In today’s Budget the Chancellor has missed a key opportunity to help hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty

For Immediate Release

30/10/2024

In today’s Budget the Chancellor has missed a key opportunity to help hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty

The End Child Poverty Coalition, a network of over 120 organisations all campaigning for an end to child poverty has responded to today’s Budget announcement. We are calling for the two-child limit to benefit payments to be scrapped.

 

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

“Today’s Budget announcement will only go so far towards lifting children, and their families, out of poverty in the UK. The government could have chosen to scrap the two-child limit to benefit payments – a policy which drives families into poverty. This opportunity for the government to take quick and decisive action has been missed. More children will be drawn into poverty as a result, on a daily basis.

“Now focus is on the publication of the child poverty strategy in Spring 2025, which must include scrapping this cruel policy. Children affected by this should not have to wait, and need support now.”

 

The End Child Poverty Coalition also works directly with a group of young people who have personal experience of growing up in poverty. Several of these young people also responded to today’s Budget announcement:

 

Kaydence, aged 20 from Scotland and an End Child Poverty Youth Ambassador said;

“I’m disappointed that the government is still not scrapping the two-child limit.

“I have a number siblings, I love them more than anything, and I want them to have the best future possible. I am frustrated that again the government has turned down the opportunity to scrap a policy that is keeping them and so many other children in poverty.

“My sisters matter, my brothers matter. They all matter. How can our government say their value is less, because they weren’t born first or second? They have the same rights as me, same right to life, right to food, yet they won’t be offered the same support, as if they are less human than me. They matter just as much as me.”

 

Niña, aged 18 from London and a Youth Ambassador for the End Child Poverty Coalition said;

“It is disappointing that the government has not done more with this Budget announcement to help children and young people living in poverty, like me.

“My own experience has shown me how thin the line is between survival and falling into a cycle of poverty. After facing homelessness and working relentlessly to make ends meet, my studies and long-term goals took a back seat.

“It’s essential that we prioritise sustainable support, enabling individuals and families to build stable, self-sufficient lives. Policies like the two-child limit and restrictions on Universal Credit must be reassessed. The government should focus on creating clear, viable pathways out of poverty, pathways that don’t rely on withholding support but rather on empowering families to thrive independently.”

 

The two-child limit to benefit payments is an unfair policy which limits the amount of money families in receipt of social security payments receive for the third or subsequent child born after April 2017. Families affected by it miss out on up to £3455 per child per year.

The policy pushes families into poverty. Recent analysis published by CPAG has shown that for every day this policy remains in place, 109 children are being pulled into poverty. End Child Poverty Coalition analysis has shown there is a strong positive correlation between child poverty figures and the number of children living in families impacted by the two-child limit.

Unless this issue is urgently addressed, the government’s upcoming Child Poverty Strategy will fall short of delivering meaningful change. Lifting the two-child limit is a critical step towards to halting the harmful cycle of deprivation and despair.

Children can no longer wait for change. The ‘sibling tax’ must be scrapped.

 

Notes to editor:

A member of the coalition, and a youth ambassador with personal experience of growing up in poverty, is available for further comment if required.

 

The End Child Poverty coalition (www.endchildpoverty.org.uk) is made up of over 120 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.

 

You can get in touch with the coalition by emailing rachel@endchildpoverty.org.uk or on 07918 567577.