Two-child benefit limit has no adverse impact on children’s development, report says
Scrapping controversial two-child benefit limit would reduce poverty
- The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) concluded that scrapping the two-child benefit limit would be one of the most effective ways to reduce child poverty.
- However, the IFS also found that the current policy has no statistically significant adverse impact on children's development or school readiness by age five.
- The two-child limit, implemented in 2017, restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.
- Charities estimate the policy pulls over 100 children into poverty daily, with the Child Poverty Action Group suggesting 350,000 children would be lifted out of poverty if it were abolished.
- The IFS noted that while reversing the limit would address child poverty, it might not simultaneously achieve the government's objective of raising school readiness levels.