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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Patrick Butler and Aletha Adu

Labour pressed to end two-child benefit cap with 1.6m youngsters affected

A football lying on the ground in a playground, with children playing in the background, out of focus
According to campaigners, scrapping the rule would cost £1.7bn but would be the most cost-effective way of immediately reducing child poverty. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

The Labour government has come under fresh pressure to abolish the two-child benefit limit after the latest official figures showed a record 1.6 million children were living in families affected by the controversial policy.

Campaigners, charities and MPs across the political spectrum described the figures as shameful and renewed calls for the benefit limit to be scrapped, saying the much-criticised policy introduced by the Conservative government seven years ago had become the UK’s biggest single driver of child poverty.

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