We are pleased to share a guest blog from Leonardo Pireddu who joined us last year on a work experience placement. Leonardo is a currently studying History at the University of Leeds. Below, Leonardo shares his reflection on how the economic and political climate is developing after the removal of the two-child benefit cap.
In the recent annual budget speech, Rachel Reeves announced that the two-child benefit cap will be lifted in April 2026 and with this removal there is a growing sense that this may be a turning point in the fight against child poverty. Since 2017, the policy posed significant challenges to struggling families all over the UK. Its removal has therefore been met with huge relief, optimism and hope that families may finally get the help they desperately need to provide their children with a brighter and better future.
There are already early signs that the removal of the budget is having a positive effect on families. Lucy Burns, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, who receives universal credit, said ‘the change provided a “little buffer” for her family of six, including a stepson’.[1] This buffer, although small, can and will make a huge difference in helping struggling families. For families like Shauna’s who have ‘had to incur debts’[2], it means constant financial anxiety because of the pressure of having to pay the debts back, meaning that that the increased support would help alleviate these anxieties. However, the removal of the debt not only helps families out financially, but it also restores a family’s dignity, for it is of the utmost importance that, ‘the dignity of every human person must be respected today, not tomorrow, and the extreme poverty of all those to whom this dignity is denied should constantly weigh upon our consciences.’[3].
While the removal of the two-child benefit cap has helped struggling families, other measures must be put in place to help ensure that the removal of the cap is effective. Other factors such as high housing costs and a lack of job security also contribute the epidemic of child poverty. The high rent costs in the UK means that families spend a significant amount of their income on rent, leaving them with very little for food and other essentials. To tackle this issue organisations such as CPAG suggest ‘We want the local housing allowance in each area to be increased every year in line with how much it actually costs to rent a home there. This would mean that families could pay their rent without having to worry about making up the difference from very squeezed budgets.’[4]. Tackling this major issue would ensure that parents can spend more money on their children giving them the life that they need and deserve. Joseph Rowntree Foundation have advocated that alongside the removal of the cap other measures must be put in place to ensure its as effective as possible. They suggest ‘Introducing a protected minimum floor in Universal Credit.’[5] Which would, ‘embed for the first time the principle of a safety net below which no one should fall, by limiting the total amount that can be taken from a household’s Universal Credit, whether as the result of debt deductions or the benefit cap’[6]. This would hopefully ensure that anyone who is on benefits will at least be able to afford the essentials such as food, heating and clothes.
While at first the cost of removing the policy may draw some scepticism, it should be viewed as a necessary investment rather than an expense with CPAG even claiming that that, ‘Child poverty is at a record high, and the two-child limit is the key driver. Scrapping the policy is the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty.’[7] According to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s it ‘will increase the benefits for 560,000 families by an average of £5,310’[8] costing the exchequer ‘£3bn’[9]. Families will have the money to buy essential school supplies, improving their child’s educational experience. Furthermore, ‘Parents in poverty are less able to afford healthy foods and offer their children a healthy lifestyle. Healthy foods are nearly three times more expensive than less healthy foods per calorie, which means families may be more likely to eat food that is cheap but nutritionally poor, leading to obesity and malnutrition in children’[10]. This increase in the financial support that they receive means that parents can afford to buy their children more nutritious, higher quality food leading to better health outcomes for children while also reducing the strain on the NHS.
Overall, the removal of the two-child benefit cap is showing early signs that it can effective be very effective in alleviating pressure on struggling families. It will provide the aid families need to buy essentials such as food, heating and clothes for their children significantly improving the quality of life. While it will not solve child poverty it will certainly reduce it, with action for children estimating that it will, ‘keep half a million free from poverty by the end of the decade’[11]. However, many like the JRWF suggest that for the cap to be effective it needs to be enacted with other policies. We must strive to enactment of further measures that secure a brighter future for children and uphold the dignity of all families. For how can we claim to maintain Human dignity, if we allow for child poverty to continue?
Bibliography
Ending two-child benefit cap in Budget brings hope to parents – BBC News
https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/child-health-inequalities-position-statement
Two policies to boost family living standards and reduce child poverty | Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Where Do We Go From Here? – Caritas Social Action Network – CSAN
[1] Ending two-child benefit cap in Budget brings hope to parents – BBC News
[2] Abolition of two-child limit ‘transformational for children’ | CPAG
[3] Where Do We Go From Here? – Caritas Social Action Network – CSAN
[4] Ending child poverty | CPAG
[5] Two policies to boost family living standards and reduce child poverty | Joseph Rowntree Foundation
[6] Two policies to boost family living standards and reduce child poverty | Joseph Rowntree Foundation
[7] Abolition of two-child limit ‘transformational for children’ | CPAG
[8] Budget 2025: Two-child benefit cap scrapped – here’s what that will mean for parents | The Independent
[9] Budget 2025: Two-child benefit cap scrapped – here’s what that will mean for parents | The Independent
[10] https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/child-health-inequalities-position-statement
[11] What are the Two Child Limit and Benefit Cap, and did they increase child poverty? | Action For Children
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