DWP two-child benefit limit 'must be scrapped in full to reduce number of kids in poverty'

Fully scrapping the two-child limit is an essential step to reducing grim child poverty rates by the next election, ministers have been warned.

The Resolution Foundation said child poverty rates will hit a historic high of 34% - around 4.8million children- by the end of the decade without urgent action.

It comes as Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves consider axing the Tory-era policy or watering it down as part of an imminent child poverty review. It restricts Child Tax Credits and Universal Credit to the first two children in a family and has been blamed by charities for trapping kids in poverty.

But the Resolution Foundation warned half measures - such as moving to a three-child limit, lower child elements for third and subsequent children - would still leave higher rates of child poverty by the end of the decade.

The authors of the report conclude: "It is only the full repeal of the limit that is sufficient for child poverty to fall." And they said there is "no practical reason" not to scrap the policy immediately after the Chancellor's Budget next month.

Alex Clegg of the Resolution Foundation, said: “If the Government doesn’t act this Parliament, child poverty will reach a new historic high, with more than one in three children growing up in poverty by 2029-30. The most effective way to lift children out of poverty is to fully scrap the two-child limit on benefits.

"None of the partial options for repeal floated in recent months would be enough to keep child poverty from increasing over the course of this Parliament."

A government spokeswoman said: “Every child, no matter their background, deserves the best start in life. That’s why our child poverty taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

“We are investing £500million in children’s development through the rollout of Best Start Family Hubs, extending free school meals and ensuring the poorest don’t go hungry in the holidays through a new £1billion crisis support package.”