The Guardian view on child poverty: the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap can't come soon enough | Editorial

"Bridget Phillipson, No 10's preferred candidate for deputy leader, recently called the two-child benefit cap spiteful. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, labelled it abhorrent. Teaching unions wrote a letter last week condemning it as cruel. At last, it appears that the days of this malign Conservative policy are numbered, with rising expectations that the strict two-child rule will be relaxed in this autumn's budget, when the delayed child poverty strategy is also due."

"At last, it appears that the days of this malign Conservative policy are numbered, with rising expectations that the strict two-child rule will be relaxed in this autumn's budget, when the delayed child poverty strategy is also due. The cap, which restricts the child-linked element of universal credit to a family's first two children, is not the only reason for the shameful decline in the poorest households' living standards. But its removal would lift around half a million children out of poverty straight away."

"The harms of rising child poverty stretch far beyond its immediate effects on children growing up in deprivation. Labour ministers know this. Improving the life chances of children from less privileged backgrounds has always been a core aim of social democratic politics. Growing up without enough food, space or opportunities, including education, causes lasting damage and holds back communities as well as individuals."

Senior Labour figures, the mayor of Greater Manchester and teaching unions have condemned the two-child benefit cap and called for its removal. Expectations are rising that the strict two-child rule will be relaxed in the upcoming autumn budget alongside the delayed child poverty strategy. Rising child poverty has produced a return of widespread hunger and the normalisation of food banks following austerity. Latest figures show 4.5 million children in poverty in the year to April 2024, an increase of 100,000, with Scotland the only part of the UK predicted to buck the trend. Removing the cap would immediately lift around half a million children out of poverty, and growing up without enough food, space or opportunities causes lasting damage to individuals and communities.

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