LABOUR will oversee the highest child poverty rates on record if they fail to scrap the two-child benefit cap, a group of leading charities has warned.
Barnardo’s, Save the Children UK, and Citizens Advice were among the organisations to issue the severe warning in a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
They said that ending the two-child benefit cap, which came into effect under the Tories in 2017 and prevents people for claiming benefits for their third or subsequent children except in specific circumstances – such as if they prove the child is a product of rape, was the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty.
Top Labour figures had, before the General Election in 2024, attacked the benefit cap as “heinous” – but they have since acted to keep it in place, with Starmer insisting that economic growth must come first.
The SNP have said they will work to scrap the cap for families in Scotland from 2026, but will need UK Government data in order to do so.
The Labour administration is now facing fresh pressure to end the cap south of the Border, with the group of leading charities warning that failing to scrap the limit could put child poverty at its highest level since records began by the end of this parliament.
Their letter urged Starmer to “direct the full weight of your government into reducing child poverty with urgency”.
It reads: “Scrapping the two-child limit is by far the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty.
“It would lift 350,000 children out of poverty overnight and result in 700,000 children living in less deep poverty.
The Child Poverty Action Group, which signed the letter, estimates that the number of children in poverty will jump from 4.5 million currently to 4.8 million by 2029 unless urgent action is taken.
Recent figures showed child poverty rising in England and Wales but falling in Scotland due to policies such as the Scottish Child Payment.
SNP MSP Collette Stevenson said: “The charities who signed this letter are absolutely right – scrapping the two-child cap is essential if we are serious about ending child poverty. That's why the SNP is doing it in Scotland.
“But we shouldn’t have to clear up Labour’s mess – they should be doing the right thing and scrapping the cap at source.
“Labour are keeping children in poverty with the two-child cap, and are pushing another 50,000 kids into poverty with their cuts to disability payments. Unless they urgently change course, this UK Labour Government will be the first in history to leave office with more children in poverty than when they entered."
Labour have repeatedly pointed to the development of their new child poverty plan as a reason for failing to take action such as scrapping the two-child limit sooner.
The strategy is due to be published this spring, although the End Child Poverty Coalition has said it believes the document might not come until June.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told ITV’s Good Morning Britain “nothing’s off the table” in the UK Government’s plan to tackle child poverty.
Phillipson and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall are leading a child poverty taskforce “and we are looking at all areas”, she said.
Asked if that meant lifting the two-child cap had not been ruled out, Phillipson said: “We’re looking at every option, including social security measures, absolutely.
“But there are a range of ways, alongside that, we know that we can tackle child poverty.”
