Church and charity leaders call for end to two-child limit

The two-child limit on advantages is leaving families in “acute hardship”, Christian leaders have said.

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and the Church of England are calling on the brand new Labour government to abolish the controversial policy this yr. 

Under the present policy, profit payments for many families are limited to 2 children for those born after 6 April 2017. Charities say this has resulted in families losing hundreds of kilos a yr for extra children born after that point.

Figures published by HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions today reveal that the policy affected a record 1.6m children within the yr to April 2024, up from 1.5m within the previous yr.

A survey of 560 affected families by CPAG found that almost half (45%) were struggling to pay their rent or mortgage due to the policy, while an analogous proportion (46%) were finding it difficult to administer childcare costs. 

Most families (93%) said the policy had affected their ability to pay for food, while 82% reported struggling to cover gas or electricity bills.

Some parents reported keeping children out of faculty because they may not afford basic items like shoes, while some moms had been forced to chop their maternity leave short because they needed to work. 

One single parent in full-time work said their child could not take GCSE PE due to associated costs.

“One of my children was on a pathway to play under 14’s England netball team but needed to stop, I just couldn’t pay monthly fees and take them to training and games,” they said. 

One working mother said: “My primary reason for doing anything is my children, yet after I watch them queuing in a foodbank with me because I physically cannot provide for them, I feel horrific, it makes you are feeling like an absolute failure.”

Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group Alison Garnham said: “Children are losing their life possibilities to the two-child limit now – they can not wait for the brand new government to align every star before the policy is scrapped.

“The PM got here to office pledging a daring, ambitious child poverty-reduction plan and there is not any strategy to deliver on that promise without scrapping the two-child limit, and fast. This is just not the time for procrastination or prevarication – the futures of 1.6 million children are on the road.”

The Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, said: “The testimonies on this report remind us that the two-child limit continues to affect the wellbeing and life probabilities of too many children and families on this country. Abolishing this unfair policy is crucial if we’re to show the tide on poverty and make sure that every child is supported to flourish in all areas of life.”