The government’s child poverty strategy, that is set to make recommendations around the two child limit, was due to be published in spring but has been pushed back until the autumn.
Any changes to the two child cap will not be announced until the strategy, led by a cross-government ministerial taskforce, is published “later in the year”.
The i Paper reported earlier this week that the government was not looking to scrap the two child benefit limit altogether, which prevents parents on welfare payments claiming money for a third or subsequent children, entirely.
Reducing the number of children living in poverty was a key promise of the government and Labour backbenchers have been urging ministers to scrap the cap.
The child poverty strategy has now been pushed back until the autumn in order to align it with the next budget.
Labour MPs are prepared to vote against the changes to personal independence payments (PIP) for disabled people because they fear they will push vulnerable people into hardship.
Government sources have said they believe a positive offer to bring down child poverty levels could be enough to persuade some MPs to support the disability benefit changes.
According to reports, the government could look at additional support for disabled children and expanding the eligibility of free school meals as short-term measures to counter rising levels of deprivation.
Scrapping the two child limit entirely would have cost an estimated £3.5bn.
This week, economic figures showed an unexpected rise in borrowing last month, piling more pressure on Reeves’s tax and spend plans.
The latest figure showed that the Chancellor had to borrow more money than expected over the month, surpassing analyst predictions of £17.6 billion.
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She told LBC: “The two-child benefit cap is one element, but it’s also about people having real secure wages. It’s about bringing down housing costs, it’s about utility bills that have gone up.
A Government spokesperson pointed to measures already implemented including the expansion of free breakfast clubs in schools, a cap on the cost of school uniforms, and increased national minimum wage.
Its critics say scrapping the cap would be the most effective way of reducing child poverty across the UK.
“We’ve already expanded free breakfast clubs, introduced a cap on the cost of school uniforms, increased the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes, uprated benefits in April and supported 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
“We will publish an ambitious child poverty strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully-funded measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.”
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