Abolition of two-child limit a gamechanger for millions of children
The two-child limit when fully rolled out in 2035 would have impacted 2.2 million children, 1.7 million of them in poverty, Child Poverty Action Group estimates*. The policy is abolished from today.
Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) Alison Garnham said:
'Today is a gamechanger for children up and down the country who are without the things they need to learn and grow because of the two-child limit. This was one of the nastiest policies for children in modern times. Its removal is a ray of hope for the families affected and a first essential step towards ensuring every child has a fair start.'
Parents affected by the two-child limit have told CPAG about the stark dilemmas they have faced. One mother reported having to choose between petrol to get to work or food for her children and is using cheap vinegar to fight mould in her children’s bedroom because she doesn’t have money for anti-mould paint. A father of four said he doesn’t always tell his children when they’re invited to a child’s birthday party as gifts and fuel costs are unaffordable.
Parents’ testimony (names have been changed):
For years Joanna and her partner both worked full-time but recently she stopped working because one of their three children, who has special needs, needed more support. Their youngest child has not received universal credit support under the two-child limit. Joanna says:
'I never thought I’d be in a position where I couldn’t support my family. There’s a lot of rhetoric out there, but life isn’t black and white, your situation could change tomorrow. This is one thing that will actually make a real difference to children who shouldn’t have to worry about whether they’ll be on the school trip or whether they’ll have school uniform. It will give us a bit of a breathing space, just knowing that with school trips coming up, it’ll be ok, and I can pay off some school dinner money debt.'
Emma and her partner have three children. Her partner works full time for the minimum wage. The couple’s three-year-old hasn’t received universal credit support and they’ve accrued some debts.
'People don’t realise that it’s mostly working families affected,' she says.
'We’ve been using foodbanks – but with the extra money I hope I can drop that.
'All the little things just keep adding up. My teenage daughter wants a haircut but I had to say no. Our three-year-old has outgrown her shoes but she’ll have to have her brother’s hand-me-downs which are really on their last legs.
'It’s going to make a difference to have the extra support.'
Kayleigh and her husband planned a third child when they were both working.
'When I became pregnant with my 3rd child I was in a stable job but that was taken away from me when I became ill. We’d had a plan, everything was in place with the money to be a self-supporting, three-child family but my health meant that one day I was working and the next day I was not.'
Kayleigh’s back in work now and her youngest is in nursery but the couple are struggling.
'The extra money is going to change a lot for us. We decided to pay for school dinners because we wanted the kids to have a hot midday meal but that means I don’t eat lunch. My youngest might even be able to have a school uniform in September that isn’t an ink-stained hand-me-down.'
Jayne says her son is bullied at school about his clothes:
'One time I did manage to get him some new shoes - the cheapest I could find that meet school requirements - he was over-the-moon excited about these trainers. He was like, ‘yes, mum now the kids will stop calling me poor!‘ It just broke my heart. He’s at an age where he should be ready to go to school taking pride in his appearance, feeling like a normal kid that fits in. He says ‘it doesn’t matter what the other kids think’ and a few years ago I would have called that resilience, but I’m worried that it’s coming from a place of defensiveness rather than resilience - because he knows that if he cares, it's going to hurt too much.'
Jayne says the extra universal credit payments could mean the family can take the bus more often, buy better food, or pay off debt faster :
'Whichever way you look at it, this will make a huge difference in helping my kids feel like they're on an equal footing with other kids and we're not sort of living in this hole…'
Notes to editors:
CPAG spokespeople are available for interview.
*The two-child limit would have been fully rolled out by 2035. At that point the number of children affected would have broadly stabilised because the first children affected in 2017 when the policy was introduced, would have reached 18 and become ineligible for support in universal credit (the ‘off-flow’), as new children became affected. The ‘off-flow’ of children while new children came within scope of the policy would have kept the total number affected roughly static.
Calculations on the number of children who would have been affected by 2035 come from analysing the total number of households on Universal Credit who have 3+ children, regardless of whether they are affected by the two-child limit or not, accounting for the fact some families would have exemptions. These statistics can be found at Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2025 - GOV.UK.
The total number in poverty comes from analysing poverty data using UKMOD, tax-benefit microsimulation software. The results presented here are based on UKMOD version B1.13. UKMOD is maintained, developed and managed by the Centre for Microsimulation and Policy Analysis (CeMPA) at the University of Essex. The results and their interpretation are the author’s sole responsibility.
The two-child limit prevented families from receiving support through universal credit towards the cost of a third or additional child born since 6 April 2017. Fifty nine percent of families who were affected by the policy work, and the majority have three children.
Media contact: Jane Ahrends 07816 909302