‘Scrapping DWP two-child profit restrict is correct alternative – this is the way it will assist households’
Meghan Meek O’Connor, Head of England and Westminster, for Save the Children UK writes for The Mirror as Reform UK say they would reverse Labour’s plan to scrap two-child benefit limit
The two-child benefit limit will be scrapped in April(Image: PA)
In the UK right now, children are being denied a childhood. Doctors, teachers, health visitors and families themselves will tell you they are surviving in cramped living conditions. Many are sharing beds, while others are going without winter coats, or decent food.
And there are parents across the country woken up by their alarm clocks who, after getting their kids ready to go to school, work long hours to provide for their children, but find that the sums still don’t add up.
Experts knew that scrapping the two-child limit to benefits was the critical mechanism for the UK Government to use drive down poverty quickly and cost effectively. It was the correct decision for the UK Government to take.
This is how it will help Holly, 32, has five children aged 12, 7, 5, 2 and a newborn. She works as a carer and has been struggling recently. Even when she sold her car to pay for childcare it didn’t help as getting around became more difficult. On the new payment, she said: “I feel I can just breathe easier knowing there is some relief for my children and the quality of their lives. I can concentrate on being a mum.”
READ MORE: Every way Nigel Farage’s policies would hammer families if Reform wins power
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
Sammie, 34, has three children aged 6, 3 and a four-month-old baby, and lives in Newport. Her partner is a lorry driver and they often struggle to live off his wage. She said with the limit gone; they won’t fall short on rent.
Tasha, who lives in Swindon with four children and works three jobs. She found herself claiming Universal Credit after the death of her husband when she fell on hard times. The extra payment from April will help her family budget go further.
Some say the Treasury can’t afford the cost of scrapping the two-child limit to benefits. In reality, we can’t afford not to support these children, or to address the cost of child poverty to the economy at £39 billion a year.
Some might also think, why should the state help people who have large families? But no child should ever be penalised or used as a political football due to the circumstances of their birth. Scrapping the two-child limit to benefits is the correct economic and moral choice.
