End to two-child benefit cap offers £300-a-month lifeline to cash-strapped families

The two-child benefit cap is blamed for record levels of child poverty in the UK, with a rise of 900,000 since 2010 to 4.5 million. In 2025, an estimated 483,000 families were affected by the claim limit. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

The two-child benefit policy has been described as a “cap on childhood” and as it comes to an end, Claire* hopes to throw a birthday party for her son.

It is a celebration most children may take for granted, but Claire and her partner run out of money at the end of every month, skipping meals so that their three children can eat. Her son, now in his final year at primary school, has never had a party.