Bishop’s drive to abolish two-child limit on benefits approaches final House of Lords stage

19/03/2023

A Private Member’s Bill brought by the Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, to abolish the two-child limit on Universal Credit is on course to complete its passage through the House of Lords this week.
The Houses of Parliament from across the River Thames. Shane Rounce

The Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill would amend previous legislation which limits the number of children counted when calculating benefit payments to a household.

The limit restricts means-tested benefits to the first two children in a family if they were born after April 2017.

The bill, introduced in the Lords in May last year, is due to have its third reading on Friday, March 24. It would then pass to the House of Commons for consideration.

Bishop Paul is the patron of the North East Child Poverty Commission and has worked closely with the Child Poverty Action Group in campaigning for an end to the two-child limit.

He said: “The Two Child Limit continues to be the most significant contributor to placing more children and families into poverty.

“Its removal would improve the lives of many families. It is time for it to be removed.”

Research by the Child Poverty Action Group concludes that around 50,000 children every year across the UK are pushed into poverty as a result of the two-child limit, and a further 150,000 children who are already living in poverty see their circumstances deteriorate further.

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