Scrapping of two-child limit announced
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 3rd December
Last week the UK Government announced it would scrap the two-child limit to benefits in April 2026 as part of its latest Budget measures.
Responding to the news, Child Poverty Action Group estimated that abolishing the policy will lift 350,000 children out of poverty in the UK, with previous analysis citing the limit's role as the "primary driver of rising child poverty".
Save the Children welcomed the announcement, saying that "for too long, children have been penalised by this pernicious policy, through no fault of their own".
The Scottish Government had previously announced it would scrap the two-child limit in Scotland, at a cost of between £130 million and £155 million per year.
The Poverty Alliance said the scrapping of the policy was “the right thing to do” and called on the Scottish Government to use the money earmarked for mitigation to "meet our child poverty targets, including increases to the Scottish Child Payment".
Last month the Poverty and Inequality Commission called for "bold, coordinated action" to reduce Scotland's child poverty rate by 12 percentage points by 2030. Currently, around a quarter of children in Scotland experience living in poverty, with the figure remaining stable since 2018–21.
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