Moazzam Malik, CEO of Save the Children UK said: “We welcome this bold action by the Chancellor to scrap the two-child limit. By the end of this Parliament, 450,000 children across the country will have been lifted out of poverty. Scrapping this unjust policy is the single most powerful step to reduce child poverty in a generation.
“Every child deserves a childhood free of poverty. For too long, children have been penalised by this pernicious policy, through no fault of their own. This announcement sends a clear signal that all our children's lives are valued regardless of the circumstances of their birth and that the UK Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. This is a moment of hope for hard up families.
"We look forward to working with the UK Government to build on this announcement and the forthcoming child poverty strategy to tackle issues that hold too many families back.”
Notes to editor:
- Almost nine out of ten families (88%) across the UK who will benefit from this change in policy have three or four children. (414,500 households)
- 59% of all families impacted by the two-child limit to benefits are in work.
- The UK has been an outlier on the international stage – no other country in the OECD has had a two-child limit to benefits.
Percentages are calculations by Save the Children UK based on DWP statistics, Universal Credit claimant statistics on the two-child limit policy, April 2025. Table 3A