1 in 9 children impacted by the two-child limit
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 16th July 2025
1.6 million children in 450,000 families from across the UK have been affected by the two-child benefit limit, according to analysis of recent statistics by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).
The UK Government’s two-child limit restricts support through Universal Credit to the first two children in a family, for children born after April 2017. This allowance is worth up to £3,514 per year and, according to CPAG, the limit is the “primary driver of rising child poverty in the UK.”
In its report, CPAG highlights how the policy affects different groups. 182,000 families with disabled members are affected, despite them facing additional disability-related costs. The limit also affects young families, with more than 300,000 families with children under five denied additional support.
The policy also has a gendered impact: twice as many
households with women are affected as households with men. Most single-parent households are headed by women, meaning 246,000 single parents affected by the policy are women, compared to just 6,000 men.
The policy disproportionately affects Black and minority ethnic families, who are up to three times more likely to be impacted than white families. "The way the two-child limit falls disproportionately on children from some minority ethnic backgrounds embeds inequalities from earliest childhood," CPAG notes.
CPAG is calling for the UK Government to scrap the policy, describing it as “the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty.” The Scottish Government has announced plans for the limit to be effectively abolished in Scotland from March 2026.
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