THE SNP have backed calls from a coalition of organisations urging the UK Government to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
This week the Child Poverty Action Group called for the two-child limit to be scrapped, along with binding child poverty targets.
Last week the Resolution Foundation’s Turning the Tide briefing note said the “priority should be to abolish the two-child limit and the benefit cap”.
It estimated that doing so “would take an estimated 500,000 children out of poverty in 2029-30”.
It comes amid reports the UK Government is planning £6 billion in cuts to the welfare budget, meaning those unable to work will lose money.
The two-child benefits cap policy prevents families from claiming benefits for a third or subsequent children born after April 6, 2017, but an associated so-called rape clause grants exemptions for a child born as a result of “non-consensual conception”.
The policy restricts child tax and universal credit, meaning families cannot claim about £3200 per year per additional child.
Less than a week after the General Election the Resolution Foundation warned that the majority of children in large families would fall below the poverty line by the end of this Parliament, five years from the election.
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also called on Labour to “assess the impact of welfare reforms introduced since 2010 on the most disadvantaged groups and take corrective measures, including reversing policies such as the two-child limit”.
Labour have faced calls to reverse the policy since before the General Election, and the SNP said the two-child cap is “currently pushing 15,000 children across Scotland into poverty”.
It said the Scottish Government is “lifting over 100,000 children out of poverty”, through policies such as the Scottish Child Payment, and in the Scottish Budget is progressing work to “scrap the two child cap for good”.
SNP MSP Bob Doris said: “The two-child cap is currently pushing 15,000 children across Scotland into poverty.
“That’s why this SNP government is progressing work to scrap it for good in the Budget, passed last month with cross party support in Holyrood, despite Labour MSPs refusing to back it.
“The Labour Government once promised to do the same, however since winning power last July they have broken that promise and have now adopted this cruel Tory policy as their own.
“This is despite substantial evidence and countless calls from expert bodies.
“The difference between the Labour Party and SNP couldn’t be clearer: while we are delivering for the people of Scotland and making progress towards our goal of eradicating child poverty, the Labour Party are harming Scottish families.
“The SNP is clear that we could do so much more with the full powers of independence; free from harmful Westminster policies and able to build a fairer Scotland for everyone.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “No child should be in poverty, that’s why our ministerial taskforce is exploring all available levers across government to give every child the best start in life as part of our plan for change.
“As we fix the foundations of the economy, we’re increasing the living wage, uprating benefits and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families with children by introducing a fair repayment rate on universal credit deductions to help low-income households and make everyone better off.”
The SNP have pledged to end the two-child cap in Scotland from 2026, saying they will do so sooner if possible.
Mitigating the cap in Scotland will cost £155 million in the first year and help 43,000 children, the Scottish Fiscal Commission has estimated.
