MPs to vote on lifting two-child benefit cap after Reeves Budget pledge
MPs are set to cast their first votes on government legislation aimed at removing the two-child benefit limit.
This policy change, which has been an extensive campaign issue, was first announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last year’s autumn budget statement.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) predicts that around 400,000 fewer children will face poverty this April than in the previous year, and attributes this reduction directly to the upcoming change.
However, the JRF warned that momentum in the fight against poverty is likely to wane unless more comprehensive measures are taken.
“Without further change, relative poverty levels will remain high beyond April 2026,” the JRF said.
The Conservatives have said they will vote against the Universal Credit (Removing the Two-Child Limit) Bill at second reading on Tuesday.
Paediatricians, teachers, health visitors and anti-poverty charities have called on MPs to vote to end the policy.
A statement issued on behalf of 63 organisations, including the Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and education union NASUWT, described the cap as a “terrible experiment that harms children”.
He added: “More than any other policy, the two-child limit is responsible for the rise in child poverty to current record levels.
“Poverty has a devastating impact on young people’s lives: deprived of the things they need to learn and grow, children live in damp homes, struggle at school, and face isolation and stress.
“Today represents the moment when we start to turn things around for the next generation. We commend the Government for making the choice to remove the two-child limit and ask all MPs to stand with children and support this Bill.”
Labor supporters were among those calling for the policy to scrap the child tax credit and limit universal credit to the first two children in most households.
Seven people have been suspended from the Labor Party for voting against the Government in support of motions to abolish it.
Ahead of the debate, shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said: “Labour is embarking on a £14 billion welfare spending spree. Worse still, it is shoveling almost half the cash into unemployed households in payments averaging £25,000.”
“While work is punished, unemployment is rewarded. Keir Starmer was happy to take pensioners’ money, but he doesn’t have the backbone to say no when his own MPs demand uncontrolled welfare spending.
“Labour and Reform want to overstep the mark. Only the Conservatives are willing to say no, restore welfare discipline, support work and protect taxpayers.”
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the move would cost £3bn a year by 2029/30.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has previously said removing the two-child benefit limit was an “investment” in the future.
It was first introduced in 2017 by the then Conservative government.
The bill’s first debate will be held in the House of Commons on Tuesday. It will be subject to further scrutiny by MPs and colleagues before moving closer to becoming law.
