit-labour-took-office

*** More information on this research can be found here: https://endchildpoverty.org.uk/child-poverty-2024/

Today we have signed a joint statement with:

@CPAGUK

@ncbtweets

@Gingerbread

@savechildrenuk

@actnforchildren

@CfYoungLives

@barnardos

calling for @RachelReevesMP to scrap the 2-child limit in the #Budget on Wednesday.

This is also supported by 120+members of @EndChildPoverty

Things will only get worse: Why the two-child limit must go

A REPORT BY THE CHILD POVERTY ACTION GROUP

Seven years after the introduction of the two-child limit, there are almost 1.6 million children in 440,000 families affected by the policy. These families are missing out on up to £3,455 a year per child. 

The two-child limit restricts support through universal credit (UC) or child tax credit to the first two children in a family, for children born after 6 April 2017.

Parents having a third or subsequent child after that date are not eligible for support for that child.  

The majority of families affected by the policy are living in poverty, despite 59 per cent of these families having one or both parents in paid work.

Affected families report not being able to provide for children’s basic needs, including food, clothing and heating. The policy also means families struggle to pay for housing and childcare. 

The policy affects every area of children’s lives. Parents report that children’s education, mental health, and learning and development are all negatively affected by the two-child limit.

Children are also missing out on the ‘everyday’ experiences of childhood such as days out with their family, being able to go on holiday, or having the occasional treat such as an ice cream.  

Abolishing the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty, and the most urgent action the government must take to reduce child poverty.

It would lift 300,000 children out of poverty and mean 700,000 children are in less deep poverty, making a significant difference to the lives of over a million children at a cost of £1.7 billion.

The two-child limit will continue to drive up poverty as more children are born. Child poverty is already at a record high, with 4.3 million children in poverty in the UK today.

This means in an average classroom of 30, nine children are living in poverty. 

Things_will_only_get_worseDownload

McVey urges city councillors to attend two-child limit demo

“This treatment is cruel and it is inexcusable” – City of Edinburgh Council Leader Adam McVey

SNP Council leader, Adam McVey, has called on all City of Edinburgh councillors to attend a demonstration, on Thursday and show their opposition to the UK Government’s Two Child Cap and associated “Rape Clause”. Continue reading McVey urges city councillors to attend two-child limit demo