Two-child benefit cap figures reveal ‘human cost of nasty policy’, CPAG says

Nine thousand Scottish families and 160,000 UK homes have been affected by the two-child cap on benefits, new HMRC figures reveal.

The statistics, released today, showed 510 UK women have filled out a form to prove their child was born of rape or a “coercive relationship” since 2017.

HMRC found 156,540 families have not been receiving benefits for a third or subsequent child in the two years since the policy was implemented.

The two-child limit restricts the child element in universal credit and tax credits to the first two children. Before April 2017 all children in low-income families were included in the benefit.

Overall, the HMRC found "the majority of claimants affected by the policy – 59 per cent – are classified as in work", contracting the UK Government's claim the policy "ensures fairness by asking families receiving benefits to face the same financial choices as families supporting themselves solely through work".

Almost 7,000 households (four per cent) have received an exception to the policy, homes with a multiple birth were the most common type of exception. Five per cent of households affected in Scotland received an exemption, one per cent more than in England and Wales.

SNP Westminster MP Alison Thewliss, who has actively campaigned against the policy, said: “Most shocking of all, 510 women have been forced to go through the process of claiming for an exception due to a non-consensual conception.”

“Every single one of these women has been put in a position where they’ve had to tell a complete stranger that their child was conceived as a result of rape or coercion, just to make ends meet,” she said.

“Of course, it’s likely that the actual figure would be much higher if women weren’t forced to go through this daunting process.

“The UK Government has no place to hide in the face of these damning statistics.”

She urged new Prime Minister Boris Johnson “to do the right thing and scrap the two-child limit for everyone”.

Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) director John Dickie said the figures were a “grim reminder of the human cost of this nasty policy”.

He said the policy told families “that some children are more deserving than others purely on the basis of their birth order”.

“Every child deserves a good start in life, and we would never turn a third-born child away from school or hospital,” Dickie said.

“How can it be right to deny the same young children the social security support they need to enjoy a childhood free from poverty when their family falls on hard times?”

CPAG called on the UK Government to lift the two-child limit “to help all children thrive”.

“The two-child limit undermines family life and leaves children without support in their vital early years, when the foundations are being laid for their future development,” Dickie said.

Scottish Greens social security spokesperson Alison Johnstone said the figures were "deeply shocking, but not suprising".

"The social security system should be based on need, not arbitrary limits. If a child is brought into the world, society has a duty to help the parents to support them financially and ensure they grow-up free from poverty," Johnstone said.

"If we are to call ourselves a caring, civilised country, the rape clause and the two child limit should be scrapped with immediate effect."

A UK Government spokesperson said: "Safeguards are in place and we’ve made changes this year to make the policy fairer."