Larger families could gain more than £20,000 if Labour scraps two-child benefit cap
The five-figure windfall families could get if Labour change key benefit
- Tens of thousands of families with multiple children could receive thousands of pounds more in annual payments if the two-child benefit cap is abolished.
- Official figures show over 70,000 households, including 71,580 families with five or more children, would be entitled to over £18,000 a year, with some gaining over £20,000.
- The cap, introduced under Conservative welfare reforms, blocks parents from claiming £292.81 a month for a third or subsequent child born after April 2017.
- Labour MPs are pressing Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the cap, arguing it punishes children in poverty, with estimates suggesting it could lift half a million children out of hardship.
- Conservatives defend the cap as fair to taxpayers, preventing benefit packages from exceeding the minimum wage, while its abolition would cost the Prime Minister around £3.5 billion.