Charities, campaigners, and even some Labour MPs have long called for the cap to be abolished. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) suggests that doing so could lift 250,000 children out of poverty overnight and improve the circumstances of a further 850,000.
Feelings about the cap are so strong in some parts of the Labour Party that seven MPs were willing to lose the party whip in July 2024 to vote in favour of an amendment calling for its scrapping.
It is understood that MPs may be more likely to speak up on the issue if the Government’s long-promised strategy to reduce child poverty does not include a clear plan to scrap the cap.
According to The Guardian, one prominent proposal under consideration is to exempt parents with children under the age of five from the cap.
An insider told the paper: “Officials are keen to mitigate the impact of the cap, if not lift it entirely. They have been discussing a range of options to do so, but at the moment, helping parents of under-fives seems to be one of the most likely.”
A spokesperson for the DWP said: “We do not comment on speculation. Our ministerial taskforce is exploring all available levers across government to give every child the best start in life.”
Exempting parents of disabled children
There is evidence that this could have major implications for affected families. Research published in 2024 by the End Child Poverty Coalition (ECPC) suggested that the two-child limit disproportionately affects families with at least one disabled child.
The CPAG has also suggested that households that include a disabled person are often more greatly impacted by the two-child benefit cap.
“Typically, households with disabled people spend a greater share of their income on energy and food. For these reasons, these households are particularly vulnerable to being pushed into deep poverty as a result of the two-child limit.”
Critics of the current cap argue that it disproportionately affects low-income working families who rely on benefits to supplement their wages.
Joseph Howes, chair of the group, said at the time: “The two-child limit is a failed policy that drives families, the majority of whom are already working, into poverty. Any credible plan to reduce child poverty will need to make scrapping the policy its number one priority.”
Increasing payments for parents of young children
Enhancing these payments could provide broader support to families during the formative years of their children’s lives, helping to cover essential costs and contribute to better outcomes in health, education, and overall well-being.
The charity also estimates that increasing child benefit by £20 a week would pull 500,000 children out of poverty across the UK.
The Resolution Foundation recently published an analysis showing that targeted increases in child benefits for young children would significantly reduce child poverty.
A separate proposal to raise the cap to three children has been mentioned; however, The Guardian claims it is not under serious consideration at this time.
A recent report by the Resolution Foundation estimated that replacing the two-child limit with a three-child cap, combined with scrapping the overall benefit cap, would cost around £3.2bn and reduce child poverty by 320,000.
‘Child benefit lock’
This would be modelled on the state pension triple lock, which increases the state pension by the rate of inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent —whichever is highest.
Meghan Meek-O’Connor, the child poverty policy lead at Save the Children UK, said at the time: “The introduction of the pensions triple lock in 2010 was a pivotal moment in social security policy, ensuring that pensioners’ incomes were protected. We can, and should, do the same for children.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( All the ways DWP could change the two-child benefit cap )
Also on site :
- Andrea Fuder, Chief Purchasing Officer at Volvo Group has tragically passed away
- Lawyer admits ‘embarrassing’ mistake after Anthropic’s Claude made up a source in a legal filing—and no one caught it
- Major companies are anxiously awaiting to see whether or not they will be targeted by the federal government for a DEI investigation