Sat, 15 Nov 2025

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 What is the two-child benefit cap and how could it change?

Since 2017, some benefits have been limited when parents have a third child or more, so how does it work?

* 1.6 million children live in larger families who cannot claim means-tested benefits due to the two-child limit.
* The policy, introduced by George Osborne, saves the Treasury £3.6 billion a year.
* Affected families could have received an average of £4,400 in benefit entitlements per year without the cap.
* The think tank Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that this equates to about 10% of affected families' total disposable income.
* There are exceptions to the policy, including cases where children are born after rape or from a coercive relationship.
* Over 100 charities and Labour MPs have called for the two-child limit to be scrapped.
* Chancellor Rachel Reeves has hinted at changes to the policy in the upcoming Budget.
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