Families with eight or more children are now receiving an additional £21,883 per year from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) following the abolition of the two-child benefit cap, according to new Universal Credit figures.
The data shows 2,200 families with eight children or more receive the extra annual sum, bringing their total benefits to around £29,178. These households are part of a broader group of 17,290 families with six or more children who receive at least an additional £14,589 per year on top of their standard benefits for their first two children, which brings their total to £21,883.
Political Reaction to the Cap Removal
Helen Whately, the Conservative Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, criticised the change, stating: “Hard-working parents don’t get a pay rise from their employer when they have another child, but Labour has done just that for people on benefits.”
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has pledged to reinstate the cap to fund defence, saying: “We believe those on benefits should have to make the same choices about having children as those who aren’t.”
Government Justification and Poverty Statistics
When it scrapped the rule earlier this year, the Labour Party government said that since its introduction in 2017, the two-child limit has been the biggest single driver of child poverty. The change was made because 2.6 million children in the UK don’t have enough food at home, over 172,000 have no permanent home, and babies born in the poorest areas are twice as likely to die before their first birthday.
DWP minister Pat McFadden said at the time: “Today is an historic day, marking a turning point for 450,000 children across Britain.
“Scrapping the two-child limit is about more than family finances today, it’s about the Britain we’re building for tomorrow. Children growing up in poverty are far more likely to leave school without qualifications and end up not in work or education as young adults, and we’re determined to break that cycle once and for all and give every child the best start in life.”
Impact on Working Families
The DWP said: “Almost 60 per cent of households benefitting from the two-child limit removal have at least one parent in work. This change gives hard-working families extra breathing room, lifting 450,000 children out of poverty.”
