From the CEO: Why we must end the cruel two-child limit

The release of the latest data on the number of households and children affected by the two-child limit last week lays bare the stark reality and impact of this policy, and why anyone concerned about the number of children living in poverty is advocating for its removal.

Since 2017, the two-child limit has meant that almost all families having a third or subsequent child – both in and out of work – are no longer entitled to receive support for those children through Universal Credit. This sees younger children missing out on up to £68 per week in support that their older siblings receive.

Let’s take a look at what the Government’s own data tells us…

As of April 2025, 19,580 North East families were hit by the two-child limit.

• 59% are single parent families (and with nine in ten single parent households headed by women, this disproportionately and significantly impacts women)

• 47% are families with at least one adult or child with a disability or health condition

• 68% have a youngest child aged under five

• 52% are working families (with at least one parent/carer in work)

Not only that, but the data also sets out the reasons why a small number of families have been agreed as exceptions – we learn 170 women across the North East have had to formally declare that they had been the victim of rape in order to receive an exemption from this cruel policy.

So, this one policy alone:

• Is placing more and more children into poverty, an estimated 109 every day nationally;

• Has the biggest impact on women in single parent families, already struggling to make ends meet;

• Directly impacts the lives of families with a child or adult with a disability, where we already know families are struggling with the impact of welfare reforms or getting the right support for children in school;

• Is directly impacting on the very children (those under 5) the Government is seeks to improve the quality of life of through its ‘Best Start’ approach also published last week;

• Is directly impacting on the working families the Government is also targeting to make access to childcare easier and more affordable.

Not only is the policy morally wrong, it’s in direct contradiction to what the Government is trying to achieve.

It’s making things worse. It’s wrong on every level.

One year on from the Government pledging to publish a child poverty strategy and address the absence of any national leadership, they are failing to do the one thing which would have the biggest impact and which would lift around 350,000 out of poverty overnight.

So, yes, we welcome the commitment to a national strategy and to taking action. But we know the delay until the Autumn just means more children and families will experience the debilitating impact of poverty between now and then.

Yes, we welcome the recent announcement of widening the eligibility for free school meals, but this is also a year away, with more and more families pulled unnecessarily into poverty before then.

Yes, we look forward to the commitment from the North East Combined Authority to tackling these issues locally, the first Combined Authority to do so.

But until the two-child limit is removed, we run the risk of further delay, further warm words, further plans being of little comfort to families in crisis and more children born into poverty.

It’s the opposite of the best start in life and they deserve better from us all.