The government has faced opposition from MPs as well as charities for their refusal to scrap the two-child limit.
John McDonnell, former Labour shadow chancellor and MP for Hayes and Harlington, has said he plans to table amendments to Rachel Reeves’ first budget, expected in the autumn, to push the government to abolish the policy.
The Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Scottish National Party and independent MPs are also calling on the government to remove the two-child benefit cap.
Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Children are losing their life chances to the two-child limit now – they can’t wait for the new government to align every star before the policy is scrapped.
“The prime minister came to office pledging a bold, ambitious child poverty-reduction plan and there’s no way to deliver on that promise without scrapping the two-child limit, and fast. This is not the time for procrastination or prevarication – the futures of 1.6 million children are on the line.”
Almost half (45%) of families said they struggle to pay their rent or mortgage because of the policy, according to the Child Poverty Action Group. A similar proportion (46%) struggle to manage childcare costs.
One working mother said: “My number one reason for doing anything is my children, yet when I watch them queuing in a food bank with me because I physically can’t provide for them, I feel horrific, it makes you feel like an absolute failure.”
Shockingly, 3,100 women had to declare that they had been the victim of rape in order to gain an exemption to this policy.
Joseph Howes, chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition and chief executive of Buttle UK said: “The two-child limit just has to go. If the aim is to reduce child poverty, there is no way for the new Labour government to keep this policy in place when the evidence shows that the number of children impacted is increasing year on year.
“Children living in poverty cannot wait any longer – this shameful policy must be scrapped, the time for action is now.”
Around 59% of households impacted are in work, meaning that more than half of all families impacted are working.
More than half (52%) of all households impacted by this policy are single parents, but within the general population just 16% of households are headed by a single parent. The majority of lone parents are women.
Becca Lyon, head of UK child poverty at Save the Children, said: “It is an outrage that 440,000 families are denied vital support because of the unfair two-child limit, a rise of over 30,000 since last year.
“More and more children will suffer every year just because they have siblings, unless the UK government acts now. The cruel two-child benefit cap should be scrapped immediately to prevent families from facing hardship and destitution.”
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