BASW General Election Blog: Scrap the two-child limit & benefit cap
Scrap the two-child limit & benefit cap
The two-child limit restricts support provided through Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit to the first two children in a household. It applies to all children born after April 2017, so the policy will affect more children and families every year it remains in place.
Some exemptions do exist, such as if the child is a result of rape. This ‘rape clause’ therefore forces women to have to disclose the traumatic circumstances of a rape to make a benefit claim. It is abhorrent and inhumane.
The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimated that the two-child limit affected 1.5million children in the UK last year, which is one in every ten children. It cost larger families up to £3,235 per annum and 60% of families impacted had at least one working parent.
The impact of growing up in deprivation is lifelong. The damage it causes to children’s lives, including harms to physical and mental health and on educational attainment, are wide-ranging and difficult to accurately measure. However, even the most cautious forecasts from CPAG say child poverty costs around £39billion a year to the UK economy, which includes money spent on public services to help address poverty-related harms.
The End Child Poverty Coalition have made clear that abolishing this cruel and punitive policy would be the most effective and immediate way to tackle deepening child poverty levels. Based on 2023 estimations, it would support 850,000 children out of ‘less deep’ poverty and lift 250,000 out of poverty altogether.
The benefit cap limits the amount that out-of-work, working age households can receive in social security support, even if their full entitlement would otherwise be higher. It is implemented through a reduction in either Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.
This regressive and unfair policy means that those who need the most support will most likely be affected. It disproportionately penalises larger families, lone parents, people with high housing costs and those assessed not fit for work.
In 2021, the Poverty Alliance estimated that 190,000 households across the UK were subjected to the benefit cap, resulting in them receiving £55 less in support every week. 62% of these households were single parent families.
As with the two-child limit, the benefit cap imposes crippling financial instability on households, often hurting those already experiencing difficult economic circumstances and thus leading to further money anxieties. This invariably heightens the risk of homelessness, rising debts, fuel poverty, food insecurity, social exclusion and poor health.
Social workers see the devastating consequences of poverty everyday. Worsening poverty is driving demand on social services in a number of areas, contributing to higher and more complex caseloads. Our 2022 annual survey revealed that 75% of social workers reported people they worked with were being pushed into deeper poverty. While 50% said that rising cost-of-living pressures were increasing the number of people needing social work support.
Both the two-child limit and benefit cap carry responsibility for pushing and trapping people in poverty. They intentionally weaken the UK’s social security system by rationing the support it makes available, and therefore failing low-income individuals and families who depend on it the most. By lifting both these policies, the next UK Government can begin restoring our social security system to one that provides lifeline support at a fairer, more just level for all.
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The SWU Austerity Action Group (AAG) has recently developed a new campaign action pack to support social workers and students to campaign against poverty measures, such as the two-child limit and benefit cap. The pack is available to download for free here.
