Benefits: Two-child cap could be scrapped, says cabinet minister

The government is considering scrapping the cap on the number of children for whom you can claim benefits.

At the moment, parents can only claim child tax credit or universal credit for a maximum of two children per household.

Although the government has previously said that it wants to lift the cap, it’s also said it will only do so when economic conditions allow.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has now gone further, telling Sky News that “it’s not off the table”.

“It’s certainly something that we’re considering,” she commented.

In a separate interview with BBC Radio 4, Ms Phillipson again stated that the cap could be lifted and insisted that Labour would never have introduced it in the first place.

However, she pointed out that “seeking to unwind that is not easy”.

“We’ve got to get this right,” Ms Phillipson said.

Cost of inaction ‘incredibly high'

Ms Phillipson acknowledged that scrapping the cap would be costly.

However, she stressed that doing nothing could also carry a huge cost.

“Where it comes to the price tag, the cost of inaction is also incredibly high,” Ms Phillipson said.

“This scars the life chances of children in our country.”

Ms Phillipson added that the government is already taking many steps to ease the pressure on families, such as making school uniforms cheaper, introducing free breakfast clubs and expanding funded childcare.

Charities want cap scrapped

The government has been under pressure to scrap the cap for some time.

Just last month, a group of leading charities, including Citizens Advice, Barnardo’s and Save the Children UK, said this would be the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty “by far”.

In a joint letter, the charities said: “It would lift 350,000 children out of poverty overnight and result in 700,000 children living in less deep poverty.”

The Resolution Foundation, meanwhile, has estimated that ending the cap could potentially lift 500,000 children out of poverty by the time of the next election.

“What I’ve said [to campaigners] is we hear them,” Ms Phillipson said.

“We want to make this change happen and it will be the moral mission of this Labour government to ensure that fewer children grow up in poverty and that where you’re from does not determine everything that you go on to achieve in life.”