An effort to tackle child poverty will “fall flat on its face” if the two-child limit is not scrapped, campaigners warned ahead of the eighth anniversary of the controversial policy coming into effect.
Charities have been ramping up pressure on the Government to ditch the benefits restriction as part of its new child poverty plan.
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.
Organisations working in the sector argue that 109 children across the UK are pulled into poverty by the policy every day.
The two-child limit was first announced in 2015 by the Conservatives and came into effect on April 6 2017.
It restricts child tax credit and universal credit (UC) to the first two children in most households.
While it applies across the UK, the Scottish Government has pledged to mitigate the policy’s impacts for people there, although payments for this are not expected to begin until 2026.
The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) – which is part of the coalition – estimated that by Sunday, 30,000 more children will have fallen into poverty under the policy since Labour came into office at Westminster in July.
The group said its analysis suggests an estimated 350,000 children would be lifted out of poverty immediately if the policy was scrapped.
While the group said this move would cost the Government around £2 billion, they claimed it would be cheaper than other measures.
The CPAG said increasing the child element of UC by £17 a week would cost £3 billion, while increasing the UC standard allowance by £25 a week would cost £8 billion.
CPAG chief executive Alison Garnham said: “The Government’s child poverty strategy will fall flat on its face unless it scraps the two-child limit.
“Every day the policy forces families to go hungry and damages the life chances of children up and down the country.
“Reducing the record high levels of child poverty in the UK will require a whole government effort, but abolishing the two-child limit is the essential first step.”
Reports earlier this year suggested that changing the two-child limit to a three-child limit could be under consideration as part of the strategy.
Separate analysis in February by the Resolution Foundation estimated this move – taken together with the benefit cap being scrapped – would cost around £3.2 billion in 2029-30 and reduce child poverty by 320,000.
The benefit cap is separate to the two-child limit.
Introduced in 2013 under the then-Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government, that policy limits the total amount a household can claim in benefits.
On Friday campaigners were planning to hand a letter to the Treasury, saying the two-child limit “has to go”.
They warned: “It cannot be scrapped for some families and not others as this would result in some of the most vulnerable families remaining in poverty – with no way to pull themselves out.”
The letter is signed by a range of groups, including Unicef UK, the National Education Union, food bank organisation Trussell and the National Children’s Bureau.
A Government spokesperson said: “No-one should be living in poverty, and we know that the best route out of poverty for struggling families is well-paid, secure work.
“That is why we are reforming our broken welfare system, so it helps people into good jobs, boosting living standards and putting money in people’s pockets.
“Alongside this, our Child Poverty Taskforce is building an ambitious strategy to give all children the best start in life while we increase the living wage, uprate benefits, and support 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a fair repayment rate on universal credit deductions to help low-income households.”
