END CHILD POVERTY RESPONDS TO PRIME MINISTER’S CONFERENCE SPEECH: WHAT ABOUT THE TWO-CHILD LIMIT?  

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30/09/25

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

  • Chair of Coalition responds to the lack of any mention of the two-child limit in the Prime Minister’s Speech
  • New Coalition data revels that 14% of children in the PM’s constituency are impacted by the two-child limit
  • Data also shows that of the almost 1.7 million children living in families impacted by the two-child limit:
    • 43% of children impacted live in a home with a disabled adult or child
    • 54% of children impacted live in a single parent household  

During his speech at Labour Party Conference, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer made no mention of the two-child limit, and the role this plays in increasing numbers of children living in poverty.

 

In response, Joseph Howes, CEO of Buttle UK and Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition said;

 “The Prime Minister spoke of creating a fairer society for all, yet made no mention of scrapping the policy we all know is pushing kids into poverty. The much-anticipated Child Poverty Strategy, to be published by this government in the coming months, won’t reach it’s objectives if this policy is not scrapped in full for all families.”

 

Thea, a single mother impacted by the two-child limit, supported by Single Parent Rights – a Coalition partner added;

“By excluding any mention of the two-child limit from today’s Prime Minister’s speech means my kids will still have to stop at the food bank on the way home from school, despite me working full time. It means my 10-year old will have to walk the 4 miles home after a long day because the bus is an unaffordable £1.75. I will not stop calling for change until this support is in the bank accounts of every child and family who needs it. Every day it is withheld, the apology owed by today’s leaders grows larger.”

 

Sophie, aged 21 – a Youth Ambassador for the Coalition and a young person who has grown up in poverty said;

 “Not mentioning the two-child limit today is deeply disappointing for young people like me who know firsthand what it’s like to grow up in poverty. I grew up in the North East in a low-income, working family that often had to rely on social security to get by. I know the reality of what that means. The two-child limit punishes children like me simply for having brothers or sisters. The government must urgently re-evaluate and scrap this classist and inhumane policy so that no family is pushed deeper into poverty for the size of their household.”

 

The Coalition has released new data providing percentages of children impacted by this policy in each constituency. Showing that in some areas 1 in 3 children live in a household impacted by this policy (Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Birmingham Ladywood, Bradford East). Across the UK 1 in 9 children live in a home impacted by the policy.

This data also provides a percentage breakdown for each constituency of children impacted by the two-child limit and living in working households, with one disabled family member, and single parent households.

 

Notes to editors

 

  1. The End Child Poverty coalition (www.endchildpoverty.org.uk) is made up of over 135 organisations from civic society including children’s charities, child welfare organisations, social justice groups, faith groups, trade unions and others, united in our vision of a UK free of child poverty. Members include Child Poverty Action Group, The Children’s Society, Buttle UK, Gingerbread, Oxfam GB, Action for Children, Trade Unions Congress, Save the Children, and the National Children’s Bureau.
  2. The new data can be downloaded here and provides a breakdown on the percentage of children impacted by the two-child limit in each constituency in England, Scotland and Wales.  This combines data from the Department of Work and Pensions, and Coalition Child Poverty data.
  3. You can get in touch with the coalition by emailing rachel@endchildpoverty.org.uk or on 07918 567577.
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