The two-child limit is ending - here's what it really means for families

After nearly a decade, something significant is changing for families across the UK. From April 2026, the government is scrapping the two-child limit on Universal Credit - a rule that has kept hundreds of thousands of children in poverty since it was introduced in 2017. 

For Save the Children, this is a moment worth explaining clearly, because the headlines don't always tell the full story.

Key facts at a glance

• Almost 1.7 million children were affected by the two-child limit in 2025 - at least 1 in 9 children in the UK
• £3.5k per year is the value of the Child Element of Universal Credit per child that was previously denied to third and subsequent children - this means that Third and subsequent children will now be entitled to receive £3.5k each per 
  year
• 480,000 households are expected to benefit from the removal in 2026/27, according to the government's own impact assessment
• 450,000 children are expected to be lifted over the poverty line by 2030 as a result of the change
• 59% of affected families have at least one parent in work
• 40% of affected families include someone who is disabled
• 88% of affected families have three or four children - not the large families often implied in media coverage
• Child poverty costs the UK economy an estimated £39 billion per year - more than ten times the £3 billion annual cost of scrapping the limit

What IS the two-child limit Policy?

Since 2017, families on low incomes claiming Universal Credit could only receive the Child Element - a per-child financial support payment - for their first two children. A third child, a fourth, a fifth? Nothing. This is separate from Child Benefit, which works differently and is not affected by this change.

The result was stark. Almost 1.7million children were living in households affected by the policy. Without this change, that number would have grown every year, as more children born after April 2017 aged into the policy.

This has left many families struggling financially. As the policy only applied to children born since 2017, it also created an inequality between older and younger children.

What changes from April 2026?

Since 2017, families on low incomes and claiming Universal Credit could only claim for their first two children - this is called the Child Element of Universal Credit (and is different to Child Benefit). With a change in law, families will now be entitled to the full Child Element of Universal Credit - for every child, not just the first two. 
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, the End Child Poverty coalition, and the Resolution Foundation have all identified scrapping the two-child limit as the single most impactful step the government could take to reduce child poverty.

Families already receiving Universal Credit should have their claim automatically updated from April 2026. If parents do not see this change in April or May 2026 (depending on their assessment period), they can use their Universal Credit online journal to raise the issue, or contact the Universal Credit helpline.

One important caveat: the separate ‘Benefit Cap’ policy remains in place – this means that families out of work may not see an increase in income after the two-child limit is lifted. The government's impact assessment estimates around 70,000 families will not see the full increase as a result. Families where someone is disabled or seriously ill are exempt from the cap.

Who actually benefits?

It's worth looking at who has been affected by the two-child limit, because the picture challenges some common assumptions.

Most families affected - 59% - are in work. They're not out-of-work households; they're parents who are working and still struggling to cover the cost of raising three or more children on a low income. A single parent working full-time on the UK mean salary of just under £37,000, with three children and an infant under 2, can still be entitled to around £1,600 per month in Universal Credit. After the limit is lifted, that rises to around £1,900 per month.

The families affected are also far more likely to include someone with a disability than media coverage suggests. 40% of affected families include someone who is disabled, and 27% include a disabled child. More than two thirds (68%) have a child under 5 - a period when childcare costs are highest and the financial pressure on parents is greatest.

Almost half (47%) of families affected were not even claiming Universal Credit when their children were born. They moved into financial difficulty later through job loss, relationship breakdown, or illness. This is a policy that caught people at their most vulnerable moments.

Does scrapping the limit cost taxpayers more than it saves?

This is one of the most important questions to address honestly. The full cost of scrapping the two-child limit is around £3 billion per year. But according to research by Professor Donald Hirsch in The Cost of Child Poverty 2023 report, child poverty costs the UK economy approximately £39 billion per year - through poor health, lower educational attainment, and reduced employment in later life. Therefore, child poverty costs the taxpayer more than ten times the cost of scrapping the two-child limit.

What Save the Children thinks

Save the Children has campaigned alongside UNICEF UK and many other organisations to end the two-child limit. We've seen the impact of child poverty in communities across the UK - children starting school behind because of poor nutrition, families making impossible choices between heating and eating, parents unable to give their children the start in life every child deserves.

This policy change is real, meaningful progress. It is not the end of child poverty in the UK, but it is one of the most significant steps in a decade - and it shows that collective pressure from families, campaigners, researchers, and organisations like ours can shift policy in ways that change children's lives.

There is still more to do. The Benefit Cap continues to limit support for the most vulnerable out-of-work families. We will keep pushing for every child to have what they need to thrive - because when children do well, everyone does better.

Your questions answered

Want to stay up to date on child poverty in the UK? Head to our UK Child Poverty Hub to find out more about our work.