THE UK Government has been condemned by the SNP for the “conscious” and “calculated political decision” to keep children in poverty by refusing to abolish the two-child cap.
Labour MPs voted in July to keep the policy which was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017 as part of a package of severe cuts to the welfare budget.
Labour insisted they remain opposed to the policy in principle but cannot fund the estimated £2.5 billion it would cost to scrap it.
Analysis published before the vote in July found the typical cost of the two-child cap to families in Scotland in 2024 is £287.92 a month, or £3455 a year, for families with three children, and £575.84 a month, or £6910 a year, for families with four children.
In total, some of the poorest families in Scotland have lost a combined £454.8 million in financial support since the policy was introduced in 2017/18, the data shows.
Speaking at the Scottish Women’s Convention on Saturday, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, highlighted that by refusing to abolish the two-child cap the UK Government has kept hundreds of thousands of children in poverty.
She said: “The Chancellor’s Budget indicates that there will be a surplus of billions of pounds over a three-year period – but she did not commit a single penny to abolishing the two-child cap.
“The Prime Minister and the Chancellor had the option to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty at the Budget– and they made a conscious, calculated, political decision not to.
“To me, that is unimaginable and unjustifiable.”
The two-child limit restricts the support provided through Tax Credits and Universal Credit to two children per household.
It applies to all families, whether or not they are in work.
The Child Poverty Action Group said last year that the policy was one of the biggest drivers of rising child poverty and that most families affected by it were in work.
While the charity Save the Children calculated last year that scrapping the cap was the “most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty”.
“For the UK Government to have the opportunity and to choose not to use it is an unforgivable betrayal of some of the poorest children in our society,” Somerville added.
“Abolishing the two-child cap would have a transformative impact on hundreds of thousands of children’s lives – and every year that this hated policy continues will push more and more children into poverty.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “No child should be in poverty – that’s why we’re taking immediate action to help 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
“Alongside this, we’re extending the Household Support Fund to protect the most vulnerable and delivering on our plan to make work pay as our cross-government Child Poverty Taskforce develops an ambitious strategy to give all children the best start in life.
“The Scottish Government are receiving over 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £8.5 billion more in 2025-26.”
