Two-child limit statistics: new breakdowns show how the policy falls hardest on disadvantaged groups

Today, the government published the annual statistics on families affected by the two-child limit. For the first time, these statistics include a breakdown of the impact by gender, ethnicity, disability, conditionality status, and age of the children in the household. This briefing explains what this new data means in the context of rising levels of child poverty. 

The two-child limit restricts support through universal credit (UC) to the first two children in a family, for children born after 6 April 2017. Parents having a third or subsequent child after that date are not eligible for support for that child, with some limited exemptions. These families are missing out on up to £3,514 a year per child.

Today’s data shows 1.6 million children in 450,000 families across the UK are now affected by the two-child  limit. Eight years after the introduction of the two-child limit, 1 in 9 children are now impacted by the policy. 

The two-child limit is the primary driver of rising child poverty in the UK, which stands at a record high of 4.5 million and is expected to rise further. It is vital that the government fully scraps the two-child limit along with the benefit cap as part of the forthcoming child poverty strategy.