'Failed' Tory benefit cap and two-child limit pushing families into poverty
The Tory benefit cap and two-child limit have pushed families into hardship and failed to meet their aims, a three-year study has found.
Researchers led by a team at the University of York found the cruel policies contributed to rising levels of child poverty in the 2010s and triggered a knock on impact on youngsters life chances.
Larger families and renters have been disproportionately affected, including families from ethnic minority backgrounds and single parents, the study found.
Parents were left struggling to afford clothes, food and heating for their children, impacting their physical and emotional development.
It comes as Keir Starmer faced criticism for insisting Labour would keep the controversial policy if elected.
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The controversial two-child limit, which was introduced in 2017, restricts welfare payments to larger families in a bid to force parents into work.
Around 1.5 million children have been impacted by the benefit curbs (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Official statistics last week found one in 10 children - around 1.5 million kids - live in households affected by the curbs.
Parents can lose out on up to £3,235 a year per child in 2023/24 under the rules.
Meanwhile the benefit cap, which restricts the total amount of support a working-age household can receive, leaving average families around £50-a-week worse off.
It is estimated that 32,000 households, containing 110,000 children, were subject to both the benefit cap and the two-child limit in March 2022.
Alisha, a mum of five living in Yorkshire, who is affected by both the two child limit and the benefit cap, told researchers she was struggling to make ends meet.
She said: “It has put me under pressure to try and rush my younger one's potty training which he's clearly not ready for, but I can't afford nappies.
"It is stressing me out …I don't have money at the end of the month. I have to make ends meet, so I have to sell things, I have to do whatever I can.”
Dr Ruth Patrick from the School for Business and Society at the University of York, said: “Our research evidence makes clear that the two-child limit and benefit cap are poverty-producing policies, which fail to meet their stated aims. Both policies need to be removed urgently, as part of a broader commitment to addressing child poverty and investing in children and families.”
She urged Labour to axe the policy, saying: "The two-child limit must be abolished if Labour is to have any credibility as a party committed to tackling child poverty."
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Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “The benefit cap and two-child limit just have to go. They are the single most poverty producing policies in the social security system and look set to continue pushing up child poverty until they are finally abolished.
“The social security system is our main defence against family poverty and yet these policies are causing enormous hardship and as such are the least rational social policies.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We have protected the most vulnerable by increasing the benefit cap in line with inflation and providing financial support worth around £3,300 per household while bearing down on inflation as a top priority.
“Our approach has meant that nearly two million people, including 400,000 children, have been lifted out of absolute poverty after housing costs since 2010.
“The two-child policy asks families on benefits to make the same financial decisions as families supporting themselves solely through work, and there continue to be careful exemptions and safeguards in place within the policy to protect people in the most vulnerable circumstances.”
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