Eleven major charities have today written to the Chancellor urging her to make a commitment in next week’s spending review to abolish the two-child limit and benefit cap in the Autumn Budget. The charities, including Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice, Save the Children UK, Trussell and The Children’s Society, work with children and low-income families. Their letter warns that the two-child limit has already pulled 37,000 children into poverty since the government took office.
The package of reforms set out yesterday will result in a net reduction in social security expenditure of £5 billion by 2029/30. This is the biggest cut to disability benefits in a generation, and will push children and families into poverty, and reduce living standards for many.
Reported cuts to disability payments risk undermining wider government efforts to reduce child poverty, new analysis by Child Poverty Action Group shows.
What is the evidence on the impact of the benefit cap on children and families in poverty? In particular, how do high housing costs affect experiences of the cap and people's ability to escape it? And why is it so important that the government scraps the policy?
This briefing shows how the benefit cap is contributing to homelessness, as families are trapped in refuges and other forms of temporary accommodation and are unable to move on to secure and affordable homes.
