POVERTY campaigners have demanded the UK Government urgently scraps the two-child benefit cap after figures revealed 26,000 families were impacted in Scotland.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced pressure to abolish the policy before he even took on the top job.
But the latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed 1840 more Scottish households are restricted by the 2017 policy which limits child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most circumstances.
Exemptions are available, including cases of multiple births, adoption and, controversially, where the parent can prove the child was conceived non-consensually – the so-called rape clause.
The data published on Thursday showed 200 Scottish households were impacted by the rape clause as of 2024, compared to 3100 on a UK-wide basis.
Statistics also showed that on a UK wide basis, 1.6 million children were impacted by the policy as of April this year.
Claire Telfer, head of Scotland at Save the Children Scotland, said: “It’s an outrage that 26,000 families in Scotland are being denied vital support because of the unfair two-child limit, a rise of nearly two thousand families since last year.
“More and more children across the country will continue to suffer just because they have siblings, unless the UK Government acts now.
“No child should be cut off from support they so desperately need. The two-child limit is cruel and needs to be scrapped immediately to prevent families from facing hardship and destitution.”
David Hilferty, spokesperson for Citizens Advice Scotland, said: “The two-child limit severs the link between need and support, and fails to account for the fluid nature of real lives, leaving families on the edge.
“We see this, day after day, across the Scottish CAB (Citizens Advice Bureaux) network. We’ve already called on the new Government to end this policy as a matter of urgency to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain said: “The Conservative government trapped hundreds of thousands of children in poverty with their cruel and counterproductive two-child limit. That includes 26,000 households in Scotland.
“The Liberal Democrats will keep campaigning to scrap it, which would be the quickest and most cost-effective way to lift children out of poverty with huge long-term benefits for our society and our economy.”
Work and Pensions Secretary of State Liz Kendall MP: “Too many children are growing up in poverty and this is a stain on our society.
“We will work to give every child the best start in life by delivering our manifesto commitment to implement an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty.
“I will hold critical meetings with charities and experts next week to get this urgent work under way.”
