Responding to the Scottish government’s decision to mitigate the effects of the two-child limit, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group Alison Garnham said: 'The Scottish government has made the right decision but Westminster must now step up and scrap the two-child limit UK-wide.'
Two mothers who had children as a result of rape or coercion by former partners have been given permission by the High Court to proceed with a legal challenge against the rules on exceptions to the two-child limit in universal credit (UC).
The Chancellor brought good news on breakfast clubs and universal credit deductions but this was not a Budget of bold action on child poverty. The Chancellor missed a golden chance to scrap the two-child limit, a policy that will pull 16,000 extra children into poverty by the time the government’s child poverty taskforce reports in spring.
We welcome the government’s ambition on child poverty but this budget played for time that far too many children and families can’t afford. The spending review next spring will have to deliver much more to make a significant difference for children in poverty.