Viktoria Szczypior says if Labour is serious about ending poverty it must end the two-child cap which hits women and children hardest
As Labour marks 100 days in government, addressing the deepening crisis of child poverty could not be more pressing. In just this short span, 10,000 more children have been pushed into poverty because of the two-child limit policy, a legacy of Conservative austerity that Labour must abolish.
Every day this punitive policy remains in place, over 100 more children are condemned to hardship, according to the latest figures from the Child Poverty Action Group. It’s a grim milestone for Keir Starmer’s Government, and one that the Chancellor cannot afford to ignore in her upcoming Budget.
When the Conservative Government introduced the two-child limit in 2017, they argued it would encourage families to “make responsible choices” about their size. But the policy has failed even by its own morally misguided metrics, with no evidence of impacting on family planning decisions while systematically stripping essential support from already struggling families. The policy withholds up to £3,455 per year for each additional child subject to the limit, effectively punishing children for circumstances beyond their control.
Now affecting 1.6 million children – that is one in nine children – across the UK according to the DWP, the two-child limit not only exacerbates child poverty but also deepens existing gender inequalities. Around 40% of families impacted by this policy report that it restricts their ability to afford childcare, restricting parents—particularly mothers—from pursuing paid employment. This is a vicious cycle that traps women and children in poverty while reinforcing the structural disadvantages that single parents face. 44% of those affected by the limit are single parent families.
Recent analysis from the Women’s Budget Group has shown that cuts and changes to social security, including the two-child limit, have had the most severe impact on lone parent households. They are experiencing a staggering decrease of almost £7,000 in benefits per year, nearly a fifth of their baseline income and three times more than couples with children. Almost 90% of single parent families are headed by women.
The analysis also revealed that households with three or more children stand to lose nearly £6,000 per year due to changes to social security, with almost £2,000 of this loss attributed to the two-child limit on benefits alone.
The cost of living crisis has once again brought to the fore how women act as the shock absorbers of poverty. They tend to be the ones to oversee the household budget within families and cut food, heating or clothing for themselves to provide for children and other household members.
The evidence of the damage caused by this policy is mounting. A 2023 study from the Child Poverty Action Group estimated that child poverty costs the UK nearly £40 billion a year, with half of that loss stemming from diminished future earnings and reduced tax revenues as a result of children growing up in poverty. The other half—around £20 billion—is spent addressing the immediate fallout of poverty through increased demand on public services, healthcare and education.
Quick calculations reveal that if we were to lift 250,000 children from poverty as the removal of the two-child limit is estimated to do, we could expect a saving of around £2.3 billion – nearly twice as much as the removal of the limit would cost. Roughly half of this (£1.15bn) would be savings in public expenditure right now, with the other half savings in long-term costs to the economy and Treasury from lost earnings. The two-child limit is a false economy, costing the country more than it saves while deepening inequalities.
The Government has signalled its commitment to tackling child poverty by establishing a task force, but the situation is worsening with each passing day. It’s simply unfair to ask women and their children to keep waiting for solutions that may take months or even years to materialise.
Labour has the chance to make its first budget in over a decade and a half one that delivers tangible change. While no single budget will eliminate women or children’s poverty, it can still transform countless lives in meaningful ways. Scrapping the two-child limit could be a powerful first step towards restoring dignity and hope for hundreds of thousands of families across the UK.
It is Terrible what these governments are doing to Children in Britain. I AM A BRITISH MOTHER APART FROM MY LOVELY CHILDEN FOR 30 YEARS. I WAS ABUSED BY TWO MEN IN THE TERRIBLE BRITISH FAMILY COURTS IN SHEFFIELD UK. ONE JUDGE ALAN GOLDSACK WHO HAS DESTROYED MY CHILDRENS LIVES.