Sunday, April 6 marked eight years since the implementation of the two-child limit to the child element of Universal Credit.
The Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network is a member of the End Child Poverty Coalition, which has released new two-child limit data which shows:
* Across Northern Ireland 1 in 10 children live in a family impacted by the two-child limit, but rates in some parliamentary constituencies are much higher. In Foyle 13% of children live in households impacted by the two-child limit.
*There is a strong positive correlation between the percentage of children living in poverty in constituencies, and the percentage of children impacted by the policy. Where you have high levels of child poverty, you have a higher proportion of families impacted by the policy.
* Constituencies with the highest number of children impacted would see an increase to their local economy of up to £7.5 million per year.
* This is an important issue for rural constituencies as well. 34% of people in NI live rurally. And, 21.4% of NI families have 3 or more children, with rural households tending to have more children. East Derry, Newry Armagh, West Tyrone, Upper Bann, Mid Ulster, South Down, Fermanagh and South Tyrone and North Antrim all have more than 1 in 10 children living in families impacted by the two-child limit.
Child poverty across NI is on the rise, with nearly 1 in 4 children living in poverty. Constituencies, such as Belfast West, have 1 in 3 children living in poverty.
According to the Child Poverty Action Group, scrapping the two-child limit is the more cost effective way to reduce child poverty.
The two-child limit to benefit payments is a cruel policy which pushes families into poverty. It deprives families who claim benefit payments of the child element of this, if their third child was born after April 2017.
1 in every 10 children in Northern Ireland lives in a home which has benefit payments reduced by this policy.
The Cliff Edge Coalition has long been calling on Stormont to remove the two-child limit, and for the Northern Ireland MP’s to use their influence to scrap this unjust policy.
Joseph Howes, CEO of Buttle UK and Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition said: “Scrapping the two-child limit is a crucial first step to address rising child poverty across the UK. By doing this the government could also see a boost to local economies, targeting some of the most deprived areas of the country.
“We don’t want to see another year of families suffering as a result of the two-child limit.
“The government must scrap this policy as part of their soon to be published strategy to tackle child poverty.”
Rosie, a mother of three children who is impacted by the two-child limit to benefit payments said: “I have found myself relying on credit cards and ‘buy now pay later’ for essential items like bills and fresh food, fruit and vegetables to feed three growing children.
“My children have missed out on extracurricular activities which inevitably would have had a positive impact on their education, social skills and self-confidence.”
A copy of the new report ‘At the Limit’ and the full data are available to download here: https://endchildpoverty.org.uk/two_child_limit-2025/
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