During a visit to a mother and toddler group in Portobello, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has confirmed that The Scottish Government will “effectively” scrap the impact of the two-child limit from 2 March 2026.
When she visited Busy Bees Bellfield parent and toddler group Ms Somerville said the introduction of the Two Child Limit Payment will mean 20,000 fewer children will be living in relative poverty in 2026-27, according to modelling carried out by the Scottish Government.
Ahead of a statement to parliament on the publication of the annual report on Best Start, Bright Futures, which is the Scottish Government’s child poverty strategy, Ms Somerville said:“The Scottish Government has consistently called on the UK Government to end the two-child cap. Reports suggest that they are looking at the impact it is having. But the evidence is clear and families and Scotland can’t wait any longer for the UK Government to make up its mind to do the right thing and scrap the cap once and for all.
“The Two Child Limit Payment will begin accepting applications in March next year. At less than 15 months from when we announced this in the Scottish budget, this will be the fastest that a Scottish social security benefit has been delivered.
“This builds upon the considerable action we have taken in Scotland, including delivering unparalleled financial support through our Scottish Child Payment, investing to clear school meal debts, and continuing to support almost 10,000 children by mitigating the UK Government’s Benefit Cap as fully as possible.
“However, austerity decisions taken by the UK Government are holding back Scotland’s progress. Modelling published in March makes clear that if the UK Government act decisively on child poverty, they could help to take an estimated 100,000 children out of poverty this year.”
The UK Government’s two child cap is a policy in place since 2017 which restricts any universal credit payment to just two children in one family. This means that families with three and more children cannot have any means-tested support for them. (There are limited exceptions.) The Child Poverty Action Group said that this tax on siblings is “the biggest driver of rising child poverty in the UK today. It breaks the link between what children need and the support they receive.” Government figures show that one in 9 children are affected by this cap on benefits, and almost 60% of those who are affected by the policy have at least one parent who works. If it is lifted then Treasury Minister, Torsten Bell, said he believes this measure alone could lift 470,000 children in the UK out of poverty.
The UK Government is reportedly considering getting rid of the measure which was introduced by the Conservatives, having said they would remove the measure “when fiscal conditions allow”, and the scrapping of this would cost around £3.5 billion a year. The government is due to announce its child poverty strategy in the autumn of this year.
