MPs resoundingly vote to scrap two-child benefit cap
Two-child limit one step closer to being scrapped after MP vote
- Legislation to abolish the controversial two-child limit on child tax credit and Universal Credit has passed its initial parliamentary stage.
- MPs overwhelmingly supported the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill, voting 458 to 104 in its second reading.
- The policy, introduced in 2017, has been criticised for pushing 109 children into poverty daily and was described as a 'political exercise in division'.
- Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden stated the policy used children as 'pawns' and was about 'dividing lines' rather than welfare reform or saving money.
- The government intends to scrap the limit from April, with funding from savings in benefit fraud, changes to the Motability scheme, and online gambling taxation, aiming to lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030.
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